Midwestern U. welcomes inaugural class of dental medicine

Midwestern University welcomed 131 students to the inaugural class of the new College of Dental Medicine-Illinois. The class ranges in age from 21 to 37 years-old, is 63 percent male and 37 percent female, and hail from 27 different states and three foreign countries. They will graduate in 2015 and provide needed dental care to their communities.

According to the American Dental Association, a sizable proportion of the U.S. population has difficulty procuring needed or wanted oral healthcare. Midwestern's College of Dental Medicine-Illinois is the first dental school to open in Illinois in the last 40 years and joins only two others in the state.

Midwestern students will begin their first two-years of study on the Downers Grove Campus and complete their clinical education at the new Midwestern University Clinic scheduled to open in 2013. At the clinic, community members will benefit from comprehensive, state-of-the-art dental care from Midwestern students under the close guidance of faculty mentors.

The College of Dental Medicine-Illinois joins three other colleges on the Downers Grove Campus including the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine, the Chicago College of Pharmacy, and the College of Health Sciences.