Program Highlight! The Regional Initiatives in Dental Education (RIDE) Program

By the Ride Program in Collaboration with the NWRPCA Workforce Development Team​

Over 50 years ago, the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine began the WWAMI program, a medical education program serving the five-state region of Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho. WWAMI is renowned for its unique approach to supporting the rural physician workforce, advancing excellence in medical education, and helping meet physician workforce needs in the region.

​Inspired by the WWAMI program success, the School of Dentistry with funding from the Washington State legislature, launched the Regional Initiatives in Dental Education (RIDE) program in 2007. By building on the existing educational structure in Spokane and the community health centers across the state, RIDE is a cost-effective, scalable model for training dentists to meet the needs of rural and underserved populations. The program focuses on delivering hands-on, interprofessional education within small communities, effectively opening pathways to improved dental care.

RIDE is a specialized dental educational track that aims to increase the number of graduates who practice within rural and/or underserved areas. This goal is achieved by immersing students in the more remote communities of Washington state through extensive clinical training serving these populations. RIDE students spend their first year of dental school at Eastern Washington University (EWU) in Spokane, WA benefitting from a great student-to teacher ratio, interprofessional opportunities with UW School of Medicine and EWU-Dental Hygiene students, and proximity to rural/underserved communities. The RIDE program is equivalent to the general Seattle-based DDS program, with the same length and curriculum, employing a mix of distance learning modalities and on-site instruction by Spokane faculty. RIDE students undergo a four-week rotation in a community clinic in Eastern or Central Washington after their first year and an extended five-month rotation in the final year, usually at the same community health clinic, where they refine their clinical and professional skills under the mentorship of UW affiliate faculty.
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RIDE students spend double or triple the amount of time training at community health clinics than students enrolled in the Seattle-based DDS curriculum. The increased time on clinical rotation allows RIDE students to immerse themselves in the community and become more familiar with the patient population they are treating. RIDE students also complete comprehensive treatment planning and administer more complex procedures in the areas of restorative dentistry, endodontics, periodontics, oral surgery, and pediatric dentistry while on rotation, better preparing them for rural practice. This extended, hands-on educational opportunity increases the likelihood that students will practice in these communities after graduation. Since the program’s inception, 70% of the RIDE graduates who are in practice have returned to rural and/or underserved communities in Washington state and the region, significantly exceeding national averages.

During the recent Washington state legislative session, the UW successfully secured $2.5 million from the Washington Legislature to expand the RIDE program to better meet the meet the oral health care needs of Washingtonians. The expansion funding will double RIDE’s capacity from 32 to 64 students, add a second year of training at the Spokane campus, and enable the building of a regional dental simulation center, unifying preclinical simulation and classroom spaces into one new, state of-the-art facility.  The Spokane regional training center will support the growth of the RIDE program and serve as a hub for oral health training in the region alongside EWU dental hygiene students and UW medical students. The impact of program expansion will be felt statewide with a larger cohort of students improving clinic capacity across the state, including new locations in rural Western Washington, and increasing the number of graduates returning to rural and underserved practice after graduation.
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The RIDE program not only facilitates workforce development but also fosters a professional network across the Pacific Northwest, enhancing access to expertise through new technologies and creating mentorship opportunities among dentists. Dentists are in critical demand nationwide, particularly in rural areas like Eastern and Central Washington. RIDE plays a vital role in addressing this need by providing hands-on experience in rural community clinics, preparing graduates for the unique challenges of remote practice, and improving the healthcare system at large. 

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