The dental school's role in academic health centers: report of a study.

This paper highlights for the dental education community selected data from a recently completed study of the organization and governance of academic health centers, conducted under the auspices of the Association of Academic health Centers and funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. It is hoped that the limited information presented here will stimulate interest in the larger study. Data derived from three questionnaires used in the study are presented and discussed. Top administrators in academic health centers were surveyed to assemble information on the structural components and hierarchical relationships in contemporary academic health centers, the processes by which decisions are made, the way in which conflicts are resolved, and the conditions that administrators envision for their institutions in the future. Dental school deans were part of the survey group, and their responses are examined along with those of deans of other health professional schools.