Do you fit with USC’s Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry?[Show summary]

Dr. Anita Tourah, Assistant Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs at Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC, offers an inside look at the dental student experience and admissions process.

How an emphasis on research, education and patient care makes USC’s Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry unique [Show notes]

Are you thinking of a career in dentistry? Worried about how to get in? Wondering what a dental education requires before you earn that DDS? My guest today is the Dean of Admissions at a top dental school.

Dr. Anita Tourah is Associate Professor of Clinical Dentistry and Assistant Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs at the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC. She earned her bachelor's degree in chemical engineering at Tehran Azad University and earned her DDS from Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry, as well as a special certificate in prosthodontics.

Can you give me an overview of the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC's program, focusing on its more distinctive elements? [1:46]

Our school is focused on three fundamentals: research, education, and patient care. These are an integral part of who we are. If we go to the research, we've been consistently part of the top-funded private dental schools by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, and we have trained many academic leaders who run NIH-funded research nationwide and worldwide. We encourage our students to do research, either basic research or translational research, and our faculty guide them to conduct that research and also put together the manuscript for publication. We host a very successful annual research day, and that's when our students, faculty, and postdoctoral fellows come together to show their innovative discoveries. We also have a publication, The Explorer, which has won multiple national awards that provides a comprehensive summary of all the innovative discoveries that we do at USC.

The second fundamental is patient care. We are located in the heart of Los Angeles. We have a great and extensive array of patients for our students, and we have very extensive community outreach programs, such as Union Rescue Mission, Mobile Clinic, QueensCare, and numerous rotations to the hospitals and communities that give treatment to our patients. Many of those treatments are free for our patients.

Education. We strive for the best education for our students and we always try to bring new technology, new equipment, new software, new faculty with new ideas. This commitment shines through in all that we do in the field of prosthodontics, endodontics, periodontics, and so on. So at Herman Ostrow, we provide the best education for our students, we provide the best treatment for our patients, and we're always trying to find new innovations through our research program.

Is research required for the students? How soon do they start in terms of patient care? [3:58]

No, it's not a required part. But if they're interested, we encourage them, and we guide them and we support them throughout the process.

Patient care starts in the third year. The first two years are mostly preclinical where they unlock skills and procedures.