Morehead State University (MSU) has received approval from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) for a $400,000 grant to initiate the Appalachian Rural Dental Education Partnership Program.
This partnership with the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Dentistry is designed to increase awareness and support for dental careers among kindergarten through 12th-grade (K-12) students in eastern Kentucky; establish a new undergraduate predental curriculum at MSU with links to the UK dental school; and improve oral health conditions at MSU and in the surrounding region. The goal of the strategic effort is to improve access to dental professionals in underserved areas such as Appalachian Kentucky's distressed counties.
MSU received ARC funding in 2011 and 2012 to plan a substantial regional partnership to address the barriers to oral health in eastern Kentucky. MSU and UK are now moving ahead with priority activities, including three major components this year: the early dental pipeline, campus dental pipeline, and campus/regional oral health literacy efforts.
The early dental pipeline will include career development activities targeting K-12 students, teachers, counselors, and parents in northeastern and eastern Kentucky. Career events and social media will be deployed by MSU and UK, targeting students in eight to 10 middle and high schools. One elementary school will be selected for a fourth-grade health profession program to test a model for future expansion to other primary schools. The campus dental pipeline will start a rural predental curriculum for the MSU campus to include oral health and dental career courses followed by 12 hours of senior-level dual-credit courses for students who are accepted into the UK Doctor of Dental Medicine program.
This project is also intended to strengthen UK's statewide Kentucky Oral Health Network (KOHN). KOHN hubs will host practicing dentists who will provide treatment in a training setting.
In addition to the ARC funds, matching resources will include $47,201 from MSU and $67,326 from UK, bringing the total project funding to $514,437.
