2024 Report

In 2021, UB SDM’s Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) launched Destination Dental School (DDS), a summer pathway program for undergraduate and post-baccalaureate students. Since 2022, DDS has collaborated with the Native American Pre-Dental Student Gateway Program (Gateway), a pathway program founded in collaboration with the Seneca Nation Health System to advance opportunities for Native American/American Indian students. Together, we aim to increase the enrollment of underrepresented students in the field of dental medicine. In just four years, our programs have graduated 115 fellows representing 32 states and territories and 73 colleges and universities. 

In 2024, our programs supported 31 students representing 10 U.S. states and 20 universities and colleges. Fifty percent were New York State residents with 20% attending UB. Participants ages ranged from 19 to 35 years old. Race/ethnicity of program participants included: 23% Asian; 19% American Indian/Alaska Native (participants of the Gateway program); 19% Black/African American; 16% Hispanic/Latinx; 13% Middle Eastern and 3% White. All 31 participants self-identified as disadvantaged according to the NIH definition[1]. Seventy-nine percent of participants identified as female. Seventy-seven percent of fellows were undergraduate students, 6% received their bachelor’s degree, and 16% were in graduate/professional degree programs. 

1. Goal 1: Understand day to day life as a dentist and as a dental student.
   Participants get insight into the different disciplines of dental medicine through presentations and panel discussions, and participate in hands-on-activities that increase hand skill development.
2. Goal 2: Strengthen future dental school applications.
   Participants learn about the DAT and recommended study habits, participate in intensive tutoring sessions, and take practice DAT exams. Participants prepare for the dental school admissions process by learning about admissions policies and procedures from students, faculty and staff, participating in mock interviews, and working on dental school application materials.
3. Goal 3: Learn how to propose and develop a research topic.
   Participants’ capstone projects center around a research topic in oral health. Teams learn best practices in conducting research and present their findings during in-person capstone research presentations. 

Curriculum

2024 program fellows met for six weeks during the months of May and June. During the first five weeks, held virtually every Saturday from 10am-1pm (ET), UB SDM faculty and students as well as guest lecturers introduced the disciplines/specialties of dentistry, the DAT, the admissions process, and academics in dental school. Participants also joined optional and additional DAT tutoring sessions. 

The sixth week of programming featured a one-week in-person, intensive training program at the UB SDM. Over 70 UB SDM faculty, students and staff supported the event. With guidance and leadership from UB SDM students and residents, participants rotated through pre-doc, pediatrics and prosthodontic clinics, as well as our dental tech laboratories. With support from current dental students in UB SDM’s state of the art simulation lab, they completed hands on activities including resin placement, suturing, alginate impressions, bleaching trays and root canal procedures on acrylic blocks. Members of the admissions team led mock interviews and current students conducted a resume clinic to help prepare students for dental school applications. Programming also included final presentations of capstone research projects as well as guest presentations and lectures. Finally, a local excursion to Niagara Falls provided opportunities to learn about the culture and history of the area. 

Pre- and post-program surveys measured change in participants’ perceived knowledge, preparedness and likelihood of applying to dental school. 100% of participants responded to the pre- and post-program survey.

Knowledge Pre-/post-program survey comparisons of perceived knowledge in “the field of dental medicine” increased from 51% (pre) to 68% (post); “disciplines within dental medicine” 29% to 74%; “day to day life as a dentist” 48% to 68%; “dental school application process” 29% to 74%; “strategies to improve dental school applications” 23% to 80%; “dental admissions test” 32% to 71%; “interview skills” 10% to 77%; “research in dental medicine” 16% to 71%; “how to conduct research” 39% to 77%.

Preparedness/Likelihood Fellows also self-assessed their ability to perform the following activities: “hand skill development” 64% (pre) to 52% (post), “giving an evidence-based presentation” 48% to 68%, “working effectively in a team” 74% to 71%, “interviewing” 26% to 65%, “networking/communication skills” 58% to 58%. Although post-program responses were lower than pre-program responses for “hand skill development,” 35% of fellows stated that their ability to perform hand skills had significantly changed from the beginning of the program to the end. A reduction in perceived abilities for “hand skill development” and “working effectively in a team” may be a result of exposure to newer, less familiar hand skills and difficulty managing team projects that included fellows in multiple states with competing schedules. Additionally, although their self-assessed networking skills did not change, when asked how their ability to network changed, 48% responded that it “significantly changed”. Fellows also felt more comfortable leading a group with 61% feeling comfortable pre-program and 90% feeling comfortable post-program.

Data also revealed increases in perceived preparedness to “apply to dental school” 32% to 81%, likelihood of applying to “dental school” 97% to 100%, and likelihood of applying to the “UB School of Dental Medicine” 100% to 100%.

Annual Outcome Survey
An annual survey measuring program outcomes including educational status, DAT, DDS applications and enrollment, mentorship, and demographics is shared with all alumni every August. Of the possible 115 responses, 71 responded, a 62% response rate. Of 71 respondents, 97% are still pursuing a career in dentistry. Thirty-six alum, or 51% have taken the DAT with the academic average being an 19 and a range from 13 to 28. As of September 2024, 39% of alum had applied to dental school. Of the alum who have applied, 60% or 15 alum were accepted into dental schools including UB, NYU, High Point, U Michigan, and Howard. To date 16 alum are enrolled in dental schools across the nation 3 who started at UB SDM in 2024. 

In 2022, 2023, and 2024 DDS was a recipient of the INSIGHT into Diversity Magazine’s Inspiring Programs in STEM Award, a national recognition for colleges and universities that encourage and support students from underrepresented groups to enter careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) through mentoring, teaching and research. Our pathway programs also contributed to UB SDM receiving Insight Into Diversity’s Higher Education Excellence in Diversity award in 2023 and 2024. 

The DDS and Gateway program were organized by the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine. Our 2024 leadership team included Dr. Wendell Carmona, DDS Program Director; Dr. Joe Salamon, Gateway Program Director; Dr. Simone Duarte, Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at UB SDM; Dr. Arian Johnson, Founder of DDS and UB SDM alum (’21); and Ms. Jessica Scates, Director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Operations at UB SDM.

This program would not be possible without the support of our generous donors and sponsors.

2024 Donors for DDS included the Philip and Catherine Galeota Family Fund. Donors for the 2023 Gateway Program included National Indian Health Board, Seneca Nation Health System, Seneca Iroquois National Museum, and United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc. (USET).

Donors for combined programming included: Eighth District Dental Society, Evolution Dental, Henry Schein Foundation, Ivoclar Vivadent, Kerr Dental, Patterson Dental and DAT Bootcamp.

Footnotes:

[1] https://www.era.nih.gov/commons/disadvantaged_def.htm