health mind and body

Dental school at Touro

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New York State’s first new dental school in nearly 50 years is set to open this summer, Alan Kadish, M.D., president of Touro College and University System, said this week.

Touro received final state approval and will establish the Touro College of Dental Medicine at its New York Medical College campus in Valhalla. The dental college joins the Touro School of Health Sciences, Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine (with campuses in Harlem and Middletown), Touro College of Pharmacy, and New York Medical College, in New York State.

“As New York State’s first new dental school in nearly half a century and the only dental school in the Hudson Valley, the Touro College of Dental Medicine will fill a void in dental education and improve access to oral health care, particularly in underserved rural and urban communities throughout the region,” Kadish said. “The school will address the existing shortage of training options for dentists in New York State and create a pipeline for the next generation of dental professionals, while also seeing to the immediate needs of the community through its dental clinic.”

“With dental care as the foothold of good overall health care, it is important that this area of professional health care education continues to grow,” Kadish continued.

Touro has appointed Jay P. Goldsmith, D.M.D., as the founding dean of the school. Dr. Goldsmith was formerly a professor, program director, and deputy chief in NYMC’s Department of Dental Medicine.

Edward F. Farkas, D.D.S., has been named senior associate dean for clinical affairs and chairman of dentistry. Dr. Farkas, a 1985 graduate of NYU, has been practicing general dentistry in New York City for over 30 years, and has been involved with the founding of the dental school from the outset.