UB dental students ace national boards

Acing a final exam is an achievement. Achieving the feat twice is a cause for celebration.

Students in the UB School of Dental Medicine (SDM) achieved a 100 percent pass rate on the National Board Dental Examination (NBDE) not once, but twice.

“Each year, we aim to recruit the best and brightest students entering into our profession,” says Dean Michael Glick. “These board scores show we succeeded. Everyone at the school is very proud of their performance.”

The NBDE is a rigorous, two-part exam that dentists must complete to obtain licensure to practice. The test examines students’ abilities to understand biomedical and dental hygiene sciences, and apply information in a clinical, problem-solving context. The exam is graded on a pass or fail basis only.

The entire SDM class of 2016 — 87 students — passed the NBDE Part I and all students in the class of 2015 — a class of 117 students — passed the NBDE Part II.

“Passing the National Board Dental Examination is one of the major goals of our school,” says Donald Antonson, associate dean for academic affairs. “Our curriculum is based on teaching dental students a broad scope of knowledge and the critical thinking necessary for being a successful dental health practitioner. The scoring results are a validation that our students are competent in understanding knowledge deemed important by a national body of experts.”