ADEA Commission on Change and Innovation in Dental Education

In 2005, ADEA formed the ADEA Commission on Change and Innovation in Dental Education (ADEA CCI) to oversee and guide the Association’s educational change efforts. Over the past decade, repeated calls have been made for curricular reform and innovation in dental education.

Building Consensus and Leading Change to Prepare Graduates for An Undiscovered Future

The purpose of ADEA CCI is to build consensus among all stakeholders in dental education, research, and practice by providing leadership to a systemic, collaborative, and continuous process of innovative change in the education of general dentists, so that they enter the profession competent to meet the oral health needs of the public throughout the 21st century and to function as important members of an efficient and effective health care team.

Learn more about the eight core principles of ADEA CCI:

• Critical Thinking
• Lifelong and Self-Directed Learning
• Humanistic Environment
• Scientific Discovery and the Integration of Knowledge
• Evidence-Based Oral Health Care
• Assessment
• Faculty Development
• The Health Care Team

In preparing future dental practitioners and academicians and maintaining viable academic dental institutions, dental education faces myriad challenges. The inspiring work of ADEA CCI has provided us with useful strategies for stimulating innovative change.