School of Dental Medicine Combines Dentistry, Physiology with Success

The School of Dental Medicine, only one of its kind in the world, has settled down so well after five years of trial and tribulation that Dean James M. Dunning does not see any chance of a return to the conventional dental school practices which were abandoned in 1941.

When an investigation-recommendation committee was set up in 1941 under the leadership of President Conant, it was decided that "educational pioneering was necessary to bring about important advances in dentistry."

Establishing a "five-year-plan" in 1948 to enable dentistry students to get a broader knowledge of the field, the committee started enrollees off in the Medical School for the first time in the 75 year history of the institution.

But before the first class had graduated under this plan, the five year idea was deemed impractical because the Army would not accept it and there was great difficulty in planning a five year curriculum which would lead to both a dental and medical degree.

To remedy this situation the program was revised to lead to a degree in dental medicine after four years. Once a student graduates with this degree he is able to return to the medical school for two additional years and receive his degree in medicine.

This course has been followed by more than 50 per cent since it began.

As the revised program now runs, the student starts out with the basic courses in medicine, studying anatomy, bacteriology, and pharmacology, and learns how to spot general diseases that first show symptoms in the month.

After the two year period of basic medicine is over, the embryonic dentists adjourn to their own class and clinic to complete the course which will give them a Doctorate of Dental Medicine.