Welcome to the Department of Applied Dentistry's website for the Advanced Clinical Training and Service (ACTS) Program. We're part of the School of Dental Medicine at the University of Colorado Denver. ACTS is an ambitious service-learning program that allows all of our fourth-year dental students to gain valuable clinical training while providing oral health care to underserved communities.
The school's Department of Applied Dentistry is the academic home to a curriculum that helps students put their clinical training to work. We teach public health, behavioral sciences, practice management, geriatrics, special patient care, ethics and decision making. Our efforts culminate in our students' capstone project, the ACTS Program.
The ACTS Program has gone through many metamorphoses since its inception in 1985. Originally, ACTS began midway through the fourth year and concluded the following September. In the early 1990s, the school moved the time-frame up. ACTS began in January of the fourth year and concluded shortly after Commencement Day in June.
Currently, the school has committed itself to integrating ACTS within the fourth year curriculum. Beginning in June, DS3/DS4 students will be assigned to ACTS clinics for 2 or 3 days/week for approximately eight weeks. About half of the dental student class will be in ACTS in an eight-week period so that on any given day, about one-fourth of the class will be practicing at ACTS clinics. Overall, ACTS will continue to be a 100-day commitment for each student, though exact totals will vary depending on each student's efficient progress through the fourth year curriculum.
These part-time assignments will continue through the fall and into January. Students will typically practice at the same ACTS clinic throughout their part-time ACTS experience. In February, students will complete their campus-based educational experiences and then their ACTS assignements will be full-time for the subsequent months of the fourth year. During the full-time segment, each student will practice at three other ACTS clinics, spending 4-5 weeks at each.
ACTS remains an integral part of the school's curriculum and it's reserved for full-time, predoctoral students at our school. Our students complete ACTS and receive their DDS degrees, knowing that they truly can make it in the world - knowing they can make a difference.
Are you a Colorado dentist, treating patients in an underserved community? You might find it rewarding to work with us in ACTS.
Please feel free to look around our website. If you'd like more information, you can contact Dr. Rob Berg.
