WVU: More dental graduates to stay in West Virginia this year 

Leaders of West Virginia’s only dentistry program say more of this year’s graduates plan to stay in the state to open practices after graduation compared to last year.

According to a news release from West Virginia University, of the graduates of the school’s doctor of dental surgery program who plan to begin dental practice after graduation, 41% percent in the class of 2023 planned to stay in West Virginia, compared to 19% last year. The program enrolls 48 students each year. 

Also, 40% of graduates who chose to continue their education have remained in the state and are completing a residency program at WVU, the school said. 

“Across WVU, we are coming together to fulfill our core mission to serve the residents of West Virginia by increasing access to care while discovering ways to better the overall health and well-being of our communities,” Dr. Clay Marsh, chancellor and executive dean for WVU Health Sciences, said in the release. “The experiences provided to students in the School of Dentistry are helping to train the next generation of dental professionals to meet the needs of West Virginians.”

Dr. Valerie Perrine, School of Dentistry associate dean for student affairs, community health and outreach, said as the state’s only dentistry school, the school has made a concerted effort to keep more graduates in the state. 

“We tried to get back to just our overall mission at the school of providing competent dental professionals to the state of West Virginia,” Perrine said. “And just focused on what we do best. Our clinical experience is second to none at the school, and our relationships across the state  — 83% of the licensed dentists in the state are graduates of West Virginia University.”

A shortage of dentists — especially in rural areas of the state — is one factor in West Virginia’s overall poor oral health outcomes. 

The state got an overall D on its latest (2021) Oral Health Report Card, an assessment by the West Virginia Oral Health Coalition based on 15 oral health indicators. 

According to the assessment, the state has 48.3 dentists per 100,000 residents, which is short of the national rate of 61 per 100,000 residents. The dental industry nationally also faces a workforce shortage.

Perine said making the school’s rural rotation program, which has students provide care in rural areas of the state, a mandatory part of students’ education has helped to increase retention. 

Government financial incentives for dentists working in underserved parts of the state have also helped, Perrine said. 

The school has also started an annual job fair that gets dentists of the state in front of students, she said. 

“Once they are there, they can really sell their practice and the connection and experience that they had at the school,” Perrine said. “They are really trying to sell their own practice and really create that connection with the students…. Sending out just a random job notice, or posting on a random board — I don’t think was really doing the job. But creating those connections in a public setting, I think has really helped as well.”

Perrine, a graduate of the dental school, treats patients in Cowen part time in practice with her father, also a WVU graduate. Perrine said she likes working in rural West Virginia, where she’s an integrated part of the community. 

“Not only are you providing health care to these people that you’ve grown up with your whole life, and providing this immense service to them, but you can also make a living, the cost of living is not high in those areas” she said. “I can make a living. I can raise a family. And I can maintain the same kind of practice that many of these dentists that I’m here with at the American Dental Association have all across the nation. So I’m not sacrificing anything professionally.”