Roseman University of Health Sciences College of Dental Medicine Granted Approval to Transition to Three-Year Doctor of Dental Medicine Degree Program
The College of Dental Medicine at Roseman University of Health Sciences in South Jordan, Utah has received formal approval from the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) to transition its Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) program from a four-year to a three-year curriculum, beginning with the 2022-2023 academic year.
The move makes Roseman’s DMD program one of only two colleges in the nation offering students the opportunity to earn their dental degree faster, saving time and tuition cost.
“We have worked diligently over the past several years to develop and foster a team-based clinical education model, combined with Roseman University’s Six-Point Mastery Learning Model®, to create curricular efficiencies that allow students to obtain more classroom and clinical contact hours in less time,” said Frank Licari, DDS, MPH, MBA, dean of Roseman University College of Dental Medicine. “Capitalizing on these efficiencies, our goal with this transition to a shorter program is to reduce the cost of dental education and thereby reduce student debt upon graduation.”
According to Licari, Roseman University College of Dental Medicine will not be applying a full four years worth of tuition over three years in the new model. Rather, students will only pay three years of tuition, providing true cost savings. “Roseman’s students will save about $130,000 in tuition and living expenses, but will also benefit from an extra year of earning potential by graduating and entering the dental profession one year sooner,” said Licari. “The American Dental Association’s most recent income survey reported that the average net income nationally in 2020 was $170,160 for general dentists and $323,780 for specialists. Entering the profession a year earlier can provide substantial financial benefit immediately, and potentially in the future for those who choose to pursue specialty training.”
In addition to reducing the length of its DMD program, the College of Dental Medicine also received approval from CODA to increase its new class size from 100 admitted per academic year to 120 in 2023-2024 and up to 136 admitted per academic year beginning in 2024-2025. Once the program is fully transitioned to three years in 2026-2027, the College will have a total program enrollment of 408 students..
To accommodate the increased class size, the College of Dental Medicine is also going through a physical transformation, with additional patient chairs being added to its South Jordan clinics. “We’re completing construction on a new clinic space that will add 24 chairs to our existing 106. We have plans to add another 32 chairs in the coming year,” said Licari. “This increase in chair capacity combined with our team-based clinical education model allows our student dentists to treat 4-6 patients a day, offering diverse clinical experiences.”
Remarking on the CODA approval, Roseman University President and Co-founder Renee Coffman, PhD said, “Roseman University has a long history of challenging the status quo by looking for ways to enhance health sciences education. Twenty years ago our Six-Point Mastery Learning Model® allowed us to create a three-year Doctor of Pharmacy degree rather than the traditional four, and serving as a new model for other pharmacy education programs across the country. I’m proud of our College of Dental Medicine administration and faculty for working to accomplish the same for dental education. In the end, it is the students and their professions that benefit.”
The program in dental education is accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation and has been granted the accreditation status of “approval without reporting requirements.” The Commission is a specialized accrediting body recognized by the United State Department of Education. The Commission on Dental Accreditation can be contacted at (312) 440-4653 or at 211 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611. The Commission’s web address is: http://www.ada.org/en/coda.