The Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) presented plans for the LECOM School of Dental Medicine in Bradenton, FL, during a news conference January 21 at the campus in Lakewood Ranch.
The Florida Commission for Independent Education voted unanimously to give provisional approval to the new dental school at LECOM's Bradenton campus. LECOM is awaiting initial accreditation in February from the Commission on Dental Accreditation, at which time the college is expected to recruit students for the dental school, which will be the third in the state.
If all goes as planned, the LECOM School of Dental Medicine will open in 2012. The school's first class will enroll 100 first-year students. Within four years of its inaugural class, the dental school will enroll 400 students, officials said.
LECOM will invest $52 million in the dental school, which will employ nearly 200 individuals, including dental faculty, administrators, dental hygienists, and technical, administrative, and other support staff.
In addition, dental clinics staffed by faculty and students will be able to treat up to 600 patients per day, providing dental care for many who are currently underserved.
Robert Hirsch, DDS, will serve as dean of dental medicine for the new school.
"The college, observing the evident decline in the number of dentists in the state of Florida, is responding to the needs of the Bradenton community with the establishment of this school," Dr. Hirsch said. "The decrease in practicing dentists is most critical in underserved and low-income areas where the population health is at risk."
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