New students receive white coats at KCU College of Dental Medicine in Joplin

About 80 new dental students participated in a “White Coat Ceremony” for the inaugural class of the KCU College of Dental Medicine in Joplin Saturday morning.

The ceremony was held at the Joplin High School Performing Arts Center.

Students received the white coats that symbolize their beginning of the study of dentistry.

Dr. Erinne Kennedy is an assistant professor at the school and assistant dean for curriculum and integrated learning. She says the new school in Joplin is ready for business.

“We have a state of the art oral health center that is three stories,” she says, describing the new dental school.

“We have an 88-chair simulation clinic that allows students to practice and participate in experiential learning during the first two years of the curriculum,” she adds.

“Then we have two floors that actually have 92 chairs of dental clinic operatories. These operatories are state of the art with digital dentistry, digital radiography and some of the most innovative cutting edge equipment in dentistry today,” Dr. Kennedy states.

The first class of dentists will graduate from the Joplin dental school in 2027.

Chief Glenna Wallace, Eastern Shawnee Tribe’s first-ever female chief, served as keynote speaker at the White Coat Ceremony.

She has served as a member of the KCU Board of Trustees since 2017.