Office of Admissions: Doctor in Dental Medicine

D-1 students entering the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry in the fall of 2011 will be the first of the College’s students to earn Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) degrees.

Those graduating from the program from the College’s beginning through 2014 were or will be conferred the Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree.

Curriculum changes that began in 2002 have led to a new curriculum that is more diagnosis-driven and medically comprehensive in nature, resulting in the DMD degree. Changes or enhancements to date have included the implementation of comprehensive care group practices, evidence-based dentistry, extramural clinical education, behavioral science education, clinical simulation, implant dentistry, and refinements to biomedical sciences education.

“The DMD is not a new degree,” explained Dr. Bill Knight, Executive Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. “But it is particularly predominant in the new dental schools that have opened during the past 40 years (such as the Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine) or are about to open in the near future. Today, 40% of U.S. dental schools award the DMD degree, and that percentage is growing as new schools are opened.

The issues, strategies, and educational programs that will be part of the DMD curriculum “have been piloted to a very large extent in the existing DDS curriculum,” Dr. Knight said.

“This past year we transitioned biomedical science from a discipline-based presentation to a systems-based approach,” he continued. “Similarly, for the last few years we have had students produce patient-care portfolios, lead seminar sessions, and examine patient care issues, and we have had a very robust extramural clinical education program. We have been moving the curriculum from focusing primarily on treatment to focusing on diagnosis and applying the best treatment to each diagnosis.

“All of which are key features in the DMD curriculum,” Dr. Knight stated. “So we aren’t making a sudden shift. There’s been a lot of preparatory activity led by Drs. Charlotte Briggs, John Crawford, and Phil Patston.

Dr. Briggs is Director of the new Office of Dental Education; Dr. Crawford chaired the Curriculum Restructuring Subcommittee; Dr. Patston was chosen to represent the basic biomedical science and research community in the curriculum restructuring process.

Approximately 50 faculty members were involved in developing the learning objectives for the DMD curriculum, and many additional faculty members and students were involved in the committees that reviewed the proposals and suggested revisions. Department Heads provided feedback specific to their departments.

The College’s Curriculum Restructuring Subcommittee worked on the DMD curriculum for several years. It drafted the DMD curriculum proposal in 2007, and throughout 2008 it was discussed at open forums and reviewed and approved by the departments, Curriculum Committee, Executive Committee, and full College faculty, which approved it with an 80% majority.

It then passed the UIC Senate Committee on Educational Policy, the full University Senate, the University Board of Trustees, and the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

“With the significant endorsement of our faculty and their willingness to embrace and mold change, this DMD curriculum will position us not only as a leader in oral healthcare education but also as a leader in the development of healthcare policy,” Dr. Knight said. “I believe it will help us provide the leaders in dentistry for the next 20-to-30 years.”