NMDA Journal Winter 2019

nmdental.org 17 REGIONAL OPPORTUNITY Texas Tech University, whose main campus is in Lubbock, is work- ing on opening a dental school at their medical school campus in El Paso. Dr. Richard Black, dean of the Woody L. Hunt School of Dental Medicine, has said that as the newest school in the country, it will be the most technologically advanced and have the most innovative cur- riculum. Like the Texas Tech medical school in El Paso, students will learn Spanish while enrolled. The first class will have 40 students and is anticipated to begin in 2021 with hopes of increasing the class sizes in subsequent years. Texas universities already give special consideration to some New Mexico students, but are required to have at least 90 percent of their students from Texas. This creates a very limited opening for New Mex- ico students competing with other non-Texas students that apply. An opportunity may exist for New Mexico to partner with the university to create a regional school and increase the available number of slots for New Mexico students by offering a subsidy comparable to Texas’ per student contribution. While somewhat higher than the per student rate paid to the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education (WICHE) for our current out-of-state students the cost relative to what would be required to start our own school would be quite small. TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER EL PASO Woody L. Hunt School of Dental Medicine Why Texas Tech in El Paso? • Location is on our doorstep • Texas dental schools graduate students with some of the lowest debt in the nation • School is opening with a small class size with room for growth • Many NM students from this region attend Texas schools • School is a state-supported public institution • Class size of 40 with plans to increase to 65 • Traditional clinical experience with innovative curriculum • Accelerated programwith final year of dedicated clinical education • First class to begin in 2021 • Planning still underway Having consistent access to additional spaces in a dental school has a number of advantages for the state. To address the issue of improving diversity requires recruiting at an earlier age and supporting students that might not otherwise be on a doctoral trajectory. The University of New Mexico has a comparable program for physicians in their BA/ MD program, which could easily be expanded to include pre-dental students. Having a campus on our doorstep will be appealing to stu- dents that are often reluctant to be separated from family and familiar culture for extended periods of time and it will allow students to have clinical experiences in New Mexico. UNM’s graduate training residen- cies might also benefit from a consistent relationship with a regional school both as pool for potential students and as a resource for clini- cal experiences and expertise. Having a local dental school serves our dental community with continuing education and pertinent research. Such a relationship might also allow our state to have an imprint on the culture of the school and the student experience. Initial discussions between the New Mexico Dental Association and officials at the Texas Tech Health Sciences School suggest that there might be interest in such a relationship. The state of Texas is in the final stages of approval to allow the school to seek accreditation. New Mexico’s interest might positively impact both of those processes. While it will undoubtedly be a negotiation with an uncertain outcome, now is the time to start discussions with the best chance of success and maximum impact. DENTAL SCHOOL DEBT ASDA Survey of Dental School Seniors $105,150 2000 $287,331 2017