HPU’s Dental School Receives Initial Accreditation to Start Residency Program
HIGH POINT, N.C., April 21, 2025 – High Point University’s Workman School of Dental Medicine recently received its initial accreditation from the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) to start a one-year, full-time residency program in general dentistry.
This marks another milestone for the Workman School of Dental Medicine, which welcomed its inaugural class of 60 students last fall. The school will move into its permanent home on HPU’s campus when a new three-story, 77,500-square-foot building opens this summer.
The Workman School of Dental Medicine is now enrolling recent dental school graduates and dentists who are seeking advanced training for its new Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) Program, which starts in July. The residency program is designed to broaden a resident’s professional knowledge and clinical skills, so they can provide a broad spectrum of dental services for patients with complex needs. The program will focus on such areas as oral medicine and digital dentistry.
“The Advanced Education in General Dentistry initial accreditation is a significant achievement under Dr. Benjamin Dyer’s dynamic leadership,” said Dr. Ali Shazib, dean for the HPU Workman School of Dental Medicine. “This immersive experience will provide learners exposure to comprehensive dentistry across the HPU Health-Oral Health Network, utilizing state-of-the-art digital approaches and medical-dental integration. These learners will be mentored by world-class faculty and will serve the mission of putting those who need our care at the center of everything that we do. New programs such as AEGD will allow us to expand our education offerings and care delivery models to the communities we serve.”
HPU’s AEGD Program is unique in comparison to residency programs at other dental schools across the country. For example, the program will have an extremely low student-to-instructor ratio to allow residents to receive one-on-one training. The initial cohort will consist of up to 16 residents, who will receive free tuition and get paid while in the program.
Residents will receive hands-on training and gain clinical experience at three future HPU Health-Oral Health Network specialty hubs and what will grow to be 30 community practices in High Point, Greensboro and Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They will also learn while working in the classroom with state-of-the-art simulation, digital dentistry and imaging technology.
“Although my dental school provided me with a fantastic education, the time I spent in my own residency prepared me for my dental career far more than if I started practice right out of dental school,” said Dyer, professor and director of the AEGD Program in the Workman School of Dental Medicine.
CODA officials visited the Workman School of Dental Medicine in May 2024 as part of its initial accreditation process for the new residency program.