Harvard School of Dental Medicine

The Harvard School of Dental Medicine is the dental school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. In addition to the DMD degree, HSDM offers specialty training programs, advanced training programs, a Ph.D. program through the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and Master of Medical Sciences & Doctor of Medical Sciences degrees through Harvard Medical School. Being highly selective, admission into the pre-doctoral DMD program, as well as into the post-doctoral residency programs, is fiercely competitive. At its heart, the program considers dentistry a specialty of medicine. Therefore, all students at HSDM experience dual citizenship in both Harvard School of Dental Medicine and Harvard Medical School.Today, HSDM is the smallest school at Harvard University. With a total student body of 280, including pre-doctoral and post-doctoral students spread over several disciplines, HSDM is an intimate community of students and faculty. Even when compared to other dental schools, HSDM is small, and its total living alumni number is approximately 2,500 worldwide and continues to have considerable influence on dental education and research within the broader oral health community. Many other HSDM alumni pursue careers as full-time faculty members, department heads, and leaders of organized dentistry.HistoryFirst university-based dental schoolIn the early 19th century a dentist was culturally understood as a tradesman, as opposed to a professional in the medical sense. Most dentists had either learned their trade through apprenticeships or simply offered their services to the public as self-proclaimed experts.