Description of a Collaborative Rural Dental Scholar Program.

Abstract

Purpose: Two educational institutions, The University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Dentistry and The University of Alabama College of Community Health Sciences, partnered to collaborate with representatives from a state agency and organized dentistry to, with legislative support, create and implement a coordinated series of initiatives designed to increase Alabama's rural dental workforce.

Methods: This interrelated, long-term program has three primary components: (1) Rural Dental Health Scholar residential summer program for rising high school seniors; (2) Rural Dental Scholar (RDS) pathway program for dental students featuring a pre-matriculation master's curriculum; and (3) financial support by Alabama's Board of Dental Scholarships (BDS) for participation in said programs and service awards for practice in an eligible rural area following dental school.

Results: A total of 31 students have participated across all aspects of this program, and a combined total of $3.39 M directly supports program participants. Nine RDSs are pathway participants across two academic years. The inaugural Rural Dental Health Scholar program in Summer 2024 included six rising high school seniors. The BDS has successfully contracted 16 future rural dentists.

Conclusions: This multifaceted partnership across various educational, professional, and governmental entities is a much-needed intervention intended to address the worsening rural dentist crisis in Alabama. Long-term outcomes tracking will inform degree of success of these new initiatives in recruiting and retaining dentists to rural communities in need.