People Domain

1.    Continually evaluate the current landscape and identify and enhance efforts to foster a supportive and authentic community, developing resources that empower individuals and teams to confidently adapt and thrive amid change, building resilience, belonging, and well-being.

2.    Improve the health and well-being of students, staff, faculty, and patients by promoting high-quality, evidence-based practices that strengthen overall outcomes across our learning and care environments.

3.    Improve UMSD community members’ sense of belonging by nurturing an inclusive, culturally sensitive environment that supports all students, faculty, staff, and patients and enhances the quality of care we provide.

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Education Domain

1.    Expand faculty development programs to emphasize latest clinical practices, innovative methods, and technology integration, advancing the School’s mission and core values.

2.    Develop and implement a mission-aligned clinical education model that enhances the quality and efficiency of clinical care, integrates teaching and transparent assessments, and accelerates student readiness for independent practice.

3.    Strengthen the alignment and integration of didactic, biomedical, preclinical, and clinical components of the curriculum, expanding early clinical and community-based experiences to create a coherent educational progression that prepares graduates to serve diverse populations.


4.    Expand opportunities for students and faculty to incorporate new and emerging technologies across didactic, preclinical, and clinical environments.

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Patient Care Domain

1.    Implement Epic as the unified, interoperable health record and utilize it to integrate dental and medical data, strengthen patient safety, and improve quality of care.

2.    Implement more efficient and effective models in preclinical and clinical education to improve student supervision and professional development to support high-quality, safe, timely, and highly reliable interdisciplinary patient care.


3.    Expand access to multi-professional care for patients by integrating oral health into broader health systems, strengthening partnerships with other healthcare specialties, and leveraging technology and advocacy to improve the delivery of coordinated, holistic care to patients.

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Research & Discovery Domain

1.    Establish a measurable and widely recognized research impact framework that elevates the visibility, translational value, and societal relevance of our work across public, academic, and policy arenas.

2.    Build a deeply interconnected research ecosystem by expanding cross-school collaborations, integrating our scientists into university-wide and multi-investigator initiatives, and creating shared platforms and events that link oral health to broader biomedical and public health challenges.

3.    Develop future-ready research infrastructure by modernizing facilities, expanding digital and data capabilities, optimizing shared resources, and building strong external partnerships that sustain long-term scientific growth and innovation.


4.    Cultivate a thriving, diverse, and well-supported research community by recruiting and retaining top talent, empowering trainees and staff through meaningful development opportunities, and building an inclusive, transparent culture that promotes well-being, belonging, recognition, and long-term success.

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Financial Growth & Sustainability

1.    Establish the Digital Dentistry Center (DDC) as a billable service that achieves sustainable operations by year 4 while contributing to improved access, quality, and equity in oral health services.

2.    Leverage the new electronic health record to strengthen revenue-cycle performance and clinical-financial analysis, enabling more informed decisions that enhance the clinical experience and drive measurable improvements.


3.    Increase Continuing Dental Education (CDE) offerings and modalities to expand learning opportunities and impact while ensuring the program’s financial sustainability and growth.

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