UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry, Oman Dental College establish institutional partnership

UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry and Oman Dental College have signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a collaborative exchange in areas of mutual interest and benefit.

The two institutions will promote teaching, research, and clinical activities. Oman Dental College obtained approval from the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, and Innovation in Oman for this collaboration.

As part of the initial agreement, the School of Dentistry will serve as an institutional mentor to ODC, providing consultation on curriculum development and accreditation documentation to support the establishment of diploma and master’s degree programs, along with faculty and student training.

The partnership is stewarded by the International Scholarship Training Program, more commonly referred to as ISTP, led by Professor Sudarat Kiat-amnuay, DDS, MS, director of strategic training and academic affairs at UTHealth Houston, and in collaboration with Kamal Busaidy, DDS, professor and vice chair of the Bernard and Gloria Pepper Katz Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the School of Dentistry.

“We are excited to begin forging these new programs with the Oman Dental College,” said Busaidy. “This agreement marks the beginning of what we hope will be a long and mutually beneficial relationship between UTHealth Houston and the Sultanate of Oman.” 

The memorandum was signed in December 2024 by Robert Spears, PhD, MS, associate dean for student and academic affairs at the School of Dentistry, and Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Sulaiman Al Harthi, chairman of the ODC Board of Directors. The signing was witnessed by UTHealth Houston delegates Kiat-amnuay and Busaidy. Spears signed on behalf of Kevin Morano, PhD, senior vice president of academic and faculty affairs at UTHealth Houston.

During the visit, UTHealth Houston delegates met with Hilal bin Ali Al Sabti, MD, minister of health; Rahma Al Mahrooqi PhD, minister of higher education, research, and innovation; and Saif Al Haddabi, PhD, undersecretary for research and innovation at the ministry, as well as other leaders from Sultan Qaboos University to explore future collaboration.

The UTHealth Houston delegation also attended the College of Medicine and Health Sciences graduation ceremony as distinguished university guests and toured the Sultan Qaboos University Health Sciences Center campus, the current Oman Dental College, and its new campus — expected to be completed in fall 2025. The delegation also participated in a formal exchange of presentations about the institutions.

ODC was established in 2006 and is the first and only dental college in the Sultanate of Oman. Located in Muscat, its mission is to provide quality dental education of the highest international standards and contribute to the progress and development of national oral health care provision through health promotion, disease prevention, and care by educating and training skilled, competent, ethical, and caring dental professionals. In 2025, ODC was recognized in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

ISTP aims to train scholarship international dentists to serve populations in the U.S. and internationally. It began as an Advanced Education in General Dentistry pilot program in 2010 with the support of the School of Dentistry and UTHealth Houston administration. In 2019, ISTP was approved by the university to expand to all dental school residency programs. Participating accredited programs include two primary care general residency programs (AEGD and General Practice Residency) and advanced education programs in endodontics, oral and maxillofacial pathology, oral and maxillofacial surgery, orthodontics, periodontics, and prosthodontics. In 2024, ISTP was approved by the university to expand to all UTHealth Houston schools.

ISTP has established agreements with the Kuwait Ministry of Health (2012), the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission (2014), Khon Kaen University (2018) and Mahidol University (2023) in Thailand, and Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University (2024) in Saudi Arabia.