Introduction

 

“See one, do one, teach one”

It is the latter of those three concepts that is currently in dire trouble in United States. At some point in your career you may have considered being a part of dental education, but various factors hold you back. Part of every dentist’s practice is educating both their individual patients and their community at large; we are all teachers by design and by necessity. The need for your personal involvement in dental education has never been higher or more in demand. What you can bring to dental education is beyond what you might believe. Additionally, the number of opportunities at the full-time, part-time salaried, or volunteer level is unprecedented.

Opportunities

Whether you are a recent dental college graduate, in the midst of conducting a private practice, or nearing the end of your private practice career, you are desperately needed as an educator now. Frankly, there has never been a better time to enter into dental education. There are an extraordinary number of opportunities for all levels of practitioners to become educators. New schools are being created daily and the variety of settings in which educators are needed is unheralded. Whether in a dental school, a hospital general practice or pediatric dentistry residency, or an allied dental health professional educational setting, the shortage of full-time, part-time, and volunteer teachers is at a critical point. You can be part of the solution.

The reasons that most of us have considered being educators in our profession are many and varied. To be the one person who motivates a student toward excellence and an ethical private practice is immeasurably gratifying, even life validating.

Giving back

We all wish to give something back. It may still be a challenge to annually send a check to our alma mater, but giving time to teaching is equally valid. Consider the MBA analysis wherein the RoR or “Rate of Return” is frequently used. What income difference has your professional education made in your life? Quite a considerable difference! A recent Journal of Dental Education article from August, 2012, by Nash et al. notes that even accounting for lost wages, tuition, and other related costs, a typical practitioner is earning between 30% - 50% more annually than an average college graduate.

It is time to thank the source of that difference, dental education. Now, let’s find out what academic tracks interest you.

Page(/page/introduction.md)