Our Strategic Priorities and Goals

Education and Scholarship

• Offer an innovative and integrated dental medicine, health sciences, and interprofessional education program.
• Graduate primary care dentists who, through their curiosity and compassion:
  • Effectively seek out and employ modern, evidence-based practice to prevent and manage oral disease.
  • Apply Quality Improvement principles to evaluate and modify the impact of their care on the oral health of their practice and embrace the task of creating oral and overall health for underserved and rural communities.
• Optimize access and training to state-of-the-art patient care technology and innovative treatment techniques.
• Enhance medical-dental integration through an interprofessional curriculum and care delivery in collaborative healthcare settings.
• Graduate primary care dentists with the skills to manage clinical outcomes at both the individual and population level based on risk factors, comorbidities, disease severity, and social determinants of health; and the ability to thrive in value-based payment models based on provider-level outcomes. 
• Establish and grow opportunities for students and faculty to cultivate curiosity and rigor through research and scholarly activity.
• Foster a vibrant, supportive, diverse, and inclusive academic community that promotes wellness and resiliency among its members.

Partnership and Collaboration

• Collaborate with other PNWU schools and other regional academic partners to leverage existing resources and create meaningful partnerships.
• Enhance partnerships with our FQHC partners and continue to develop partnerships with other community, state, and federal organizations.
• Seek collaborative and innovative engagements that improve the oral and overall health of residents in the Northwest.
• Partner with states in the Northwest to explore innovative community-based clinical education opportunities for our students.
• Develop pathway programs with regional K-12 and higher education academic institutions to ensure access to dental education for students from disadvantaged and underrepresented communities.

Patient Care

• Collaborate with national thought leaders to develop innovative approaches for oral health education and care in rural and underserved settings in the Northwest.
• With our FQHC partners, we deliver comprehensive and compassionate healthcare that is of high value, evidence-based, and accessible.
• Educate patients and the public on how to prevent and manage oral disease.
• Promote rural and underserved education and experiential practice opportunities in the Northwest.
• Support efforts to build communities that embrace hope, healing, and overall wellness.