FUTURE OFDENTISTRY
u Conduct a comprehensive, sophisticated and
well-financed study of the future United States den-
tal workforce. Such a study must generate alterna-
tive models that include existing categories of dental
personnel, as well as potentially new or modified
categories of dental care providers.
u Advocate governmental programs to reduce dental
student indebtedness, including incentive and loan
forgiveness programs in exchange for specified service
commitments in designated underserved areas.
u Seek major funding to undertake a comprehen-
sive study of methods to assure an adequate
future supply of full-time dental school faculty.
Such a study must account for specialty and region-
al effects that will bear on the faculty question.
u Encourage dental schools to become more active
and sophisticated in their fund raising programs for
the specific purpose of raising philanthropic funds
designated for endowments to support faculty pro-
fessorships and dental student scholarships.
u Keep as a priority for dental education the develop-
ment of programs to recruit, mentor and retain
women and under-represented minority faculty.
u Consider providing financial support and there-
by stimulating the development of IT-based dental
curriculum materials for which one-time production
costs are so extraordinarily high.
u Monitor, and act proactively when appropriate,
to encourage the formation of new specialties and
related advanced dental education programs.
Geriatric dentistry, based in large part on theexist-
ing dental GPR training in many hospitals, would
appear a prime candidate given the emerging popula-
tion demographics after 2010.
u Encourage the establishment and funding of
additional PGY-1 positions as a preferred way for new
dental graduates to consolidate their clinical skills.
u Encourage dental schools to examine their future
role in continuing dental education to ensure that
the infrastructure and/or partnerships are developed
to support the main CE modalities in the future.
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