ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: This study assessed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on U.S. dental schools and their school-based clinic operations and finances during the first eight months (April to December 2020) of the outbreak. School-based clinics are critical to training and educating future dentists and delivering oral health care services to underserved communities. METHODS: The American Dental Education Association (ADEA) conducted a structured survey with the 67 accredited U.S. dental schools between November 2020 and January 2021 to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their operations, especially on their school-based clinics. The response rate was 67%. The authors employed descriptive statistics and text analysis to examine the survey results. RESULTS: This study revealed that from April to December 2020, dental schools experienced a 50% reduction in patient visits at dental school clinics, a 7% median decrease in budget, a 42% decline in revenue, changes in clinical and nonclinical faculty and staff, and investments related to infection control measures to remain operational. Ninety-two percent of dental school clinics suspended community-based patient care experiences outside the dental school in the first eight months of the pandemic compared to the same time period the year prior. CONCLUSIONS: This research shows the extent of the operational and financial challenges dental school clinics faced in the pandemic's first eight months, April to December 2020. In these unique times, dental school clinics continued to train and educate the dentists of tomorrow and deliver oral health care services to vulnerable communities while implementing safeguards and infection control measures to combat the propagation of the COVID-19 virus in their institutions.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: This study examines the journey of U.S. dental schools' predoctoral senior class of 2020, from the influences on and their motivations to pursue careers in dentistry, aspects of their dental school experiences, to plans upon graduation and the investment in their careers. METHODS: The study is an analysis of the results of the ADEA Survey of Dental School Seniors, 2020 Graduating Class. Each year, ADEA surveys senior predoctoral students from the accredited U.S. dental schools. Whenever feasible, the answers of the survey respondents from the 2020 class were compared with their 2015 counterparts. RESULTS: The analysis revealed that 46% of the 2020 respondents decided to become a dentist before going to undergraduate college, more than the proportion of those deciding while in college (42%). When it comes to preparedness to practice dentistry, the responses indicated a high level of readiness to go into the profession. Seventy-seven percent of survey participants reported the COVID-19 pandemic did not affect their plans after graduation. Between 2015 and 2020, the share of survey respondents who planned to go into advanced dental education immediately after graduation increased from 35% to 40%. Almost a third of the 2020 respondents who planned to go into private practice immediately upon graduation intended to join a Dental Service Organization (DSO). Grants and scholarships represented a higher share of the average funding for dental education for the 2020 respondents than five years ago. The share of respondents expecting to graduate without any loans to finance their dental degrees and predental education (educational debt) increased significantly, from 12% in 2015 to 17% in 2020. CONCLUSION(S): This research shows that during these uncertain times, U.S. dental schools continued their mission to train and graduate oral health professionals fully prepared to go into the profession.