Jan. 14—A dental college that is opening up a branch in New Mexico has named the top dentist who will lead the program.
Dr. Joseph Parkinson was announced last week as the executive assistant dean at Touro College of Dental Medicine in New Mexico, a college that is under construction and is expected to start its first cohort of 200 aspiring dentists in May.
The program could help address a shortfall of dentists in the state, which doesn’t meet national benchmarks for the number of dentists per capita, according to a New Mexico think tank.
The students will start their education at the Touro College of Dental Medicine, which is in Westchester County, New York, and was the first school of dentistry in the U.S. that operates under Jewish auspices. The students will complete their last two years of study in New Mexico treating patients.
The New Mexico campus will be on the grounds of the Lovelace Biomedical Research Institute.
Parkinson started his career in 1998 as a general dentist in Gladstone and Kansas City, Missouri. In 2001, he started at University of Missouri Kansas City School of Dentistry. He was most recently at the University of East Carolina and University of Tennessee, where he served as the associate dean of clinical affairs and helped develop external sites for clinical education and operations.
“His exceptional background in both clinical practice and academia positions him as the ideal leader to drive the success of our New Mexico campus as we continue to develop a world-class educational and clinical environment that upholds Touro’s mission to serve the community,” Touro University President Dr. Alan Kadish said in a news release.
New Mexico is 88 dentists shy of meeting the national benchmark for dentists per capita, according to a recent report from Think New Mexico, a think tank in the state that recently investigated a shortage of health care workers.
“I am committed to fostering an environment where both students and faculty thrive, and to advancing the mission of TCDM at this new facility,” Parkinson said in a statement.