East Carolina University School of Dental Medicine
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| Type | Public dental school |
|---|---|
| Established | 2006 |
| Dean | Dr. Gregory Chadwick, DDS, MS |
| Students | 208 |
| Location | Greenville, North Carolina, United States |
| Campus | Urban |
| Colors | Royal Purple and Old Gold |
| Website | http://www.ecu.edu/cs-dhs/dentistry/index.cfm |
East Carolina University School of Dental Medicine (ECU SoDM) is the dental school at East Carolina University. It is North Carolina's second dental school, which enrolled its inaugural class in the fall of 2011. ECU SoDM was established to address the shortage of dentists in the rural regions of North Carolina. It serves North Carolina statewide by educating more dentists, with the primary focus of student recruitment being students who desire to return to rural and underserved areas to provide oral health care. The SoDM plans to create 10 community service learning centers to be located in rural and underserved areas throughout the state. The students will complete nine-week rotations at the service learning centers during their final year of study.
The first mention of a School of Dental Medicine came from Phyllis Horns, then Interim Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences. On March 19, 2002, Vice Chancellor Horns announced at the Faculty Senate that ECU was looking into pursuing a Dental School.
On July 12, 2002 a feasibility study was reported at The University of North Carolina Board of Governors (UNC BOG) meeting at the request of Governor Mike Easley who noted fewer dentists in North Carolina were accepting Medicaid patients. It recommended the establishment of an academic dental department to support the expanded residency program, and a residency program in pediatric dentistry at East Carolina University. However, consultants cited cost as an obstacle of pursuing the school at the current time.
North Carolina is 47th in the nation in terms of dentists per capita and is especially lacking in dentists in the eastern part of the state. There are four counties, Tyrrell, Jones, Hyde and Camden without any primary practicing dentists. To remedy this situation, East Carolina and UNC-Chapel Hill have jointly developed a plan to increase the number of dentists in the state and established the ECU School of Dental Medicine.
On February 24, 2006 the East Carolina University Board of Trustees unanimously passes a resolution in supporting a Dental School. On May 11, 2006, the Committee on Educational Planning, Policies, and Programs of the UNC BOG approved the proposal to establish a dental school at East Carolina. On November 10, 2006, the UNC BOG unanimously passed the proposal. The UNC BOG requested $43.5 million each of the next two years to build the school.
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