Innovative curriculum, purpose-driven care
ATSU’s sixth school, the Missouri School of Dentistry & Oral Health (ATSU-MOSDOH), was established in 2013 on the Missouri campus. ATSU-MOSDOH was founded to address the disparities in oral healthcare in Missouri and across the nation. By graduating dentists who have an in-depth understanding of and a desire to serve populations in need, ATSU-MOSDOH will help increase access to and services for vulnerable populations.
Offering a doctor of dental medicine, MOSDOH’s dental program features an innovative curriculum, simulation technology, state-of-the-art facilities, service learning experiences, and leadership training. ATSU-MOSDOH’s curriculum is integrative by interweaving core disciplines into the humans systems, preclinical, and dental sciences with a strong emphasis on the application of clinical medicine and clinical dentistry. Students spend their first and second year studying basic sciences and basic principles of patient care in the classroom and complete dental simulation exercises in the Kirksville campus simulation clinic. During the third and fourth years, students transition to the clinical environment by providing patient care at the St. Louis Dental Education and Oral Health Clinic.
To provide the core dental clinical curriculum, ATSU-MOSDOH has partnered with Affinia Healthcare, formerly Grace Hill Health Centers, Inc., in St. Louis. The innovative partnership with Missouri’s largest community health center allows ATSU-MOSDOH to focus on the educational elements of comprehensive patient care, while Affinia Healthcare manages the clinical operation. At the St. Louis clinic, third-year students work under the direct supervision of licensed ATSU-MOSDOH dental faculty. During the fourth year, students spend half of the year in the St. Louis clinic, and the other half of the year in community health centers and other safety net clinics in St. Louis and throughout the Midwest, all under the supervision of ATSU-MOSDOH adjunct faculty. Additionally, students who have not obtained either a certificate or master’s degree in public health with a dental emphasis will earn a certificate in public health while enrolled at ATSU-MOSDOH.
