There are a few points that I believe should be clarified regarding Dr. Howard Bailit and colleagues’ article, "Dental Education Summits: The Challenges Ahead" (August JADA).
The number of clinical faculty positions left unfilled is deceptive. The overwhelming majority of unfilled positions are for specialists, not general practitioners. Most dental schools are reluctant to fill these outstanding positions probably due to economics.
I am fairly well-versed in the number of outstanding positions available, as I contacted every dental school in this country during the period of May to June 2002. There were a total of 22 full-time clinical positions available, of which 15 (68 percent) were designated for specialists.
There is a great discrepancy between the number of positions the dental schools are reporting, and what occurs when an average dentist makes an inquiry. It behooves the authors to fully investigate these findings. Without an adequate number of full-time faculty to provide continuity of care for both the students and patients, the entire dental education system is severely compromised.
The article’s conclusions recommend expense reduction as well as increased operating efficiency. As both a trained accountant and an assistant clinical professor, I have yet to be asked for an opinion. Although sincere in their intentions, too often the powers that be have tunnel vision.
Clinical instructors are comparable to the GIs of World War II—they work in the trenches, and they travel where no general dares to go, yet they accomplish what no other group can.
Please assist us in educating the future generations of dental health professionals in a manner that is student- and patient-friendly, yet still cost-effective.
