{ from the editor }
Room for Another? T
his past June Kansas City Univer- sity announced publicly its plans for a College of Dental Medicine in Joplin, Mo. This has been on
the table for some time, but now a formal announcement of having their first class in 2022 makes their plans closer to reality. Ac- cording to the press release, KCU—through this new dental school—will be working to “solve the significant and growing oral health needs of the four-state region of southwest Missouri, northwest Arkansas, northeast Oklahoma and southeast Kansas.” The school, it states, will have a focus on training dentists to serve areas in which access to dental care has been an issue.
There is no doubt that there is money to be made in the arena of educating dentists in the private sector. There also is no doubt that getting accepted into dental school is far from easy. The statistics show that there are at least twice as many applicants as there are those who get accepted. These factors and many more ensure it won’t be a problem to fill another class at a new school.
However, while enrollment may not be a problem, I do wonder how the school will effectively deliver on some of its other state- ments? Currently, according to numbers that I received from our two dental schools, fewer than 50 of their graduates (total) stay in Mis- souri. I do not have a breakdown of where these students are practicing, but I doubt that the rural setting is the large percentage. How then will the new school help with get- ting more dentists into the rural settings of the four states it wants to serve? Even more important to me is how can they determine where a freshman dental student is going
to practice after graduation, which is four years later? What may have sounded like a great idea upon entry into dental school may change as factors change on the journey to getting a dental diploma.
Debt is a huge one of those factors, which looms over the majority of graduating dental students. According to information that I received, the average debt per student ranges from $197,000 to $340,000 depending on whether the student goes to a public or pri- vate dental school. The new graduate has to have a salary that will allow them to pay back these loans, have a roof over their head, have food on the table and maybe raise a family. If you look at the statistics, rural practicing dentist salaries aren’t quite as high as those in urban areas.
Quality of life issues are a factor for new graduates. In an urban setting, many things are right at your fingertips. In the rural set- ting, dining and shopping choices, as well as activities related to hobbies and outside interests, aren’t as accessible. For a new graduate who may be recently married or
have small children, these could be huge fac- tors that determine practice location.
I am hopeful that the new school’s interview- ing process helps them find students who genuinely want to practice rurally—and that during their training, the dental students see the need and truly find a love for wanting to practice in a rural setting. I really think this “rural matchmaking” will be a tough goal to meet. I believe another difficult task will be finding quality faculty for the program. How will this new school recruit educators when we know it’s been an arduous task for the two current schools—an issue both institu- tions have stated repeatedly to our Board? How will one more Missouri school deplete an already-small faculty pool? Regardless of where new graduates practice, it’s more im- portant the school ensures it’s providing an above-average education and graduating new providers ready for dental practice.
I do not wish anything but success for this new school and the students who enter and graduate from it, after all they—like me and you—want to be part of a great profession and provide care to our fellow humanity. But, being the dad and new grandfather I now am, perhaps I have gained a little more wisdom. I worry about the financial pressure and stress it puts on new dentists; for their longevity and potential burn out. I worry about our ru- ral communities still not having providers to care for their residents. I worry about how all these factors may affect the integrity of the profession and its future. f
Contact Dr. Wyckoff at editor@ modental.org. You can read more about the KCU dental school on page 18.
BY THE NUMBERS >> The MDA asked current Missouri dental schools the following questions: What is the average student debt and demographic of where students end up after graduation. Here are those figures: DEBT: UMKC 2018 Graduates: $197,165 | ATSU 2018 Graduates: $346,881. DEMOGRAPHICS: UMKC Class of 2018:
25 Group Private Practice, 15 Solo Private Practice, 17 Public Health, 13 Corporate Practice (from the 70 total of these first four groups, 34 stayed in Missouri), 2 Hospital, 1 Other, 24 Advanced Education, 5 Military. ATSU: Totals for the first two graduating classes (2017-18) are: 2 Military, 1 IHS, 20 into CHC, 39 Private or Corporate Practice, 24 Residencies (2 military, 4 CHC). Class of 2018 had 14 grads stay in Missouri. There were 11 in the class originally from Missouri (net gain of 3), and of those: 4 CHC, 7 Private Practice, 3 Corporate Practice.
