Volume 2

Number 3
September 1993
INTRODUCTION
Rating of Dental Schools
n the March 13, 1993 issue of U.S. Aeajs and FVorld
I Report the fourth annual edition of Americas Best
Graduate Schools was published. In the previous
three editions, the magazine has rated the compara-
tive merits of hundrcds of business, engineering, law,
and medical schools as well as graduate programs in
numeroils other career specialties.
For the first time this year U.S. I%ka~~c and World
Repmt also looked at other graduate programs in the
rapidly expanding health care field. These programs
included schools of pharmacy, nursirig, health care
administration, and dentistry. The task facing the
many individuals who evaluated these schools was
monumental. The variables that needed to be consid-
ered are so complex as to make the job exceedingly
difficult.
The acadcmic dircction of a dental school is bascd
on many factors, some of which are influenced by
local conditions. The financial support a school re-
ceives, or lack of it, influcnccs whcther a school must
emphasize clinical income or whether income Gom
external sources allows a school to pursue research in
a more vigorous manner. This is only one of the
factors that a prospcctive student or their parents
should consider in selecting a dental school.
US , News and WorldRqpwt implies that the numer-
ical r ahg of the schools in their survey indicatcs the
level of their academic programs. I believe that
nothing could be further Fromthe truth. As some
readers know, I am a faculty member, and have been
for 20years, of the number one rated dental school in
the survey, the Dental School at the University ol
Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. To say
we are not proud of thc number one rating would be
exhibiting mock modesty. At the same time, to say
we are truly number onc would be decidedly foolish.
LS~. ~S. News and M/orld Report is in the business of
providing information, including the comparative
merits of graduate programs, to the public. A busi-
ness ofwhich I think they are very c,apable, and I for
one will not tell them how to conduct their business.
America is fortunate to have a number ofoutstand-
ing dental schools differing primarily by external
factors over which they have little control. I do take
great pride in being part of the academic romponent
of our grcat profession and haw much admiration
for those clinicians, researchers, and others who
together offer the public the best in dental health
care.
It is my suggestion that dental educators stay
united and proceed with respect for our colleagues
and with the goal of providing our students with the
best possible educational expericnces and the public
with the best possible dental care, and at the same
time expand knowledge and dcvclop new techniques
and materials to carry dentistry strongly into the
next century. We are not different from our predeccs-
sors, not better or more dedicated, but we are using
the legacy they provided us w;th to build a brighter,
broadcr future for tomorrow.
Kenneth L. Stewart, DDS
Editor-in-chief
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