Dental Public Health

The DPH program is not accepting applications at this time. For more information on dental public health, please contact Amid Ismail in the School of Dentistry at ismailai@umich.edu.

Studies within the program in Dental Public Health are designed to prepare dentists and dental hygienists for a wide range of administrative, supervisory, academic, and research careers. In addition to the M.P.H. degree that is administered by the School of Public Health, the Ph.D. in Epidemiologic Science is also available through the Rackham School of Graduate Studies. Admission to the Dental Public Health program is usually given only to dentists and dental hygienists, though licensure in Michigan is not required.

Advanced Dental Residency Education and Community Health (ADREACH (M.P.H./AEGD Residency)

The program was designed by representatives from the (1) School of Public Health and School of Dentistry, at the University of Michigan, (2) the Center for Family Health in Jackson, Michigan, and other community health centers in the MI, and (3) the Lutheran Medical Center (LMC) in Brooklyn, New York. This innovative program combines a dental residency in community health clinics (AEGD) with training in dental public health (M.P.H.). The program now accepts dentists who have a license to practice dentistry in the USA or are eligible for licensure in Michigan. Participants will be enrolled in the AEGD program offered by Lutheran Medical Center and the Master of Public Health (Dental Public Health/Epidemiology) offered by the Schools of Public Health and Dentistry at the University of Michigan. Students will be employed by LMC and a stipend and fringe benefits will be paid. The duration of funding for the stipend will be for a minimum of one year. Tuition for the M.P.H. and travel/living allowances will be paid by the community health centers.

Participants in the ADREACH will enroll in courses starting from June of the first year. The AEGD residency will start in July and the M.P.H. courses/AEGD residency will continue from September of the first year until August of the second year. The program will take around 26 months to complete. Students will receive a certificate in AEGD, a M.P.H., and will be board eligible in dental public health.

Information on the program can be obtained by contacting Dr. Amid I. Ismail, Director, Program in Dental Public Health, School of Public Health, University of Michigan (email: ismailai@umich.edu).

Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) in Dental Public Health

In the M.P.H. program in Dental Public Health, students are admitted for degree courses of 48 or 60 credit hours. The 48-hour program is for dentists and extends over four terms and includes a summer field experience of some eight weeks. The 60 hour degree, over at least four terms is offered for dental hygienists with a Bachelor of Science degree or equivalent, and for dentists who wish to become board-eligible for specialty certification by the American Board of Dental Public Health. It also includes a required summer field experience. The 60-hour curriculum is accredited by the American Dental Association as meeting the educational requirements for specialty certification by the American Board of Dental Public Health.

There are four major areas in the 60 credit hour program in Dental Public Health MPH curriculum:

School-wide requirements, including basic epidemiology and an introductory biostatistics course
"Breadth requirements" which are fulfilled by taking courses outside the specific focus of epidemiology
Departmental requirements including computers for epidemiologists, epidemiologic methods, Prevention of Oral Diseases, Administration in Dental Public Health, a chronic or infectious disease course, and three advanced biostatistics courses
Capstone and Integrative Courses including: Foundations in Dental Public Health, Collection and Analysis of Dental Data and a fieldwork requirement to be completed between the first and second year

The reduced credit programs in Dental Public Health do not require a fieldwork project, and several of the courses listed above would also not be required.

Graduation requirements for all M.P.H. programs can be viewed by visiting the M.P.H. Graduation Requirements page.

Doctoral Degree (Ph.D.)

The requirements for applying for the doctoral program for Dental Public Health is slightly different than that for the other tracks in the department. Applicants may be dentists or dental hygienists with a Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) or equivalent degree. Admission may be granted to those with outstanding academic backgrounds who do not have the M.P.H. degree, these applicants will need to achieve MPH equivalency, though there are exceptions. The prior M.P.H. degree can be obtained from any accredited School of Public Health. If you are interested in a doctoral degree in Epidemiology please click here to see details about the Doctoral Program in Epidemiology