|
|
| |
| Sat, Nov. 22, 2008 |  |
 |
|
||
| |
Study recommends Arkansas center for dental education Tuesday, Oct 7, 2008 By Jason Wiest Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Facing a shortage of dentists, Arkansas should spend $1.8 million over the next two years to open a center that would plan for a college of dentistry, a study presented to legislators Monday recommends. Whether a dentistry college ever comes to fruition in Arkansas, the center would still provide benefits to the state, according to Dr. Charles Cranford, a University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences professor who presented the report to the House and Senate public health committees. "Arkansas needs a small, dedicated group of planners and implementers that will focus on dental education," Cranford said. "If we don't have such a group, I fear that this whole issue will get lost among the myriad of priorities that are at UAMS and the budgetary constraints that are there." Among the things a center could do is organize a network of educational sites in Arkansas for clinical education of Arkansas students currently enrolled in colleges of dentistry in other states, Cranford said. Currently, no Arkansas students return to Arkansas for clinicals, he said, while nearly 100 students were enrolled in dental colleges elsewhere last school year who receive a health education grant from the state. Within the next decade, half of Arkansas' existing dental work force will be retired or near retirement age, the study said. If the flow of new dentists into Arkansas in that time period is equal to the past 10 years, the state would lose 25 percent of its dentist work force, it said. The center could also develop post-graduate education programs in dental specialties with residencies to be done at medical facilities in the state, enhance recruitment of pre-dental students and provide continuing education for dentists and hygienists, the study said. Under a timeline in the study, after completion of a feasibility study, funding for a new UAMS College of Dentistry could be approved in the 2011 legislative session, with the college accepting its first class in 2013. Cranford acknowledged the timeline was ambitious. The Oral Health America National Grading Project 2003 gave Arkansas poor marks in access to care, access to medical providers and oral health status, and ranked the state 48th nationally. In terms of dentists per 100,000 people, Arkansas ranks 50th nationally. "Sounds like to me that we need to follow your study," said Rep. Billy Gaskill, D-Paragould. |
