High Point University broke ground today on a new three-story, 77,500-square-foot facility that will be home to the Workman School of Dental Medicine, the state’s only private dental school.

A large crowd gathered inside Congdon Hall for the groundbreaking ceremony, which was held during HPU’s annual Fall Family Weekend.

“I hope you understand the power of this moment. For all of history, this will be the day where we remember the beginning of the Workman School of Dental Medicine,” said Dr. Nido Qubein, HPU’s president. “It’s huge for High Point University.”

HPU received a $32 million gift from the Rick and Angie Workman Foundation to establish the new dental school, which will welcome its first cohort of students in the fall of 2024. Dr. Rick Workman serves as HPU’s Dental Innovator in Residence in addition to being the founder of Heartland Dental, which supports more than 1,600 dental offices nationwide.

“While students have to learn the sciences and they have to learn the technical skills, the learning of leadership and interpersonal communication, how to lead a team and your staff, how to interact with patients and how to be a valued member of your community is very important to yourself,” Workman said. “It’s very important to the dental profession to take that and accept that responsibility within the community.”

About the Workman School of Dental Medicine

HPU’s dental school will be located on the section of campus known as Innovation Corridor. The new building will feature a fully functional dental office, a student lounge, state-of-the-art simulation labs and seven innovative learning spaces and classrooms.

The haptic simulation lab will be the world’s largest lab using SIMtoCARE dental simulation units to help train dental students. The high-tech simulators can replicate the feel of a real tooth so dental students can train safely without seeing live patients.

In addition, students will learn about the analog and digital dentistry and 3D printing workflows in the building’s new analog and digital dental production lab. A standardized patient clinical simulation lab will provide opportunities for students to interact with patients before they treat them during their clinical rotations.