It's All About the Mission
Dr. Fotinos Panagakos
Dean, PNWU School of Dental Medicine
Quick Bites
- Dr. Foti Panagakos is the founding dean of the School of Dental Medicine at the Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences in Yakima.
- The school’s mission is to recruit and train dentists from rural and underserved communities with the expectation that this will increase service in those areas.
- The school is built on an innovative model of one year of on-campus instruction followed by three years of working in community clinics in underserved areas.
- The first class of 36 students began their studies on campus in July.
Dr. Foti Panagakos has a big job: leading the team that has brought one of the nation’s newest and most innovative dental schools from vision to reality.
When asked about how he goes about doing that job, his answer came quickly and clearly.
“It’s all about the mission,” he said. “My job is to live and breathe the mission. Everyone else takes their cues from me. I have to be all-in, creating an environment for the students, faculty and staff that allows them to perform at an optimum level.”
“Everything flows from the mission. The mission drives the curriculum; the curriculum drives the equipment needs; and the equipment drives the facility design. Everything starts with the mission.”
That mission is for the school — the Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences School of Dental Medicine (PNWU-SDM) — to bring together a diverse pool of dental students primarily from rural or otherwise underserved areas, build service to those communities into the students’ clinical training, and ultimately increase the supply of dentists who go on to practice in those communities.
The First Class
It’s a mission that is reflected in the initial class of 36 students who arrived on the school’s Yakima campus in late July. Nearly two-thirds of the class comes from Washington, with the rest from around the Pacific Northwest. Even though the Northwest region is definitely a focus for the school, students in the inaugural class also come from as far away as Texas, Oklahoma and Florida. Importantly, nearly 75 percent of the students come from underserved or rural areas. The class includes students from a diverse range of ethnic backgrounds, and nearly two-thirds are women: a percentage that’s higher than the national average.
Nearly 550 applicants vied for the coveted 36 slots in the school’s inaugural class, reflecting the competitive nature of dental school admissions across the country.
“We were looking for a very specific type of student, and we found them,” Panagakos said of the class. “We focused on alignment with the mission in our selection process. We had to be careful that we didn’t get blinded by amazing credentials, if those credentials weren’t tied to our mission.
“We’re also committed to working with students who haven’t had all the advantages in their educational journeys so far. We’re opening doors for students who might not been accepted to dental schools in the past, but who have a passion for delivering care to the underserved.”
In keeping with that commitment to providing new opportunities, most of the inaugural class are first-generation college graduates, with some also being the first in their families to graduate high school, he said.
The inaugural class of PNWU-SDM students have begun their on-campus studies.
An Exciting Opportunity
“I’m blessed to be in this position. I wake up every morning and I’m excited to come to campus,” said Panagakos. “I also understand that, while my role is important, it’s the dedication of the faculty and staff and the hard work that they put in that is making it happen. The team deserves the credit.”
His excitement about the mission of the school is paired with an informal, engaging manner. A campus visitor is met with a smile, a firm handshake, and the request to “call me Foti.” (Which is exactly what we’ll be doing for the rest of this article.) It’s a style that’s working well.
“I’m not a micro-manager,” he says. “But I think it’s important for me to be available to the team.”
In addition to being there for those involved in the School of Dental Medicine, his duties include participating with the leadership of the broader Pacific Northwest School of Health Sciences campus community.
Having completed the rigorous initial CODA accreditation process, he now directs a large portion of his time and energy to fundraising. The school’s largest benefactors to date, in addition to the college itself, include the State of Washington, which is helping fund the creation of the three community clinics where students will get their hands-on experience in working with patients; Delta Dental of Washington, which provided the lead gift for the school’s primary instructional building on campus and start-up operational support; WSDA, which provided the lead gift for the school’s lab classroom; and the Murdoch Charitable Trust, which underwrote the acquisition of state-of-the-art virtual reality machines to help students hone their skills in a wide variety of clinical procedures.
With most of the capital dollars for the school’s early years secured, the fundraising focus has now shifted primarily to generating additional resources for scholarships.
“We need to change the financial aid model for graduate school, and especially to be supportive of the type of students we are admitting to our program,” said Foti, adding that new federal student loan limits make financing a dental education even more challenging and scholarship dollars all the more important. He is also open to creative partnerships, noting that some community health centers have expressed interest in providing full-ride scholarships in exchange for students committing to work for them for a specific time period after graduation from dental school.
Not All Work and No Play
Despite his busy schedule, Foti still manages to start most days with a run before arriving at his office around 7 a.m. Years ago, he set a goal of completing half- or full marathons in all 50 states, and he only has nine more to go to achieve that ambitious objective.
Most days, he’s accompanied on his run by the family’s energetic border collie Buddy, who is also a skilled Frisbee afficionado and in training to become a certified therapy dog to bring comfort to trauma victims and elderly residents of care facilities.
Another hobby is gardening, which he says in his genes. His father was a farmer in Greece, and Foti enjoys spending time tending to both flower and vegetable gardens in the spring, summer, and fall. He is also an avid reader, an interest he shares with his wife of nearly 29 years, Judy, a career counselor who also serves on the board of directors of the Yakima Valley Libraries.
Moving across the country was a significant move for the couple, especially when it meant leaving behind three adult children and a one-year-old grandchild. But it wasn’t as hard as they might have expected, primarily because of how welcoming both Yakima and the statewide dental community have been.
“We love this community,” Foti said. “It was very welcoming from day one. We sensed an immediate pride in Yakima from the residents we met, and a deep appreciation for PNWU.”
A Commitment to Research and Education
Foti’s road to Yakima began with his undergraduate education in biology. After deciding that medicine wasn’t his calling, he became interested in dentistry and enrolled in the New Jersey School of Dentistry, which was then independent but later merged with Rutgers University and became Rutgers School of Dental Medicine. Although he originally planned to enter private practice after graduation, he instead became interested in research and enrolled in a challenging DMD/PhD program. Upon completion and following a one-year research fellowship, he joined his alma mater as a full-time faculty member, while maintaining a part-time private practice.
Foti enjoyed teaching, working with students, and participating in an academic environment, but eventually was recruited to join the Colgate-Palmolive Company in the research division, rising to serve as the company’s Global Director of Scientific Affairs. He directed Colgate’s investments in research projects, working closely with the ADA Foundation and other national associations on major oral health studies, and represented the company globally.
However, after 12 years at Colgate, he again felt the tug of academia and returned to campus life as Associate Dean for Research and eventually Interim Dean at West Virginia’s School of Dentistry.
In December of 2021, he read about a new dental school being planned on the opposite side of the country and decided to check it out. The first thing he noticed was that the stated mission of the school was to recruit and train students primarily from rural communities to ultimately serve rural communities.
“West Virginia had its share of rural challenges, so it was a mission I could relate to,” he said. He decided to throw his hat in the ring, not knowing exactly what would come of his application.
“Often, when a new school is being created, there are a group of consultants and other supporters already engaged, and the first dean will come from among that group,” he explained.
He was pleased to learn that this wouldn’t be the case in Yakima. Another pleasant surprise was the active involvement and support the school was receiving from WSDA, including having representatives on the Search Committee.
“I’m very thankful that we’ve had nothing but strong support, from local practicing dentists in the Yakima, Tri Cities and Tacoma areas (where the school’s dental clinics will be located), the WSDA, and the broader dental community across the state.”
Looking Ahead
That support has included a strong, collaborative relationship with the University of Washington School of Dentistry, one no doubt helped by Foti’s personal relationship with UW Dean André Ritter. The two schools are committed to sharing expertise and working together to address workforce issues. The UW’s RIDE (Regional Initiatives in Dental Education) program aligns squarely with the PNWU-SDM mission. They are also actively engaged with Oregon Health Sciences University on broader regional issues and initiatives.
With the inaugural class now on campus and supportive external relationships continuing to grow, Foti sees great things ahead for the school.
“In the next five years, we’ll have graduated our first class or two, and we’ll be getting a sense of the impact they’re having in underserved communities. We’ll have our final accreditation in place, and I hope we’ll have at least one more strong community partner,” he added.
“I hope we’ll be able to build more collaboration with dental hygienists, as well as more dental-medical integration. Then, we can start growing our classes from today’s 36 to our eventual maximum of 60. It’s exciting to think about.”
This article originally appeared in Issue 3, 2025 of the WSDA News.
