PROSTHODONTICS - American College of Prosthodontists

The American College of Prosthodontists6. Review the summary data collected from the ADA Survey Center’s Survey of AdvancedDental Education Annual Reports over the past ten years regarding the number of programs andprogram enrollments. Provide overview comments on past or future trends regarding thisinformation. (suggested response - one page)Table 6. NUMBER OF PROSTHODONTIC PROGRAMS AND ENROLLMENTProsthodontics Number of Programs Total Enrollment2000-01 48 3782001-02 48 3772002-03 48 3922003-04 47 3982004-05 46 4012005-06 46 4072006-07 45 4252007-08 46 4312008-09 46 449Over the past ten years, there has been a 19% increase in enrollment in AdvancedEducation Programs in Prosthodontics (Table 6). There has been an increase in the number ofapplicants to advanced education programs in prosthodontics, suggesting there are also morehighly-qualified candidates. The ADA 2007-08 Survey of Advanced Dental Education (ADASurvey Center, January 2009) reports that for years 2003-2008 the number of applications toprosthodontic programs has increased from 894 to 1,162. During this same time frame the firstyear enrollment remained steady. This data represents a significant increase in the ratio of 6:1 in2003 to 9:1 in 2007 for the number of applications received for the number of positions availableindicating a greater demand for prosthodontic training.Figure 7.When reviewing the PASSdata table (Figure 7), thenumber of applicants toProsthodontic programs hasincreased by 2.5 times, asignificant increase over thepast ten years. There are 21of 46 Prosthodontic programsthat participate in PASS andbased on this data, there areapproximately 8.4 studentapplicants for each program.Knowing that the remaining 25 non-PASS programs are experiencing increased numbers ofapplicants, the ratio of applicants to programs is likely higher since one example of a school thatdid not participate in PASS was University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio whichhad 53 student applicants for three positions, a ratio of 17.7:1. This observation is a verypositive, upward trend reflecting the interest in Prosthodontics specialty training and all programdirectors express high satisfaction with the number and quality of applicants. Concurrently withincreased numbers of applicants, there are multiple dental schools who have expressed aninterest in opening new programs including University of Pennsylvania-Penn Dental Medicine,Stonybrook University School of Dental Medicine, University of Detroit Mercy, University ofOklahoma, University of Missouri Kansas City and a possible re-opening of a program inUniversity of Louisville.There are 9 dental schools that have either opened or committed to open since 2000 andcurrently, there are 8 new possible dental schools being considered by systems such asUniversity of New Mexico, University of Arkansas and Texas Tech University (Valachovic, 2009).These new schools present great opportunities for creating new programs in Prosthodontics.The ACP created “A Guide for Creating an Accredited Advanced Education Program inProsthodontics” and maintains a list of individuals who self-identified their interest in becoming aProgram Director. These observations bode well for the future of prosthodontic programs!Prosthodontics - 142010 CDEL Re-recognition of the Specialty Report 14 of 279