From the Dean

Thank you for being a Hawkeye! Now that I’m back a year, this is feeling familiar, warm, and inviting. A few months ago I spoke with an alumnus from the class of 2009 who is in Chicago, and we discussed the innovations of an Iowa education and the impact it has had on him. He has built a large group of innovative practices performing the very best in oral health care across Chicago—a powerful Hawkeye legacy making dynamic changes. I also had an opportunity to talk with alumni at the recent Music City Bowl Game in Nashville, TN and at various regional events including the Rocky Mountain Dental Convention in Denver, CO and the Chicago MidWinter Meeting. In each case, alumni repeatedly tell me how much they respect the quality and impact of their education and how transformative it has been. I hear multiple stories of success…Hawkeye Success!.

As I mentioned before, in early February, I enjoyed working with our students in the first of six, all-day business healthcare leadership educational programs taught by University of Iowa’s finest faculty in the Tippie College of Business Executive MBA Program. Wonderful! The students were immersed in leadership principles and grappled with the various issues in managing people including team building, negotiation, conflict resolution, power, and communication styles impacting their leadership of a team. Future courses this year will cover negotiations, finance, human resources and hiring, entrepreneurship, and decision making. The credit of this course counts to a future Iowa MBA degree, if desired. The program is excellent, and we are providing this as an elective to interested students in which the college is covering the cost of the program. What is phenomenal is seeing the organization of the program is operated by a professional C-Suite of elected student officers coming from the Colleges of Pharmacy and Dentistry as a joint effort for this program. These are officers elected by the current student membership of the program. As I sat in the audience and listened to the insightful comments, I could not be more pleased to be a Hawkeye!

Iowa is on the move! In March, we led a team of students to meet with the Iowa legislature to discuss health issues for Iowans. It was a great introduction to the advocacy process in healthcare. Over the past year we have seen a tremendous increase in patient demand for our care services and we are working to address these needs. This includes a significant increase in Medicaid patients seeking our services. To address this, we are looking at multiple approaches to increasing efficiency including shortened appointments, co-provider models, and alternative time periods to provide care. We are doing everything we can to support the oral health of Iowans. I should add I have found it fascinating; in Chicago I saw patients and was busy but not slammed. I returned to Iowa in April 2022 and though I only see patients in the faculty practice, I’m thrilled to be absolutely booked with technically demanding but delightful patients. We are very busy! I continue to see my genetic syndromic patients and other comprehensive care adult patients, teach denture care to pediatric residents, and now I am teaching in the chronic pain TMJD pain clinic. With a year in, it is a privilege and honor to once again be a Hawkeye! Yes, you can go — home.

Cheers!

Clark Stanford DDS, PhD, MHA
Professor and Dean
Edwin B. Green chair
College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics

Originally published in the Spring 2023 Dental Link Alumni Magazine.