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A Comparison of Seven Predental Postbaccalaureate Programs in Gaining Dental School Acceptance for Their Students
Author(s) -
Johnson Gary M.,
Polk Howard H.,
Van Da Huvel Scott D.,
Ferguson Gilda P.,
Soby Scott D.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of dental education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.53
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1930-7837
pISSN - 0022-0337
DOI - 10.21815/jde.016.025
Subject(s) - graduation (instrument) , disadvantaged , cohort , dental education , entrance exam , medical education , medicine , family medicine , academic year , psychology , population , test (biology) , mathematics education , pedagogy , curriculum , environmental health , political science , geometry , mathematics , law , paleontology , biology
Predental students are often unsuccessful in gaining admission to dental school because of low academic scores. Many of these students are from economically and/or educationally disadvantaged backgrounds. Postbaccalaureate and Master's programs provide these students with the opportunity to raise their grade point averages and/or scores on the Dental Admission Test and then apply or reapply for dental school admission. The aim of this study was to compare seven of these postbac programs and their success rates in gaining dental school admission for their graduates. Data were gathered in 2016 from the directors of dedicated predental postbac programs at seven universities in the United States to compare their programs’ duration, size of cohort, and percentage of participants gaining admission to dental school and graduating. These predental postbac programs varied in duration, cohort size, and tuition, but had a similar purpose in preparing students for the rigors of dental school. Most of the programs were small, some were selective for disadvantaged students, and all were heavily focused on biological sciences. The dental school admission rate for participants in these seven programs ranged from 45% to over 95%. Students who gained dental school admission after participating in these programs had a 95–100% graduation rate from dental school. These results demonstrate the success of these seven programs in preparing students to gain admission to and graduation from dental school and contribute to diversifying the population of dental students and thus of practicing dentists.