Thirteen years after FAMU began its pursuit to open a dental school, Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton has unveiled plans to open a dental school using much of the same rationale and language from FAMU’s original proposal.
The FAMU Board of Trustees approved the idea in October 2009, citing that a College of Dental Medicine "will build upon [FAMU’s] existing strengths in health disciplines,” university officials wrote in the 2009-2014 Strategic Plan. “The school would produce graduates from under-represented populations to serve underserved populations.”
FAMU's proposal had gained the backing of Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, and City of Tallahassee and Leon County officials proposed to kick-in $5 million each to support the school. City and County officials keyed in on an economic study that suggested that FAMU’s dental school will result in 3,127 short-term jobs and create 1,000 permanent jobs in the Panhandle and a total of $775M in economic activity.
FAMU's dental school proposal ran into strong head winds at with the Florida Board of Governors, which must authorize all new doctoral and professional-level programs in the State University System of Florida. In October 2011, FAMU's proposal for a dental school failed to muster the necessary support from the BOG, and the idea was put on "hold".
Like the FAMU proposal, the FAU proposal noted Florida’s acute dental shortage. Currently, 63 out of 67 counties in Florida are facing shortages in dental care with an estimated one-fourth of the state’s population dealing with a lack of dental care. "With insufficient dental care, many have turned to going to the emergency room to treat severe dental issues. It is becoming an expensive issue for Floridians," FAU noted.
With more than 22 million residents, Florida has only one public dental school, the University of Florida (UF). There are two private dental schools in Florida, including Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) and Nova Southeastern University (NSU). With Florida’s population rapidly rising by the day, the lack of access to adequate dental care will worsen into the next decade.
FAU, on the other hand, is requesting an annual operating subsidy from the state of $37.9 million, plus $85.464 million in one-time funds from state to purchase specialty equipment, build a 90,000-sf building, and hire faculty. Unlike FAMU's plan, FAU's plan would not address the severe dental shortage in Florida's rural and underserved communities.
If approved, FAU hopes to enroll its first students in 2025.