Our Programs

Destination Dental School is an intense gateway experience for undergraduate students and bachelor degree recipients who are interested in a career in dentistry. This program prepares individuals who have been historically underrepresented in the profession to successfully apply to dental school.

Effective mentoring programs guide early- to mid-career professionals toward successful, independent careers. They contribute to career goal achievement, excellence in teaching, research and scholarship, and an increase in professional development and satisfaction. Effective mentoring programs are important components to hiring and retention. However, surveyed dental schools show low levels of mentoring programs, and according to a January 2022 climate survey at the University at Buffalo (UB) School of Dental Medicine (SDM), 57% of staff and 48% of faculty disagree or are neutral about receiving adequate mentorship and professional development and employees who are underrepresented minorities by race/ethnicity (URM) report twice as much disagreement (50% vs. 24%) than their non-URM peers.

The University at Buffalo is a diverse, inclusive scholarly community dedicated to bringing the benefits of our research, scholarship, creative activities, and educational excellence to local and global communities in ways that impact and positively change the world. With this mission as our guide, UB is committed to exploring, understanding, and responding to racism and systemic inequality. The UB President’s Advisory Council on Race has identified four key focus areas of attention to guide and shape UB’s policies, programs, activities, and traditions: recruitment and retention of students, recruitment, hiring, and retention of faculty and staff, community engagement, and through curriculum and teaching.

Dear SDM Faculty, Staff and Students,

To achieve excellence across all biomedical and STEM disciplines, we are committed to cultivating a safe and inclusive research and learning environment for all — free of mistreatment, harassment and discrimination.

The UB School of Dental Medicine's annual Student Research Day highlights the broad range of scholarship produced by SDM students and residents. in 2023, the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Office established the Paul Ziarnowski Award for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Research. Research posters eligible for this award have a focus on issues of equity, diversity and inclusion, for example: health disparities, social justice issues,  mental health, diversity in the profession, etc.