Hudson Valley's First Dental School Ends Inaugural Year

WESTCHESTER, NY — The Touro College of Dental Medicine was accredited a year ago and its inaugural class is moving up. One member of the class, Jessica Li, has become an ambassador of sorts to the dental college's students in the community. A Westchester native, she has assisted incoming students with finding housing, as well as giving them the down-low on where to eat and drink around campus.

The daughter of a dentist, Li originally had no interest in following in her father’s footsteps. She attended Cornell as a communications major, but slowly found herself working on more and more projects involving dentistry. This eventually led her back to Westchester to join the inaugural class at Touro College of Dental Medicine, located at New York Medical College in Valhalla.

“What an incredible experience it's been to be the first and only class at Touro College of Dental Medicine @ NYMC!" she said. "This year has had its fair share of ups and downs, but I have felt so privileged to get the full attention of the faculty and professors as they work on developing and bettering this new school."

Li sees a great many opportunities that come with being a part of the inaugural class at TCDM.

"As we get ready to welcome the incoming Class of 2021, we are constantly reminded of how far the school has come in just one year," she said. "The 4th floor of the Skyline Building (which includes the Sim Lab, the Testing Center, and several other great spaces) was completed and is fully operational. The school is now working on building the clinic (on the 3rd floor of Skyline) in preparation for our class to begin clinical years in the summer of 2018."

Students have a chance to make their own mark on the school, by creating their own spaces, clubs and organizations and structuring things to their liking.

"Students have also established many organizations, including but not limited to: a chapter of the American Student Dental Association (ASDA), Student Government, The Chromatic Scalers (a co-ed acappella group), and Yearbook Committee," she said. "Considering the growth of TCDM in just under one year, it excites me to welcome the next class as we continue to shape the future of Touro College of Dental Medicine @ NYMC.”

Li pointed out that being the inaugural class gives students much more freedom to have a lasting influence on the school.

“We’re so happy with all of the students in our inaugural class, who have done an exceptional job in their first year," said Jay P. Goldsmith, DMD, Founding Dean at the school. "We are so pleased with the progress we’ve been able to accomplish in this first year, and look forward to the many years and many students to come.”

The school's faculty and administrators could not be happier with the students they chose for the class of 2020, said Dr. Aaron Yancoskie, D.D.S., Associate Professor.

“One of our goal in starting the new dental school was to create an educational environment that fosters collaboration and limits unhealthy competition among the students," Yancoskie said. "This started with the admissions process for the inaugural class. In selecting candidates we not only looked for high GPAs and DAT scores, but we also sought applicants who had characteristics of team players. The fruits of our efforts can be seen by visiting the student lounge on a weekday afternoon and observing students from different backgrounds studying together and helping one another to understand course material, or by walking the halls of the dental school and seeing the smiles on the faces and hearing the laughs of the students even in the midst of midterm or final exams.

"A significant part of TouroCDM’s mission is to train excellent dentists to provide oral healthcare to the public, particularly those living in areas of our country that are under-served by dentists. Although it is only the first year, we are beginning to make inroads as we have students not only interested in outreach projects to the rural communities of upstate NY, but also have multiple students applying for the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) scholarship. This program functions to place dentists in areas of the US where oral health care is needed most and at the same time helps students to cover the cost of their dental education.”

The Touro College and University System

Touro is a system of non-profit institutions of higher and professional education. Touro College was chartered in 1970 primarily to enrich the Jewish heritage, and to serve the larger American and global community. Approximately 18,000 students are currently enrolled in its various schools and divisions. Touro College has 29 branch campuses, locations and instructional sites in the New York area, as well as branch campuses and programs in Berlin, Jerusalem and Moscow. New York Medical College; Touro University California and its Nevada branch campus; Touro University Worldwide and its Touro College Los Angeles division; as well as Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, Ill. are separately accredited institutions within the Touro College and University System. For further information on Touro College, please go to: http://www.touro.edu/news/.

New York Medical College

Founded in 1860, New York Medical College (NYMC) is one of the oldest and largest health sciences colleges in the country with more than 1,400 students, 1,300 residents and clinical fellows, nearly 3,000 faculty members, and 16,000 living alumni. The College, which joined the Touro College and University System in 2011, is located in Westchester County, New York, and offers advanced degrees from the School of Medicine, the Graduate School of Basic Medical Sciences, and the School of Health Sciences and Practice. The College manages more than

$32.6 million in research and other sponsored programs, notably in the areas of cancer, cardiovascular disease, infectious diseases, kidney disease, the neurosciences, disaster medicine, and vaccine development. With a network of affiliated hospitals that includes large urban medical centers, small suburban clinics and high-tech regional tertiary care facilities, NYMC provides a wide variety of clinical training opportunities throughout the tristate region for medical students, residents, and other health providers. For more information, visit www.nymc.edu.

PHOTOS/ contributed