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East Carolina University officials
announced Monday that Sylva,
Ahoskie and Elizabeth City
are the first three locations
for community service learning
centers that will be part
of the university’s
new dental school.
The
university plans 10 of these
centers in rural and underserved
areas throughout the state.
Dental school faculty members
will be based in the centers,
along with advanced dental
residents and senior students
who will receive enhanced
dental education in real
practice settings. The students
and faculty will offer much-needed
dental care to citizens
in the areas surrounding
the centers.
Cecil Groves, president
of Southwestern Community
College, said the center
will be welcomed in Sylva.
“We are very excited
about what they are doing,
especially in rural areas,”
said Groves, who attended
the news conference Monday
at East Carolina. “Good
dental health is important
for overall health and we
are looking forward to working
with ECU in any way possible.”
Exact locations for the
centers in the first three
communities have not been
identified. University officials
are continuing discussions
with local leaders to determine
the best places to locate
the centers in the selected
communities. The three communities
were selected on the basis
of access, according to
ECU officials who said they
were looking for areas where
dental care is in short
supply and difficult to
obtain.
ECU Chancellor Steve Ballard
said the community service
learning centers represent
an important step toward
increasing access to dental
care in North Carolina.
The state is below the national
average in the ratio of
dentists to population,
and that ratio has declined
recently as the population
has increased faster than
the supply of practitioners.
Four North Carolina counties
have no dentists at all,
and five more counties could
soon be without dentists
because their dentists have
reached retirement age.
In addition, 39 mostly rural
counties had a decrease
in dentists between 1997
and 2007.
The dental school is slated
to open in the fall of 2011
with 50 students and will
eventually reach 200 students.
Five students in their fourth
year will study in each
learning center, along with
faculty, residents and dental
hygienists.
The North Carolina General
Assembly has provided about
$90 million in funding for
construction.
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