Delta Dental funds new Meharry simulation center
Nashville Business Journal
Date: Monday, October 3, 2011, 9:18am CDT
Delta Dental of Tennessee is funding a new dental simulation center at Meharry Medical College with a $770,000 donation.
Construction of the 3,000-square-foot lab will begin immediately. The lab is expected to open by January 2012.
The following are excerpts from a Meharry news release:
The center will use a multimedia teaching system that incorporates manikins with computer simulators to provide a reality-based experience. This training will shorten the learning curve for students and allow for a smoother transition from training to patient care.
“It is of vital importance that dental students are being trained in environments that best prepare them for working with real life patients,” said Phil Wenk, D.D.S., president and CEO of Delta Dental. “We are proud to be able to help install this simulation center at Meharry so their students have access to such cutting edge technologies and the school has a more competitive edge when recruiting students and faculty.”
Delta Dental … recently donated $1.5 million to the University Of Tennessee College Of Dentistry for upgrades to the school’s simulation laboratory. Since 1998, Delta Dental has contributed nearly $5 million to the UT College of Dentistry.
In 2009, Delta Dental presented Meharry with a $780,233 contribution for the Delta Dental Oral Diagnostic and Imaging Clinic, which allows students to use digital radiography and provide the best diagnostic procedures for patients. Delta Dental’s total contributions to Meharry Medical College exceed $1.5 million.
