Perspectives on Licensure, Education, and the Role of the Public in Accreditation: Reactions to Lisa A. Tedesco's “Revising Accreditation Processes and Standards to Address Current Challenges in Dental Education”

Dr. Joel F. Glover, a dentist in private practice in Reno, NV, former member of the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA), past president of the American Association of Dental Examiners, and current member of the American Dental Association Board of Trustees, asked the audience to keep in mind the question of how dentistry can effectively address and support the challenges facing dental education, without repeating history. Drawing on his twenty-two years of experience as a dental examiner, he said he agrees that dental education, dental research, and licensure are at a critical juncture and that it is important to the future of dentistry that change be led by people inside the dental profession. He agreed with Tedesco that CODA needs to reflect on recent reports that make a case for change and, specifically, the ten points that Tedesco made regarding standards, guidelines, and the accreditation system within dental education. Glover emphasized that “we want to no longer say that education is hampered by CODA standards and that students are doing things in the clinic so they can pass their dental clinical licensure exam.” The motivation for students in the dental clinic should be for the betterment of care of the patient.