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Biomedical subjects

Richard W Valachovic

Publications and source records attributed to Richard W Valachovic.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

Affirmative action: essential to achieving justice and good health care for all in America.

Affirmative action is an established principle that brings fairness and justice to admissions policies and practices by setting goals that encourage and pressure institutions and individuals to create educational and professional opportunities for minorities and women, if it were not for affirmative action, we would waste the talents of countless individuals who would be discounted because they are minorities or women. The result would be a nation that is weaker because it would be segregated once again in a system in which white people and men would have the preponderance of opportunity and authority and in which access would be very limited for minorities and women. It may be time to reframe the argument for affirmative action in language that denotes its benefits to all Americans by increasing access for emerging majority citizens now and in the future. ADEA, academic dentistry, and the dental profession should continue to do everything it can to preserve the policies and practices of affirmative action, especially through the support of the University of Michigan admissions policies as challenged in the cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and in our own practices.

Education, Dental↗
PubMed2003

Improving the oral health status of all Americans: roles and responsibilities of academic dental institutions: the report of the ADEA President's Commission.

Academic dental institutions are the fundamental underpinning of the nation's oral health. Education, research, and patient care are the cornerstones of academic dentistry that form the foundation upon which the dental profession rises to provide care to the public. The oral health status of Americans has improved dramatically over the past twenty-five to thirty years. In his 2000 report on oral health, the Surgeon General acknowledges the success of the dental profession in improving the oral health status of Americans over the past twenty-five years, but he also juxtaposes this success to profound and consequential disparities in the oral health of Americans. In 2002, the American Dental Education Association brought together an ADEA President's Commission of national experts to explore the roles and responsibilities of academic dental institutions in improving the oral health status of all Americans. They have issued this report and made a variety of policy recommendations, including a Statement of Position, to the 2003 ADEA House of Delegates. The commission's work will help guide ADEA in such areas as: identifying barriers to oral health care, providing guiding principles for academic dental institutions, anticipating workforce needs, and improving access through a diverse workforce and the types of oral health providers, including full utilization of allied dental professionals and collaborations with colleagues from medicine.

Dental Auxiliaries↗
PubMed2003

Capacity for training in clinical research: status and opportunities.

The ability to base patient care on scientific evidence depends in part on the results of translational and applied research. The shortage of trained clinical researchers identified by several sources limits the availability of clinical research studies upon which to base evidence-based therapeutics. This premise suggests that the dental profession needs to train more clinical researchers and faculty to conduct clinical research and to teach its applications to practice. Increasing opportunities for clinical research training in a variety of settings should eventually increase the numbers of clinical researchers, raise faculty involvement in clinical research, and promote science transfer. This paper reports on the current status of clinical research in dental schools, specifies the diverse groups involved in the clinical research enterprise, and identifies underutilized opportunities and partnerships for clinical research training. Data on federal and nonfederal funding of clinical research and training programs are presented. Existing and novel mechanisms for expanding clinical research training throughout and across traditional as well as unconventional environments are explored.

Dental Research↗
PubMed2003

Applicant analysis: 2001 entering class.

There were 7,412 applicants to the entering dental school class of 2001. This is 4.6 percent less than the number of applicants to the entering class of 2000. Since the peak of dental school applicants in 1997 (at 9,829), the number of applicants has declined 24.6 percent. (This decline is most similar to the 25.8 percent decline that has occurred in medical school applicants since their peak of applicants in 1996, at 46,968.) With the decline in applicants and a slight increase in first-time, first-year enrollees, 57.6 percent of the dental school applicants were enrolled in 2001. This is up from 54.5 percent in 2000. Dental schools reported 4,267 first-time, first-year enrollees in 2001. This is an increase of thirty-three first-time, first-year enrollees over the number reported in 2000 and only an increase of fifty-eight over the last two years. Since 1989, when dental school enrollment once again began to increase, the number of first-time, first-year enrollees has increased 14.9 percent. (Total first-year enrollment, which includes first-time enrollees and repeat students, has increased 10.8 percent since 1989.) The number of applicants per first-time, first-year positions was 1.74 in 2001. It was 2.31 in 1997. (The most recent low was 1.34 in 1989.) The average of the GPA and DAT scores of the first-time, first-year enrollees in 2001 were all slightly higher than they were in 2000. Women were approximately 42 percent of the applicants and first-time, first-year enrollees in 2001, up slightly from 2000. Underrepresented minorities comprised over 12.6 percent of the applicants and 11.9 percent of the first-time, first-year enrollees, also up slightly from 2000.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Applicant analysis: 2000 entering class.

There were 7,770 applicants to the entering dental school class of 2000. This is almost 14 percent less than the number of applicants to the entering class of 1999. Since the peak of dental school applicants in 1997 (at 9,829), the number has declined 21 percent. (This is most similar to the decline that has occurred in medical school applicants since their peak of applicants in 1996, at 46,968.) Almost 55 percent of the applicants to dental school were enrolled in 2000. Dental schools reported 4,234 first-time, first-year enrollees in 2000. This is an increase of 25 enrollees over the number reported in 1999. Since 1989, when dental school enrollment once again began to increase, total first-year dental school enrollment has increased 8.7 percent. The number of applicants per first-time, first-year position was 1.84 in 2000. It was 2.14 in 1999. (The most recent low was 1.34 in 1989.) The GPA and DAT scores of the first-time, first-year enrollees in 2000 were all either equal to or slightly higher than they were in 1999. Women were approximately 40 percent of the applicants and first-time, first-year enrollees in 2000, up slightly from 1999. Underrepresented minorities comprised slightly over 12 percent of the applicants and 10.6 percent of the first-time, first-year enrollees, also up slightly from 1999.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Meeting the demand for future dental school faculty: trends, challenges, and responses.

This report presents data from ADEA's 2001-02 survey of vacant budgeted faculty positions and examines challenges likely to exacerbate faculty shortages in the immediate future. The fifty-four dental schools responding to the survey reported 344 vacant budgeted positions, a decrease of 4 percent from 2000 to 2001. Seventy-nine percent of these vacancies are for full-time positions. Approximately one out of four dental schools has ten or more vacancies. Of just over 1,000 faculty separations during 2001-02, 53 percent were reported to be individuals leaving to enter private practice. There is no indication of a near-term reversal of the decade-long trend toward increasing budgeted vacancies, and the current economic environment along with other factors delineated in this report makes the challenge to recruit and retain dental faculty more difficult. ADEA and other stakeholders are currently pursuing a number of strategies to meet the demand for future dental school faculty.

Data Collection↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Dental workforce trends and children.

Trends in the US dental workforce that may affect oral health services for children are reviewed. Overall, the number of graduates from dental schools has declined significantly over the past 13 years. Between 1986 and 1993, 6 dental schools have closed their doors, and one more has closed in 2001; only one new school opened during this time. The remaining US dental schools have experienced reductions in class sizes, and the percentage of graduating dentists declined by 40% between 1986 and 2000. Diversity in the dental profession also remains a concern. Less than 5% of incoming dental students are African American, and less than 5% are Hispanic/Latino. These percentages are far below the overall US population of African Americans (12%) and Hispanic/Latinos (11%). Currently, projections of future workforce needs are mixed and uncertain. The need for dental services is quite variable and is highly dependent on the economy. Good economic times tend to create a high demand for dental care. As the need for dental services increases, the greater the strain on the dental workforce. This decline in dental personnel and services may have far-reaching consequences among indigent populations, particularly for children from low-income families. Thus, the ability of the current workforce to respond to the dental needs of the US population is compromised by a number of factors. These factors may affect the ability of the workforce to respond to the needs of vulnerable populations; children with a high prevalence of dental caries present an especially daunting problem.

Child↗