UMKC provides detail on dentistry school expansion at Missouri Western

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — To help offset the shortages of dentists, the University of Missouri — Kansas City is expanding its program with a satellite location at Missouri Western State University.

UMKC has had past success with other healthcare programs in satellite locations across the state. These include the UMKC School of Medicine physician program partnering with Mosaic Life Care to address physician shortages and the UMKC School of Pharmacy having campuses at the University of Missouri — Columbia and Missouri State University in Springfield.

“We had the opportunity over the past few years to visit several of the smaller towns around the Kansas City metro,” UMKC Chancellor Mauli Agrawal said. “It was pretty obvious that there was a severe shortage of healthcare providers in rural areas in Missouri. Four years ago, we launched the medical school satellite (program) in St. Joseph and that has really flourished.”

The university foresees that the rural health-focused expansion will see the number of graduates from its school of dentistry increase by 10% annually.

Currently, the program admits 109 students and the expansion would allow 10 more students to be enrolled.

Once the satellite program is underway, UMKC is open to exploring the implementation of more satellite programs across Missouri.

“It’s one thing, one place at a time,” Agrawal said. “We will see how the dental school satellite goes in St. Joseph. And if it’s addressing the issue, you never say never.”

The satellite program on the Missouri Western campus is predicted to cost about $12 million, which would be used for a one-time renovation and equipment.

The university is aiming for the program to be fully up and running by 2027.