College of Dentistry: News

More underserved Illinois children will receive oral healthcare through a $1.5 million grant to the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry.

The grant, from the Illinois Children's Healthcare Foundation (ILCHF), will begin as a pilot program next January and allow the College to expand its current community-based rotations. Twelve fourth-year students will spend half of their final semester treating underserved children in three yet-to-be determined clinics in the Chicago area.

"The College of Dentistry recognizes that it is imperative to graduate more dentists prepared to meet the needs of underserved communities and Illinois' children," said Dr. Caswell Evans, Associate Dean for Prevention and Public Health Sciences.

Through the extramural rotation program, where fourth-year students are required to spend 60 days treating patients in community clinics, students come to understand health disparities and the need to eliminate them, Dr. Evans said.