The new A.T. Still University's Missouri School of Dentistry and Oral Health (ATSU-MOSDOH) has been granted initial accreditation by the Commission on Dental Accreditation.
Selected from 954 applicants, the student body will comprise 22 women and 20 men from 19 states, including nine students from Missouri.
Central to the new school's curriculum is extensive, in-depth clinical training inside community health centers (CHCs), the university noted in a press release. In Missouri, CHCs care for 420,000 vulnerable residents, or 25% of the total number of low-income and uninsured citizens. A collaboration with the Missouri Primary Care Association facilitated ATSU developing relationships with CHCs across the state.
Graduates of the dental school will earn a certificate of public health in addition to a doctor of dental medicine degree (DMD). Partnerships with CHCs are expected to increase retention within the state's oral health workforce by encouraging graduates to practice public health dentistry.
During their third and fourth years, students will practice inside Missouri CHCs, where their clinical education will include treating patients under supervision of faculty dentists. This will allow the centers to reach an additional 11,500 patients each year.
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