Rural dentist education to grow in Spokane under Legislature funding and new space

Education to train dentists mainly for rural work is expanding this summer in Spokane in facility size and student numbers.

The University of Washington School of Dentistry will lease space for a new oral health training center to grow its Regional Initiatives in Dental Education program.Started in 2008, the program is a partnership of the UW dentistry school and Eastern Washington University to prepare future dentists to work in rural and underserved areas of the state where there are shortages.

This spring, it received $2.5 million from the Legislature along with federal grants to expand the four-year program, doubling the number of students per year from eight to 16 – or 64 students once all cohorts are filled – and creating space for a second year in Spokane.

Read the full article from the Spokesman Review here.