The University of Saskatchewan's Aboriginal Equity Access Program in dentistry.

Persons of Aboriginal ancestry are underrepresented in the dental profession in North America. In Canada, the University of Saskatchewan College of Dentistry began a proactive program to recruit, retain, and graduate more Aboriginal students in 1996. This program, entitled the Aboriginal Equity Access Program, has seen the inclusion of twenty-two Aboriginal students in the predoctoral program. This article describes the program and reports on the success of the students enrolled via this route. The primary conclusion is that selection of Aboriginal dental students with lower entry scores--who would not have gained entry if the program did not exist--has not impaired their ability to successfully complete the dental undergraduate program and pass the National Dental Examining Board licensure examination.