Ann Arbor, MI — August 25, 2006 — Already world-renowned for its contributions to oral health care during its 131-year history, the University of Michigan School of Dentistry has an opportunity to expand how dentistry is taught and practiced and, in the process, benefit millions not just here but around the world.

During the School’s annual convocation ceremony today, Dean Peter Polverini said the School is uniquely positioned to seek new opportunities to enhance its international role in education, patient care, research, and outreach as a part of its strategy “to build the dental school of the future.”

Addressing faculty, students, and staff, he said, “If we are to remain among ‘the leaders and best’ in dental education, research, and patient care, it is in our best interest that we seek to establish unique interdisciplinary collaborations, not only with other units at the University of Michigan, but with universities and dental schools throughout the world.”

Applying the theme of Thomas Friedman’s popular book, The World is Flat, that emphasizes how political, economic, and technological forces have converged to “level” or “flatten” the world so that millions worldwide now have instant access to the same knowledge and information, Polverini said faculty and students at the School of Dentistry are also a part of this trend.

Citing them as “caregivers to a global community,” he added, “our responsibilities do not end with educating our students.  We must continue to contribute to developing a healthy global society with a particular emphasis on helping to build healthy communities in resource-strapped countries.”

Citing the University of Michigan’s reputation as a “world class university that attracts the best students, faculty, and staff from around the world,” Polverini said there is a continuing need to discover new knowledge “that leads to advances in best practices at the global, as well as national and local levels.”

Because of inequities in health care, Polverini said the University’s health profession schools, including dentistry, “have a particular responsibility to share their knowledge to aid in improving the quality of health and making it accessible to underserved communities throughout the world.”

Polverini proposed that all students learn more about international health issues as a central element of their education, including traveling abroad to participate in classroom education or research; that the School develop international fellowships and collaborative PhD programs; that faculty and administrators attend and participate in international conferences; and that partnerships be established with dentists and oral health care practitioners in other countries as a part of an on-going effort to establish healthy communities.

“We have much to gain by embracing such opportunities,” he said.  These and similar ventures would build upon both the University’s stature as a world-class university and the School’s reputation as a pioneer and would also “send a clear signal to international scholars of our desire to embrace research and discovery on a global scale.”  A renewed international focus would also boost the School’s attractiveness to faculty and students in a global marketplace that is increasingly competitive.

Guest speaker at the convocation ceremony, Dr. Richard Valachovic, executive director of the American Dental Education Association and the International Federation of Dental Education Associations, agreed, saying dental schools must prepare for a future that will be considerably different. 

Globalization, Valachovic said, has been on going for decades because of personal and professional relationships that faculty, administrators, and others have developed with their peers at other colleges, universities, and organizations around the world.  But what’s different today is that advances in technology have accelerated international collaboration.  Since many journals, research and marketing studies, and conference proceedings are now available on the Internet, he said, faculty or students or administrators can communicate with one another via e-mail without regard to time or distance, that dialogue is enhanced, new knowledge is gained, and new partnerships are developed.

That will only continue in the future, Valachovic said.  It will become more important “because recent examples of avian flu, mad cow disease, and AIDS/HIV show there are no national boundaries.  These and other diseases of the future affect all of us regardless of where we in the world are,” he said.  “So there are opportunities for all of us to learn from each other.”

Valachovic said the University of Michigan School of Dentistry is uniquely positioned to benefit from globalization.  “This school has the talent here that doesn’t exist elsewhere.  You’re in the driver’s seat.  Others will be watching you,” he said.

The University of Michigan School of Dentistry is one of the nation's leading dental schools engaged in oral health care education, research, patient care, and community service. General dental care clinics and specialty clinics providing advanced treatment enable the School to offer dental services and programs to patients throughout Michigan. Classroom and clinic instruction prepare future dentists, dental specialists, and dental hygienists for practice in private offices, hospitals, academia, and public agencies. Research seeks to discover and apply new knowledge that can help patients worldwide. For more information about the School of Dentistry, visit the Web at: www.dent.umich.edu.

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