by Susan Griffith

The 48 students from Case Western Reserve University's School of Dentistry Class of 2003 are one step closer to donning their white coats and to practicing dentistry. All passed the Western Regional Board Examination, taken May 4-6 at CWRU.

"It's 100 percent," remarked Christine Williams, associate dean at the dental school.
Also pleased with the results was Dr. Ronald Occhionero, the associate dean for clinical affairs. He has seen a steady increase over the past three years in the passage rate from 85 to 90 and now 100 percent.

In preparation for the exam, CWRU students take a course that acquaints the students with the exam and prepares them for it.

Because a large number of CWRU dental students are from western states, in 2000, CWRU began offering on site the Western Regional Board Examination-one of four major board exams and several provincial ones that dental graduate needs to pass to practice in the United States. Passage of the western board exam enables CWRU graduates to apply for licenses and establish practices in Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

Thirty-two students from dental schools at Ohio State University and in Pennsylvania came to CWRU to take it.

"We felt with the number of students coming from the West, that it would be convenient to offer it here instead of having them travel to other sites," Occhionero explains.

In May, many of these same students also took the Northeast Regional Board Examination that is a qualification to practice in Ohio and other states in the country's northeastern quadrant, adds Occhionero. Those results will not be available until July.

"Taking both tests gives them flexibility in where they can practice," he says.
As part of passing the exams, students must complete several dental procedures on patients, who have been selected prior to the test and have the oral problems that meet the board examinations criteria.

With the costs of the examination at more than $1,100, it has been costly to take more than one exam. Occhionero has worked through the Ohio Dental Association as a former president and current member to change state law to accept the passage of any regional board exam.

"I have been involved with this issue for several years and have articulated my concerns and position in both public and private forums with members of the leadership," he says
The efforts by the Ohio Dental Association have resulted in Ohio Senate Sub S. B. 51, sponsored by Ohio Sen. Louis Blessing (R-8). The bill has been reported out of the Senate Health, Human Service and Aging Committee and awaits the Senate floor vote. The Ohio House has received the bill and assigned it to its Health Committee.

"There is very little variability in the standard of care in Wyoming from what we have in Ohio," adds Occhionero.

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