Mission Statement
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Dental Branch
PREFACE
| The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Dental Branch is a public professional school with a unique heritage and an unparalleled set of environmental advantages. The Dental Branch was founded in 1905 as the first dental school in Texas, and as such has a long and proud tradition of educating quality oral health care professionals. The School is one of the cornerstones of excellence that contributes to the strengths of the UT Health Science Center at Houston by offering an excellent clinical education in an established research climate. As the School anticipates its centennial in 2005, it will focus on optimizing its strategic strengths with the realization that it is well-positioned to take a leading role in oral health education and research. |
MISSION
| The primary purpose of the Dental Branch is the education of competent oral health care professionals for the State of Texas. In pursuit of excellence, the School will focus major energies on its students as it teaches the basic and clinical sciences along with professional and ethical standards in an environment of collegiality. |
| The scholarship of discovery, teaching, integration, and application are high priorities and valued activities. In particular, the scholarship of discovery will become inextricably woven into the fabric of the School with emphasis on establishing interdisciplinary projects and securing additional outside funding. |
| Patient care and service are particular strengths of the Dental Branch and will continue as the School builds on its 91 years of service to community. Centrally located in Houston, the Dental Branch will continue its role as one of the primary sources of affordable oral health care to the people of Southeastern Texas. Emphasis will continue on providing timely, high-quality, comprehensive oral health care with humanitarian concern for the total patient. In fulfilling its role of service to the profession, the School will remain an important local, regional, and national resource for the transfer of new knowledge, improved techniques and new technology through its continuing education programs, through the consultative services of its expert faculty, and through contributions to the clinical literature. |
| Patient care and service are particular strengths of the Dental Branch and will continue as the School builds on its 91 years of service to community. Centrally located in Houston, the Dental Branch will continue its role as one of the primary sources of affordable oral health care to the people of Southeastern Texas. Emphasis will continue on providing timely, high-quality, comprehensive oral health care with humanitarian concern for the total patient. In fulfilling its role of service to the profession, the School will remain an important local, regional, and national resource for the transfer of new knowledge, improved techniques and new technology through its continuing education programs, through the consultative services of its expert faculty, and through contributions to the clinical literature. |
| The Dental Branch will seek to develop within itself the qualities that will be critical in meeting the broad challenges of dental health education. Emphasis will be placed upon institutional development in four crucial areas: professional development institutional planning and assessment, enhancement of private support, and technology management. |
| The 21st century promises a continuation of the explosion in bioscientific knowledge which will contribute to improving oral health. The University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center Dental Branch is potentially well-positioned to take the lead in oral health education and research by the beginning of the next decade, and must strive to do so. Recognizing that competition for limited resources will increase, the Dental Branch will be challenged to find innovative methods to secure funding to supplement state allocations so that it can keep sight of its goals and principles. |
ADOPTED FOR THE UTHSC-HOUSTON DENTAL BRANCH
| Ronald Johnson, D.D.S., F.A.C.D. | March 3, 1997 |
| Dean |