University of Florida College of Dentistry wins reaccreditation

The University of Florida College of Dentistry has been reaccredited by the American Dental Association’s Commission on Dental Accreditation.

The college, now is in its 29th year, is accredited until 2008. The evaluation of the UF dental school’s pre-doctoral, and advanced and graduate education programs, as well as its extramural clinics’ advanced education programs in Apopka and St. Petersburg, garnered 40 commendations and only two minor recommendations.

The process involved a self-study followed by visits of the commission’s accreditation team in May to Gainesville, Apopka and St. Petersburg.

“Our success in the accreditation self-study process and the site visits is an external verification by our peers that the educational, patient care, research and service programs at the University of Florida College of Dentistry are first class,” said Frank Catalanotto, D.M.D., dean of the college. “Participating faculty, staff and students did an outstanding job in preparing for this important activity.”

The programs and their number of commendations and recommendations are:

Pre-doctoral: 9; 0

Dental Public Health: 2; 0

Endodontics: 3; 0

Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology: 7; 0

Orthodontics: 2; 0

Pediatric Dentistry: 4; 0

Periodontics: 2; 0

Prosthodontics: 4; 0

Apopka Dental Program: 2; 0

St. Petersburg Dental Program: 5; 2

“The college’s administrative leadership and faculty deserve great credit for the reaccreditation and for the very strong praise from the accrediting body,” said UF Provost David Colburn, the university’s chief academic officer.

The College of Dentistry’s Statewide Network for Community Oral Health has been an appreciated service for Florida’s low-income / low-access populations. In addition to clinics in Gainesville, Apopka and St. Petersburg, the college has clinics in Hialeah and Jacksonville. Students serve patients through the college’s coordinated efforts with several state health departments, veterans hospitals and community clinics, such as the Alachua County Organization for Rural Needs (ACORN) Clinic in Brooker, Fla.

The college, the older of only two dental schools in Florida, employs 145 full- and part-time faculty members and 238 staff members. Its student enrollment is 427, which includes students in the doctor of dental medicine program, residents, graduate students and dentists in the Foreign Trained Dentist program.

UF dental students routinely rank above the national average on the national dental board exam. Among the United States’ 55 dental schools, UF college consistently ranks among the top 10 in research funds awarded according to data compiled by the American Dental Association.

Visit UFCD online at www.dental.ufl.edu.