Two for the record books.

From the first dentists to earn a license through portfolio of work to the first all-female class on record, one West Coast state paves the path for change within the dental community,

• In 2015, for the first time, six dental students in California earned their license based on a portfolio of their work rather than a “high-stakes, one-shot live-patient exam” according to David Weissman’s story for American Student Dental Association News.

Five years of effort by University of the Pacific, Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry’s associate dean for clinical affairs Dr. Sigmund Abelson culminated in two students there becoming the first in the country to earn licensure by portfolio from Pacific earlier in the year.

Learn more about the six key areas of competency in which clinical faculty in several California dental schools measure students’ performance: https://editiondigital.net/publication/frame.php?i=267942&p=&pn=&ver=html5

• The Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry at the University of Southern California (USC) set records with the first all-female class on record since the program was established in 1934. Six women in the orthodontic residency program at the California dental school made headlines in 2015.

Read more at: https://thedailyfloss.com/tag/university-of-southern-california/

Though licensure by portfolio does not translate across state lines yet, Dr. Abelson told ASDA News his hope: “this will become a model for national licensure.”