Putting the bite on incompetence. It seems that the two students had failed this exam twice before, and were given a third chance at it rather than expelling them. Like many dental school exams, this was a practical test. Four professors were asked to grade the work, and they unanimously agreed that the two students had failed. Dr. Yohn, who has taught in the dental school at Michigan for 36 years, has filed a federal lawsuit over the grade changes.
Universities have an obligation to protect the public from incompetent health professionals.
Clinical instructors play a key role in providing this protection. As a graduate student at Penn the IP spent many an hour in a chair at the University of Pennsylvania dental school. The clinical instructors were tough and demanding. Student work had to be near perfect to earn a top grade. Years later other dentists have commented on the high quality of the work done on the IP by the students at Penn.