Advancing Dental Education in the 21st Century: Phase 2 Report on Strategic Analysis and Recommendations.

In Phase 1 of the "Advancing Dental Education in the 21st Century" project, research was conducted and published on a number of serious challenges facing dental and allied dental education, both presently and projected to 2040. Those findings informed the strategic analysis and recommendations developed in Phase 2 of the project. This report provides an overview of the Phase 2 conclusions and presents recommendations to address the challenges identified. The recommendations propose ways to educate a workforce prepared to meet the oral health needs of the population; develop a sustainable economic model that allows schools to meet their education, research, and service missions; make dental and allied dental education and practice an integral part of the larger health education and delivery systems; and keep dentistry advancing as a "learned" profession. This report begins with an Executive Summary and then presents the strategic analysis of challenges facing dental schools and allied dental programs and provides a brief explanation of the rationale for each recommendation. Two appendices are included with the report: the first summarizes discussions held at the national conference to consider the recommendations; and the second provides additional documentation of calculations used to estimate the number of new dental graduates needed in 2040.

Current State of Dental Education: Executive Summary.

This executive summary for Section 1 of the "Advancing Dental Education in the 21st Century" project provides a composite picture of information from 12 background articles on the current state of dental education in the United States. The summary includes the following topics: the current status of the dental curriculum, the implications of student debt and dental school finances, the expansion of enrollment, student diversity, pre- and postdoctoral education, safety net status of dental school clinics, and trends in faculty.

Ten-Year Student Trends in U.S. Dental Schools, 2004-05 to 2014-15.

This article provides an overview of the status of students applying to and enrolling in dental schools in the United States over a ten-year period from 2004-05 to 2014-15. The data are mainly drawn from published reports of the American Dental Association (ADA) and American Dental Education Association (ADEA). This overview includes trends on tuition levels, diversity in enrollment, and debt levels of students upon graduation as well as students' satisfaction with their education. This article was written as part of the project "Advancing Dental Education in the 21st Century."

Considering Students' Cost of a Dental Education: Return on Investment and Debt to Income Ratio.

The cost for students of a dental education has become an issue of concern. This article explores the return on investment and the debt to income ratio of studying dentistry. These two measures are monitored to gain perspective on whether the cost of education pays off in earnings. The factors underlying these measures and a discussion of them are included. The purpose of this article is to focus attention on one of the current issues facing dental schools in the United States. This article was written as part of the project "Advancing Dental Education in the 21st Century."

Trends in Dental Faculty of U.S. Dental Schools, 2003-04 to 2013-14.

The aim of this article is to provide a general overview of trends impacting the faculty of U.S. dental schools. Data such as full- and part-time status, tenure status, student-faculty ratios, aging of the faculty, and compensation are reported for the period from 2003-04 to 2013-14. Data used are from the American Dental Association (ADA) and the American Dental Education Association (ADEA). The first part of the report describes general characteristics of faculty trends, and the second part provides an analysis of those trends. This article was written as part of the project "Advancing Dental Education in the 21st Century."

Introduction to "Advancing Dental Education in the 21st Century" Project.

In 1926, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching published a report prepared by William J. Gies, PhD, a professor of biochemistry and founder of the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine. The Gies report examined the current status of dental education in the United States and Canada and made recommendations for a new direction. This report led to major improvements in dental education and research and was a critical factor in making dentistry a learned profession. Dental and allied dental education are now challenged by a new set of issues related to financing education, improved oral health, more effective treatment technologies, and a rapidly changing delivery system. In an effort to meet these challenges, this strategic planning project first examined the current status and future trends that are likely to impact the dental profession over the next 25 years. The project was organized into six sections, and 50 authors were invited to prepare 38 articles to address these issues. The executive summaries for each section are being published in the August and September 2017 issues of the Journal of Dental Education, and the background articles are being published in online supplements to those issues. In the next phase of the project, information from the articles will be used to make strategic recommendations to assist dental schools and allied dental education programs in preparing graduates for practice in 2040 and to meet their institutions' missions for scholarship and service. This introduction presents the project rationale, provides a list of the published articles, and acknowledges the organizations that supported this effort.

Interprofessional education in U.S. and Canadian dental schools: an ADEA Team Study Group report.

The state of interprofessional education (IPE) in U.S. and Canadian dental schools was studied by the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Team Study Group on Interprofessional Education. The study group reviewed the pertinent IPE literature, examined IPE competencies for dental students, surveyed U.S. and Canadian dental schools to determine the current and planned status of IPE activities, and identified best practices. Members of the study group prepared case studies of the exemplary IPE programs of six dental schools, based on information provided by those schools; representatives from each school then reviewed and approved its case study. Six reviewers critiqued a draft of the study group's report, and study group members and reviewers met together to prepare recommendations for schools. This report identifies four domains of competence for student achievement in IPE and summarizes responses to the survey (which had an 86 percent response rate). It also includes the case descriptions of six schools' IPE programs and the study group's recommendations for dental schools. The report concludes that there is general recognition of the goals of IPE across U.S. and Canadian dental schools, but a wide range of progress in IPE on the various campuses. Challenges to the further development of IPE are discussed.

Community-based dental education: history, current status, and future.

This article examines the history, current status, and future direction of community-based dental education (CBDE). The key issues addressed include the reasons that dentistry developed a different clinical education model than the other health professions; how government programs, private medical foundations, and early adopter schools influenced the development of CBDE; the societal and financial factors that are leading more schools to increase the time that senior dental students spend in community programs; the impact of CBDE on school finances and faculty and student perceptions; and the reasons that CBDE is likely to become a core part of the clinical education of all dental graduates.

Underrepresented minority dental student recruitment and enrollment programs: an overview from the dental Pipeline program.

By now, all dental schools should understand the need to increase the enrollment of underrepresented minority (URM) students. While there has been a major increase in the number of Hispanic/Latino, African American/Black, and Native American applicants to dental schools over the past decade, there has not been a major percent increase in the enrollment of URM students except in the schools participating in the Pipeline, Profession, and Practice: Community-Based Dental Education program, which have far exceeded the percent increase in enrollment of URM students in other U.S. dental schools during Phase I of the program (2002-07). Assuming that all dental schools wish to improve the diversity of their student bodies, chapters 9-12 of this report--for which this chapter serves as an introduction--provide strategies learned from the Pipeline schools to increase the applications and enrollment of URM students. Some of the changes that the Pipeline schools put into place were the result of two focus group studies of college and dental students of color. These studies provided guidance on some of the barriers and challenges students of color face when considering dentistry as a career. New accreditation standards make it clear that the field of dentistry expects dental schools to re-energize their commitment to diversity.