University of Southern California School of Dentistry

As part of one of the world’s largest private research universities, located in ethnically diverse Los Angeles, the USC School of Dentistry is well positioned to pursue our primary goal of improving the health of all Americans through education, service and research in oral health.

USC Dentistry has educated close to 14,000 health professionals in the art and science of dentistry, including leaders in dental education, research and the dental profession. Today, USC Dentistry prepares oral health professionals in its doctoral dental, dental hygiene, general practice residency and eight advanced specialty education programs. Students can pursue graduate degrees in craniofacial molecular biology and earn other advanced degrees in conjunction with their advanced specialty education.

Innovative combination programs with USC’s Marshall School of Business, Keck School of Medicine, Viterbi School of Engineering and Davis School of Gerontology provide students at USC with additional opportunities to broaden their educational experiences in pursuing their interests and career objectives.

USC Dentistry’s doctoral dental program is founded upon a problem-based learning pedagogy. This methodology promotes critical thinking and competencies for lifelong learning required by future oral health professionals in a world of rapid advances in knowledge, changing demographics, disease patterns, health management and delivery systems, technology and quality of life expectations.

The school also continues to be a major recipient of federally-sponsored biomedical research funds, ranking high among all dental school institutions receiving funding from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR.)

Annually, more than 70,000 people receive healthcare through the school’s dental clinic located on the University Park Campus and community-based health programs that provide oral healthcare, free screenings and health education in underserved areas of California.

The school’s dental clinic offers comprehensive oral healthcare and special services for Southern Californians and is particularly convenient for families in the low-income neighborhoods surrounding the university. Patients with medical, developmental and/or age-related disabilities are seen in the school’s Special Patients Clinic, which is a valuable resource to people for whom access to care is sometimes difficult.

Community-based health programs target underserved populations from Bakersfield to the Mexican border. The school’s Mobile Clinic treats children from low-income families in Southern California. The Neighborhood Mobile Clinic, a mobile unit stationed on Los Angeles Unified School District playgrounds in some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods, has provided dental services and dental education to thousands of elementary and middle school students. USC’s clinic at the Union Rescue Mission serves the oral health needs of the homeless on Los Angeles’ Skid Row and is the first clinic in the area to provide care for homeless children. USC Dentistry also has clinics dedicated to elderly patients at the Hollenbeck Home in MacArthur Park. These community outreach efforts also provide valuable service-learning opportunities for our students—one of the hallmarks of a USC education.

Accreditation Status: Approval with Reporting Requirements

In the News

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