Shrinking Dental Faculty Crisis Spurs Retention Plans

Shrinking Dental Faculty Crisis Spurs Retention Plans

Diminishing ranks of full-time clinical faculty among the nation’s dental schools is characterized as “a major crisis confronting dentistry” in a report assembled by faculty from seven U.S. dental programs. Among the reasons fewer graduates choose a teaching path, the report notes, is an income gap between clinical professors and clinicians in private practice.

The report, “Recruitment, Development and Retention of Dental Faculty in a Changing Environment,” led by Vanchit John, associate professor and director of predoctoral periodontics at Indiana University School of Dentistry, notes an average difference in earnings of $86,000 between clinical faculty and general dentists.

Faculty vacancies at dental schools average seven per dental school, according to the report, which also connects the declining number of faculty to burn-out caused by the overwhelming demands of teaching, research, clinical work and administrative activities.

In order to reverse the trend, the report urges steps toward developing mandatory mentoring programs. The plan, referred among its authors as “Growing Our Own,” outlines how dental schools might reverse or slow the exodus of faculty. Better compensation, revised programs for loan and tuition payment, and waiver programs are some of the solutions offered. Increasing private practice opportunities for clinical faculty, and scholarships for junior faculty development are also measures the plan suggests.

Mentoring programs designed to cultivate faculty from among students who show an interest in teaching are also recommended by the authors, who outlined several steps they believe would help establish successful mentoring programs. John notes that while mentoring programs might be the core of measures designed to quell faculty shortages, other steps would also need to be taken. Some of the suggestions included allowing clinical faculty the flexibility to pursue opportunities for consulting and lecturing.

Source: Indiana University, Journal of Dental Education