The significance of Meharry's public value is also grounded in its documented ability to produce graduates who will serve the poor and underserved.  Meharry has a long tradition of tangible commitment to the education of minority and disadvantaged students in the health profession.  Its impact and effectiveness in adding to the nation's workforce have been outstanding.  In 2004, Meharry has graduated nearly 21% (5,531) of all the African American physicians and dentists (26,069) practicing in the United States.  This constitutes 5.6% of all the nation's physicians and dentists.  Meharry has also produced 10% of the African American PhDs in the biomedical Sciences.   

Of the 3,724 living MMC alumni, 78 percent practice in lower socioeconomic and disadvantaged urban and rural communities, and more than 50 percent practice in primary care specialties. Based on data from a 1999 American Dental Association survey of 1,548 dentists, 64% of Meharry dental graduates practice in socio-economically deprived areas and 67% of the patients served are from low-income families.  Meharry alumni dentists practicing in primary care settings account for 78% of the total number of practicing alumni.

Meharry's on campus training facilities provide a diverse array of community-based experiences and include: the Nashville General Hospital, the Lloyd C. Elam Community Mental Health, the Meharry Clinic, the Meharry/DCI Dialysis Center and the School of Dentistry Clinics.  Other affiliated clinical facilities include the Alvin C. York Veterans Administration Medical Center (Murfreesboro, Tennessee), Blanchfield Army Community Hospital (Fort Campbell, Kentucky), the Nashville Public Health Department and the Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Center.

It is Meharry's distinctive focus that has commanded long term respect and endowed it with unparalleled value as a ranking partner in the national quest for a healthier America. Indeed, now, more than ever, the Nation's health care priorities are aligned with the College's compelling mission. In summary, Meharry is a private institution with a large - and lofty - public mission.

While Meharry is a historically black college, its student body reflects the diversity of the nation, with members representing the African American, Caucasian, Hispanic, Asian and Native American communities. The School of Dentistry has consistently maintained a total enrollment of over 200 students, with under-represented minorities making up approximately 94% of the student body. The gender make-up of student body is 55% female, which differs notably from the national average of 35%.

The dental school clinics have an ethnically diverse patient base of over 3,300 individuals of which eighty-seven percent (87%) are classified as low-income.  The pre-doctoral clinical education program provides instruction and patient service in all dental disciplines including oral and maxillofacial surgery, oral diagnostic sciences, operative dentistry, prosthodontics, endodontics, periodontics, preventive/public health dentistry, pediatric dentistry and implant dentistry.