Bulletin of Dental Education

Presented by Dr. W. David Brunson, Associate Director of ADEA Center for Equity and Diversity (ADEA CED), “Defining Interprofessional Studies and Its Benefits for Academic Dentistry” addressed the call for development of a National Oral Health Plan in the 2000 Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General.

ADEA members are encouraged to weigh in on a critically important issue for the dental education community, the educational preparation of oral health professionals in emerging workforce models. In September 2009, the Board of Directors of the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) approved the creation of the ADEA Task Force on the Education of Oral Health Professionals in Emerging Workforce Models.

Dr. Richard W. Valachovic, ADEA executive director, highlighted ADEA’s progress in the development of a collaborative infrastructure for diversity in dental education for the ADEA leadership group on January 27.

Several things came together to provide the impetus for ADEA to create CCI. In 2004, the Council of Sections approached the Board of Directors about developing foundation knowledge guidelines to assist test construction committees with Part I of the National Boards. The Council of Sections also recommended updating the ADEA Competencies for the New Dentist, originally adopted in 1997. The time was right to take a much broader look at dental education.

Well, now I realize just what a mess that really is. In May, I graduated from Louisiana State University School of Dentistry. My fiancé just took a position at the University of Texas, so after we get married in June, we will be living in Austin. That means taking the Western Regional exam, WREB.

The Joint Commission on the National Dental Examination (JCNDE) held its annual meeting in Chicago on March 23, 2005. The following is a brief summary of issues of interest to dental schools and students.

The Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations, an agency of the American Dental Association, is responsible for conducting the National Board Dental and Dental Hygiene Examination programs.

Over the past couple of years, ADEA has been at the forefront of efforts expected to result in a major change in dentistry and dental hygiene: the transition from a system of disparate state and regional testing for clinical licensure to a uniform national exam. Since dental and dental hygiene graduates must pass licensure exams before they can practice, this development has significant implications for schools and students, as well as the public the system is designed to protect.

In my senior year, however, the uncertainty of the licensure examination process convinced me that, at a minimum, a postgraduate year (PGY-1) was a good “safety net."

On May 11, New York Governor George Pataki signed into law legislation that, beginning in 2007, will require dental students to complete a clinically based, CODA-approved postdoctoral general practice or specialty dental residency program of at least one year’s duration.