A.T. Still University

07/19/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/19/2024 08:08

ATSU-MOSDOH celebrates incoming class of 2028 students, new international program class

ATSU-MOSDOH celebrates incoming class of 2028 students, new international program class

Posted: July 19, 2024

A.T. Still University's Missouri School of Dentistry & Oral Health (ATSU-MOSDOH) welcomed 64 students, members of the class of 2028, with a White Coat Ceremony on Friday, July 12, 2024, in Kirksville, Missouri.

Additionally, ATSU-MOSDOH welcomed 11 students who are members of the Advanced Standing International Dentist program, designed for internationally educated dentists who desire to earn their doctor of dental medicine (DMD) degree for practice in the United States.

Through this program, international students serve the underserved in the local community by providing care at the St. Louis Dental Center, a dental clinic operated as a partnership between ATSU-MOSDOH and Affinia Healthcare. Students complete a special semester-long didactic and clinical simulation course before completing coursework which is similar to the traditional DMD program's curriculum.

The White Coat Ceremony is a ritual practiced by many groups in the healing professions. It symbolizes the students' commitment to the obligations of their new profession. Characteristic of this ceremony is publicly swearing an oath acknowledging the students' responsibility to their new profession and future patients.

ATSU-MOSDOH Dean Dwight McLeod, DDS, MS, formally inducted the new students into the School by asking them to join with him in reading the Oath to the Profession.

ATSU-MOSDOH's class of 2028 includes 64 students from 17 different states and nine countries, with 16 students from Missouri. One student is a graduate of Truman State University in Kirksville.

Watch the full ceremony here.