Dental Faculty Loan Repayment - The University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry (OUCOD), the state's only dental school, proposes to implement a Dental Faculty Loan Repayment Program to address persistent challenges in recruiting and retaining dental faculty. OUCOD respectfully requests consideration under Funding Priority 9: Shortage Areas. The College is located at the University of Oklahoma Health Campus in Oklahoma City within the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) designated Medically Underserved Area/Population (MUA/P) of Central Oklahoma City (Source ID 07306; IMU score 51.3) and serves patients from this and other nearby underserved communities, including East Oklahoma City (Source ID 07307; IMU score 60). Oklahoma currently has fewer dentists per capita than the national average, and the College is preparing to expand enrollment by 33 percent over the next five years while increasing community based clinical training opportunities throughout the state. Achieving these goals requires recruitment and retention of qualified faculty educators at a time when educational debt and salary differentials between academic and private practice settings create significant barriers to academic careers. OUCOD will establish and administer a Dental Faculty Loan Repayment Program that will provide educational loan repayment assistance to eligible full time faculty members selected through a competitive application process. The program will be administered by a Dental Faculty Loan Repayment Program Advisory and Selection Committee and a designated Program Coordinator. Participants will be selected based on educational debt burden, commitment to academic dentistry, faculty development activities, teaching contributions, community engagement, and service to rural and medically vulnerable populations. Participants will engage in structured faculty development and mentoring activities designed to promote long term careers in academic dentistry. Participants will complete the College's GROWTH Faculty Development Program, receive mentoring from faculty mentors and Division Heads, participate in university level professional development programs, and engage in interprofessional and community based teaching activities. Educational experiences will include participation in Unity Clinic, Crossings Community Dental Clinic, Oklahoma Mission of Mercy, Kids' Day, and other outreach activities serving rural, underserved, and medically vulnerable populations. The project's objectives are to: (1) reduce educational debt among eligible full time dental faculty through a structured loan repayment program, (2) encourage long term employment and retention of dental educators, and (3) promote faculty development and advancement through mentoring, professional development, interprofessional education, and community based teaching activities. Measurable outcomes include implementation of the Dental Faculty Loan Repayment Program, loan repayment support for eligible faculty participants selected through a competitive review process, annual participation in mentoring and faculty development activities, engagement in community based and interprofessional teaching experiences, and tracking of faculty retention and advancement outcomes during participation and for one year following program completion. Through these activities, OUCOD will strengthen faculty capacity, support expansion of dental education programs, and enhance preparation of future oral health professionals to serve Oklahoma's rural, underserved, and medically vulnerable communities while increasing access to oral health care in federally designated shortage and underserved areas throughout the state.
