ADEA To Testify Before House Appropriations Subcommittee In Support Of Dental Education And Research

Main Category: Dentistry
Also Included In: Medical Students / Training
Article Date: 18 Mar 2009 - 6:00 PDT

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On behalf of the American Dental Education Association (ADEA), James Q. Swift, D.D.S., will testify on March 18, 2009 in support of dental education and research programs before the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies.

Dr. Swift, currently Immediate Past President of ADEA and Director of the Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry, will present the Association's FY 2010 budget recommendations for the Title VII Health Professions Education and Training Programs, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), the Dental Health Improvement Act, the Oral Health Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), and the Ryan White CARE Act.

"Oral health is an essential and critical part of general health. Through dental education and research, we can enhance the quality and scope of oral health," Dr. Swift said. He will also highlight the need to address disparities in the oral health of underserved and high-risk communities. "Oral health disparities in combination with the current shortage of dental school faculty, the scarcity of underrepresented minority dentists, and the need for targeted incentives to draw dentists to practice in rural and underserved communities make our FY 2010 funding recommendations critically important," he said.

Dr. Swift will urge Congress to provide $16 million for General Dentistry and Pediatric Dentistry Residency Training Grants; $33.2 billion for NIH, including $440.9 million for the NIDCR; $117 million for the Title VII Diversity programs; $235 million for the National Health Service Corps; $10 million for the Dental Health Improvement Act; $17.5 million for CDC's Oral Health Program; and $19 million for the dental programs included in the Ryan White CARE Act.

The American Dental Education Association (ADEA) is the voice of dental education. Its members include all U.S. and Canadian dental schools and many allied and postdoctoral dental education programs, corporations, faculty, and students. ADEA's mission is to lead individuals and institutions of the dental education community to address contemporary issues influencing education, research, and the delivery of oral health care for the health of the public. ADEA's activities encompass a wide range of research, advocacy, faculty development, meetings, and communications like the esteemed Journal of Dental Education, as well as the dental school admissions services AADSAS and PASS.

Source
American Dental Education Association