Richard Jurkovič
"I am in fact the one who prepares conditions for nature and I am glad when the nature cooperates with me. The border for me as a surgeon is my knowledge. I must never treat a patient if it exceeds my current abilities. In that case it’s only about self-conceit and lack of humility.”
Richard Jurkovič was born in Bratislava, Slovakia on April 19, 1969. He was raised and spent his teenage years here too. After finishing elementary school and graduating from the secondary school Gymnázium I. Horvátha and in 1987 he applied for Medical School at Pavel Jozef Šafárik University (UPJŠ) in Košice. He successfully graduated from the University in 1992.
Afterwards, Dr. Jurkovič started work as an Assistant at the 2nd Dental Clinic, Medical School, UPJŠ.
In 1995 he obtained the 1st specialization degree in dentistry and subsequently changed his place of work. Until 2000 Dr. Jurkovič was a Assistant Professor at the Department of oral and maxillofacial surgery of the 2nd Dental Clinic, Medical School, Comenius University in Bratislava. Between the years 1992 to 2000 he was a teacher at both the faculties leading clinical fellowships mainly aimed at dental surgery. He was also involved in clinical dental surgery, e. i. conservative and surgical treatment of oral and maxillofacial diseases.
Having gained substantial hand-on experience Dr. Jurkovič decided to specialize in implant dentistry. In 2000 he started his private practice. As a respected specialist in implant dentistry Dr. Jurkovič regularly lectures and publishes in expert and scientific journals not only in Slovakia but also abroad – in the Czech Republic, USA, China, Austria, Sweden, etc. He aims mainly at implant dentistry, mucogingival, dentoalveolar, and plastic surgery of periodontium. In 2003 and 2004 Dr. Jurkovič worked part-time for the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic and participated in the categorization and cataloguing in dentistry.
During the years 2004 – 2006 Dr. Jurkovič obtained all the three surgical certificates in the area of dentistry: in dentoalveolar surgery, mucogingival surgery, and implant dentistry respectively at the Slovak Medical University in Bratislava (SZU).
From 2005 to 2009 he was a part-time lecturer at two universities simultaniously. He started at the Department of Dentistry of the Slovak Medical University in Bratislava (SZU) where he lectured on dentistry for postgraduate students; and subsequently from 2007 he lectured also at St. Elisabeth University College of Health and Social Work in Bratislava where his lectures were aimed at dental technicians. In his lectures, he focused mainly on implant dentistry, implant prosthetics, periodontology, surgical therapy of periodnotitis and oral surgery. At the same time, from 2007 to 2009, he was a part-time PhD student at the Medical School of Comenius University. In 2009 he successfully defended his dissertation on “Subepithelial Connective Tissue Graft in Periodontal Plastic Surgery and Peri-Implant Tissues“ and was awarded a PhD degree. Dr. Jurkovič has been the first Slovak specialist to have done research on this topic.
For two consecutive years starting in 2007 he was also lecturing courses on Surgical Therapy of Periodontal Diseases which took place at the Department of Dentistry of the Slovak Medical University in Bratislava (SZU). Dr. Jurkovič returned to the University as a lecturer in 2012 and lead a course on Modern Methods in the Therapy of the 2nd Class: Mini Implants and Corrector of the 2nd Class.
In 2010 Dr. Jurkovič became a member of the board of editors for the professional journal StomaTeam which is aimed at dentists, dental technicians, nurses, hygienists, and instrumentalists. He participated in the selection and approval of materials for the Slovak version of this journal. After the Slovak version of the journal ceased to exist, Dr. Jurkovič became one of two Slovak dentists on the Czech and Slovak board of editors.
Dr. Richard Jurkovič PhD. participated in many expert and scientific congresses specialized in periodontology and implant dentistry which took place not only in Europe but also in the USA. He often had an active participation in the form of a lecture or a poster presentation. He has been regularly invited to lecture at expert conferences and meetings in Slovakia as well as in the Czech Republic where he is distinguished as one of the most significant and respected specialists in the area of implant dentistry in Slovakia.