East Carolina University School of Dental Medicine (ECU SoDM) is the dental school at East Carolina University. It is North Carolina's second dental school, which enrolled its inaugural class in the fall of 2011. ECU SoDM was established to address the shortage of dentists in the rural regions across North Carolina. It serves North Carolina statewide by educating more dentists, with the primary focus of student recruitment being students who desire to return to rural and underserved areas to provide oral health care.[1]
The SoDM built 8 community service learning centers located in rural and underserved areas throughout the state. The students will complete nine-week rotations at the service learning centers during their final year of study.[2]
