The School of Dentistry is expanding its footprint in the field of rural health. Applications are open for the new Advanced Studies in Rural Health Program, a partnership with Salina Family Healthcare Center (SFHC).
The state of Kansas does not currently have a dental school, so leaders with UMKC School of Dentistry and SFHC hope this program will increase the number of Kansas students who earn dental degrees and stay in rural areas of the state to practice.
According to Melanie Simmer-Beck, Ph.D. (B.S.D.H. ’94, M.S. ’04), professor and chair of Dental Public Health and Behavioral Science at the school, the program emerged organically through conversations with oral health advocacy organizations, oral health providers and key stakeholders in rural communities.
“Looking at the data, there is clearly a need for more dentists, dental hygienists and dental assistants in rural communities,” said Simmer-Beck.
Charles A. Abbick III (D.D.S. ’09) is the executive director of Dental Services at SFHC and was largely involved in creating the partnership with the school. When he’s not managing his team, Abbick is providing care to dental patients or supervising and mentoring students on rotation. He believes the next step in meeting the need for dentists in rural areas is familiarizing future providers with those settings while they’re still students.
“Rotations offer dental students a practice experience that more closely resembles real-life dentistry,” said Abbick. “Rotations in rural areas give students exposure to career options in rural areas, and rotations in community health centers and federally qualified health centers give students exposure to career options in public health.”
The School of Dentistry hopes the new rural health program will help increase the number of students who stay in rural communities after they earn their degrees.
UMKC is no stranger to successfully collaborating with community health centers throughout Missouri and Kansas to provide experiential student learning opportunities. School leaders hope this new rotation, slated to begin Spring 2024, will broaden the school’s impact even further.
Read the full story here: https://dentistry.umkc.edu/rural-health-rotation-program-begins-next-spring/