Dental education 1989: how are we adapting to change?

Multiple pressures on the nation's dental schools have come in the form of a declining applicant pool, new university expectations of scholarship, and a changed professional environment for the dentist. The declining applicant pool led to a first-step response: declining enrollments. Schools are now moving to a new phase in which they must cope with severe fiscal pressures simultaneously with developing new programs to equip the dentist for the changed professional environment. Factors in the new environment for dentistry are discussed, including changing demography and distribution of disease, new technology, and the changed marketplace. Fiscal survival options are reviewed, as are emerging differences between public and private schools. The recent experience of five schools seeking to adapt to fiscal and environmental pressures is described, and six criteria are suggested as useful in measuring the success of these (and other) schools. Crucial issues are discussed from the perspective of the dental school and the university. The value of the dental school as a major resource for the university is stressed, as is the important role of university administrators in providing the necessary conditions for schools that must change.