Welcome to the School of Dental Medicine’s winter newsletter for 2025. We have had a busy few months since our last update!
On December 13th, we sent acceptance offers to applicants for the Class of 2029. I was honored to call each one and share the good news in person. Accepted applicants had until the middle of January to let us know if they will be joining us or not. The Admissions Committee will fill any open spots from our waitlist. My deepest thanks to the PNWU Admissions Team and our school’s Admissions Committee for their dedicated efforts in accepting an exceptional group of men and women as our inaugural class. Once the class is confirmed, I will share further details about the group.
I am happy to report that our school received $400,000 in funding from the M.J. Murdock Trust. These funds will be used to purchase educational equipment for our program. We continue to be active in the fundraising space, especially in raising funds for student scholarships. The school’s Scholarship Committee will meet once the class is finalized so we can award scholarships to the incoming class. If you want to know more about our student scholarship program, please feel free to contact me.
Construction on the Dental and Occupational Therapy building (DOT) is continuing. The foundation was poured in November, and steel was erected in December. This building will provide space for our dental school’s administration, faculty offices, and teaching space. It is expected to be completed in early summer 2025. We will post updates to our website at www.pnwu.edu/school-of-dental-medicine.
Community engagement is key to our program’s success. For the second year, the school participated in the Yakima Valley Museum Christmas Tree Display program. Community organizations set up trees throughout the museum. Visitors to the museum receive “votes” that they can place in the box adjacent to trees they like. These votes are converted to dollars donated back to the organization. While not a huge fundraiser for the school, it is great to be represented with other community groups and get our program out. Setting up the tree this year with Julia, Monica, and Lisa was a pleasure.
This is my impression of the Abominable Snow Monster from the original Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer show… I know, the resemblance is uncanny!
Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2025!