Curriculum
The four-year DDS curriculum is designed to train health care leaders who practice dentistry as the oral health specialty of medicine.
Classes emphasize critical thinking, innovation, and the interpersonal and cultural competency skills that are critical to delivering good care. A pass/fail grading system is designed to keep the emphasis on learning, with each year building upon the prior year.
First-of-its-kind technology in the new Center for Precision Dental Medicine, a clinical and educational facility, personalizes education like never before. A streamlined, state-of-the-art clinic gathers data to help each student succeed in clinical and simulation work. Faculty tailor instruction to individual learning styles and paces=. Students spend time reviewing their own work to better refine their efforts. Global assessments at the end of each year determine mastery of all requirements for moving onto the next level.
At Columbia, one of only four U.S. schools where dental students are trained alongside medical students, the curriculum begins with 18 months of side-by-side learning with students from the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Preclinical simulation training takes place in the very space where students later see patients, so the transition to patient care in their third year is seamless. Our third- and fourth-year students work in small practice groups to care for patients from our diverse northern Manhattan community. We treat a broad spectrum of dental care needs of our neighbors, both within our clinics and through work in the greater community.