Kelton T. Stewart, D.D.S., M.S., is an associate professor of orthodontics at the Indiana University School of Dentistry and chair of its Department of Orthodontics and Facial Genetics. He recently talked about that institution’s implementation of ADEA PASS™ (the American Dental Education Association Postdoctoral Application Support Service).
A better alternative
“We found it to be extremely useful,” said Dr. Stewart. “The alternative was not using it and trying to collect all the information ourselves. Both my predecessor and I believe this is a much more efficient way of collecting information, in our case 150 – 200 applicants a year. It allows us to facilitate our assessment process in which we screen individuals who would be attractive candidates for our residency program. It also allows us to be prudent and efficient with our time, enabling us to collect large amounts of information very quickly.”
Dr. Stewart also believes ADEA PASS provides deeper insights into each applicant and streamlines reviewers’ workflows.
“We are able to evaluate not only the scholastic but also the intangible aspects of a person’s application to see who would be the most qualified and capable in our residency program and our profession thereafter,” he said.
“It’s important to have clear and continuous communication with our potential applicants. Using ADEA PASS allows us to streamline our process. Our deadline is August 1st and we aim to have completed our initial assessment of applicants by August 24th or 25th. And at that point we can send them emails regarding our decision. I do not believe this would be possible if we were doing it through another mechanism. I think it would be a much more tedious process that wouldn’t allow us to communicate quite as quickly and as effectively.”