DDS, AB, BScD
Professor Emeritus
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Dental clinical ergonomics, design/development of ergonomic and educational hardware and layouts for computer workstations, development of dental clinical hypnosis educational programs and aids.
Operative dentistry, clinical ergonomics, clinical simulation, surgical magnification, clinical hypnosis
Dr. Lance Rucker has been Director of Clinical Simulation since 1983. He has pioneered development of custom declination in surgical telescopes, and has contributed to the development of educational equipment and teaching methodologies which improve the ergonomics of dental practice.
In 1994, Dr. Rucker produced one of the major alternative computer keyboards, a keyboard which has been credited with reducing those factors most associated with keyboard-related Repetitive Strain Injuries.
As consultant to an international collaborative effort of several major universities and the World Health Organization, his work has extended far beyond its North American roots. Dr. Rucker has lectured to audiences worldwide on dental ergonomics: since 1998, his presentations have ranged throughout North America, Poland, Russia, and Southeast Asia.
In 2000, he oversaw a joint project funded by the Workers' Compensation Board of B.C. in which the musculoskeletal health status of dentists and dental hygienists was evaluated, and which determined the positive effects of ergonomics education and the use of surgical telescopes for the reduction of risks of work-related pain and injury. In a second WCB project just completed (2006), the investigating team evaluated the efficacy of online self-evaluation and course module materials made available to dental health professionals (dentists, dental hygienists, and dental assistants) in general practices.
As a consultant to major disability insurance corporations for Ergonomic Practice Assessments (Provident/Paul Revere, Great-West Life, Blue Cross, Sun Life, Imperial Life, etc.) for Ergonomic Practice Assessments, Dr. Rucker has been involved in reviews of the ergonomic practices of injured dental and dental hygiene claimants. He is also frequently contracted to organize, manage, and assist in rehabilitation of these injured professionals.
Dr. Rucker is also an author of mass-market fiction. "Intimate Falls", the first in his series of mystery-suspense novels about Vancouver-based information agent Brandon Drake, was published by Lochenlode Publishers in April, 2001. "No Secrets" followed in 2004, and was an IPPY Award Finalist for Mystery in 2005. The third Brandon Drake mystery novel, "Final Labyrinth", was released in 2005.
His screenplay "Albatross", co-authored with Okanagan lawyer Timothy Perrin, won the coveted Angie Award in 2007 at the International Mystery Writers Festival.