This is the latest community dental practice under UofL management, with other locations in Elizabethtown, Louisville, Paducah and Shelbyville. Under the partnership, the practice will be known as Community Dental Clinic In Cooperation With UofL Dental Care.

The modern, 3,500 square foot dental clinic was established in 2009. It serves patients in the seven-county Green River district who do not have commercial dental insurance. Currently, the clinic is the only dental provider in the Owensboro area accepting new patients with Medicaid over the age of 3.

After the transition, services will continue to be provided by a licensed dentist or a UofL School of Dentistry student under the supervision of a licensed dentist. This will be a clinical rotation site for dental students who will learn alongside licensed dentists, gaining valuable experiences that help them become better dentists when they graduate.

Margaret Hill, interim dean of the UofL School of Dentistry, says the partnership is a natural extension of the school’s mission.

“We are expanding access to dental care across Kentucky. The Owensboro clinic provides an excellent opportunity to do that because it is designed to serve, and will continue to serve, low-income patients who have Medicaid or no dental insurance,” Hill said.

Suzanne Craig, chair of the Community Dental Clinic board of directors, says the partnership with UofL will benefit patients in several ways.

“This partnership will help to expand our mission and serve more patients as a whole,” she said. “It will provide the clinic with additional people and resources from the UofL School of Dentistry to support patient care at the clinic and outreach activities, including increased number of free dental screenings in local schools.”

Craig notes that the partnership will further benefit patients who require advanced care from a dental specialist.

“Affiliation with UofL will make it easier for patients to access the expertise of specialty programs within the School of Dentistry less than two hours away in Louisville.”

The University of Louisville also operates a nursing education program in Owensboro. The began as a partnership between UofL and Owensboro Health, providing students in the Owensboro area with the opportunity to earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree in a traditional format.

With this new partnership, Kentucky’s premier metropolitan university is creating an even stronger connection with the Commonwealth’s fourth-largest city.

“Since its establishment in 1887, the UofL School of Dentistry has trained most dentists practicing in Kentucky. Many of our graduates have made the Owensboro area their home, and it’s only natural for us to establish roots there, as well,” Hill said.��

University of Louisville second-year dental student Kierra Dages is one of 11 dental students nationwide recognized for dedication to community service.

Program emcee Dr. Michael Metz, chair of the ULSD’s Department of Comprehensive Dentistry, opened the event by explaining the significance of the white coat in health care professions. He called on students to “wear your white coats with pride today and every day with understanding of all that it signifies to our profession: integrity, compassion and professionalism.”

Kelsey Francisco, a dental hygiene student, echoed that statement, saying, “It is an honor to get the white coat. I feel really inspired coming into the dentistry profession.”

Her dental hygiene classmate, Anab Ahmed, said putting on the white coat also represented a personal achievement.

“I’ve wanted to be a hygienist since high school. I feel like I’m dreaming,” Ahmed said.��

DMD student Talia Kalter said she has also looked forward to this moment for a long time. “I’ve wanted to be a dentist since I was about 8, so it’s really incredible,” she said.

Jack Speelman, who was accepted to the DMD class of 2026 during high school through UofL’s��, said the event also represents the beginning of a new journey: “Over the next four years, I’m looking forward to meeting all of my classmates and learning a lot more about dentistry.”

In addition to donning their white coats during the event, students recited a pledge accepting responsibility to patients, the profession and the community. Representing the Louisville chapter of the American Student Dental Association, Brianna Gill (ULSD DMD class of 2024) led students in the pledge.

Guest speakers included Dr. Terry Norris, representing the Kentucky Section of the American College of Dentists, and Drake Coomer (ULSD DMD class of 2023), representing the Student Professionalism and Ethics Association.

Coomer advised students to rely on each other and their faculty, while remembering that the goal is not just to graduate, but to develop the clinical, ethical and personal principles that will guide their professional lives.

“You are here for a reason,” he said. “The school chose you to come join us in our mission to achieve higher standards for our patients and our profession.”��

About the DMD class of 2026

Admission to the University of Louisville DMD program is highly competitive, with only 120 seats available for each class and more than 10 times that number of applications in a typical year. Academic averages for the class of 2026 are 3.59 overall GPA and 3.46 biology-chemistry-physics GPA. The average Dental Admissions Test score is 20.

In addition to being exceptional academically, the class of 2026 is diverse – with 13% of students coming from historically underrepresented racial/ethnic groups in dentistry. They also come from a wide range of geographic areas, representing 69 colleges and universities across the United States.

Students in the DMD class of 2026 come to ULSD from:

• 22 states: Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia
• 13 countries of birth: Canada, China, Cuba, Egypt, Ghana, Honduras, India, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Russia, Syria, United States (including seven students holding dual citizenship in the United States and another country)

About the Advanced Standing class of 2024

ULSD’s����admission option into the DMD program is designed for selected individuals who have received a dental degree from an institution outside the United States or Canada. ULSD does not admit advanced standing students every year, as the program is depending on space available in the D2 class. This year’s White Coat ceremony honored two internationally-trained dentists who joined ULSD in January 2022 and will graduate with the DMD class of 2024:��Dr. Robertha Jones and Dr. Jhanvia Patel.

About the Dental Hygiene class of 2024

ULSD’s Dental Hygiene program accepts 30 students per year. Members of the class of 2024 have previously completed lower division requirements and gained acceptance into the upper division.

More photos from the ceremony are .��

UofL News:��Tell us how you first landed at UofL.

Margaret Hill:��I’m from a little town in Eastern Kentucky – Ravenna. I’m a proud alumna of Estill County High School and I went to Eastern Kentucky University for my undergrad. I came to the UofL School of Dentistry partially because it just felt right. It was a good fit for me.��

UofL News:��You’ve been part of the UofL community for more than 30 years as a student, faculty, associate dean and now interim dean. What has kept you here?��

Hill:��For me, I think I can distill it down into something very simple. I am addicted to the magic that happens – and it usually happens at chair-side when there’s a student as the operator, a patient in the chair and a faculty member working together. The charge that you get in a clinical setting or the charge that you get when you’re in a didactic setting or a research setting, when students have that ‘aha’ moment and they get it. You have helped them understand a major concept, and especially if it was something that they were struggling with. It is one of the biggest thrills I’ve ever experienced in my life. I think most of us who are in the educational environment live for those moments. There’s such a sense of accomplishment and joy that you’re passing on what someone gave to you.

UofL News: Many people say the School of Dentistry is like a family. What do you think?

Hill:��Very much so. This place is and has always been a family. It’s always felt like family to me. Sometimes it’s quantifiable in the ways that we support each other, and sometimes it’s just that sense of knowing that others are here for you and here to support you, and they’re interested in your success.

We want our graduates to be able to be the best, safe, competent, confident, beginning dental professional they can possibly be. Everything we do is oriented toward that. There’s no decision that is made that isn’t oriented toward that at its fundamental, basic level. We want our students to be successful.��

UofL News:��Thinking back to when you were in dental school, what is one great piece of advice from a faculty member that has stuck with you?

Hill:��We lost Dr. Tom O’Toole recently, and I’ve thought a lot about the contributions he made for all of us who were able to work with him in a clinical or classroom setting. He was a remarkable example of somebody who had such an excellent sense of human nature. I believe that in today’s language we would say he had a very high emotional intelligence.

He taught me so much about working with people, including children. He was a pediatric dentist, and so many of the things that he taught were focused in working with pediatric patients, but it can be applied to people of all ages. He never talked down to children, they just weren’t as knowledgeable as somebody who was a little bit older. And he treated everyone with respect. I use his advice every day.

UofL News: Could you ever have imagined that you’d end up serving as interim dean?

Hill:��Not in a million years. I feel like I represent every woman who has ever gone through this institution. I feel like I represent every woman who’s ever worked for this institution. It’s really important for us in our history, and I can’t tell you what a privilege it is to be able to be the first woman to serve in this position.��

UofL News: What are your goals as the current leader of the School of Dentistry?

Hill:��My goal is to stay on track with many of the initiatives that Dr. Bradley has started and continued in some cases. We’re not moving away from any of those things. We have a tremendous team assembled, and I have the privilege to work with many individuals dedicated to making sure we educate the best safe, competent dental professionals that we can educate.

My other goal is to continue to work toward our site visit from the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) that’s coming up in 2023. It’s really important that we are successful. We are actively in preparation for all of the self-study that has to be done prior to accreditation, and it’s going very well.

I am truly honored that Dr. Bradley chose me to lead the school at this time, and I am fully committed to continuing its legacy of 135 years of excellence in patient care, education and research.

��