Bias alert: I attend the University of Utah.
I've heard GREAT things about Iowa's program, so I'm not here to knock them. They have a solid reputation, and if cost/location are not major considerations, I think that would be a wise choice. Especially if you are contemplating specialization.
That being said, hopefully I can clear up some of your concerns about choosing Utah.
First: The last thing we're worried about is having a lack of patients. We have a class size of 20 students, which means realistically we'll be needing less than a fourth the patient pool of most schools. We're located literally minutes from downtown Salt Lake and the U already has a prestigious medical school/university hospital/reputation from which to draw.
Second: adoo2, I'm not sure where you heard the curriculum was going to be modeled after Creighton's (which I actually wouldn't mind- I have several friends who have/are attending Creighton and they've LOVED it). In October, administrators from Midwestern, Roseman, Michigan, and NYU visited our school to present on their respective programs. We are currently in the process of picking our favorite elements from each model and integrating them into our curriculum. Students have been intimately involved in this process-- which is a major responsibility and sometimes a pain in the neck. If you just want to breeze through school and not deal with some of the exciting challenges that come with building a new school, I would recommend you look elsewhere (i.e. Iowa).
Ultimately I am loving my experience at Utah. It's only been a semester, but I have complete faith that I will come out of this a competent dentist. The small class size is convenient and being involved in making many of the decisions that will dictate the future of the school has been a joy.
And those mountains.
