Dental Hygiene Admission Process for Students

1. Dental Hygiene Admission Process for Students 2012 Dental Hygiene Admissions Process updated August 2011, by DH Admissions Chair Amy Sullivan, RDH, PhD

2. Admissions Committee: Beckie Barry, Department Chair bbarry@umc.edu Amy Sullivan, Admissions Chair asullivan@umc.edu Sandra Horne Elizabeth Carr Angie Garner Annie McCline Faye Johnson Teresa Duncan Dental Hygiene Admissions Process

3. Hygienists, RDH Amy Sullivan, Admissions Chair Beckie Barry, Department Chair Sandra Horne Elizabeth Carr Teresa Duncan Angie Garner Annie McCline Kim Williams Debbie Franklin Sharon Andrews Melissa Bryant Cheryl Smith Kit Stilley Beth Moore Rebecca Pierce Phillip Williams Other Faye Johnson Interview Committee: Dental Hygiene Admissions Process

4. Application Requirements: Preference is given in admission to our program to qualified applicants who are legal residents of MS. MS law requires all healthcare workers/students have a criminal background check (includes fingerprinting). Any applicants whose native language is not English are required to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The department maintains compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Bloodborne Pathogens Standards, Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and UMMC infection control policies, since our students have to potential to be exposed to blood, blood products, tissues, and body fluids. 1. Application into our program must be submitted online by February 15th of the year applying. 2. Sixteen of the prerequisite science hours must be completed at the time of application. 3. Twenty-four of the other required hours must also be completed at the time of application • It is strongly recommended that applicants have a majority of their academic requirements before the February 15 deadline (will affect scoring on required courses component). • online science courses are not preferred Dental Hygiene Admissions Process

5. Applicant Requirements: • Complete a minimum of 57 semester hours of academic credit from an accredited institution of higher learning. Transcripts must be submitted to registrar's office • See required courses (next page) • Have completed a minimum of 8 hours of observation by 2 licensed dental hygienists in 2 separate clinical environments. • Have a minimum of 2.5on a 4.0 scale • Complete an interview with admissions committee • Complete a “hands-on” dexterity test with committee • Submit a copy of ACT score Dental Hygiene Admissions Process

6. Required Courses: REQUIRED COURSES Number of Courses Hours English Composition 2 6 Humanities 2 6 Anatomy & Physiology w/Lab* 2 8 Chemistry w/Lab** 2 8 Microbiology w/Lab 1 4 General Biology or Zoology w/Lab 1 4 College Algebra 1 3 Fine Arts 1 3 Speech 1 3 General Psychology 1 3 Intro to Sociology 1 3 Nutrition 1 3 Abnormal, Child, Adolescent, Education, or 1 3 Developmental Psychology __ 57 For Questions concerning substitution of classes, please contact Christi Hardy in the Registrar’s office: 601-815-9310 * One course in anatomy plus one course in physiology or anatomy and physiology combined for two courses. ** Chemistry I and II ORChemistry I and a second course in Organic/Biochemistry Dental Hygiene Admissions Process

7. Evaluation Criteria: *Overall Required GPA *ACT *Interview *Completion of Required Courses (status of completed courses, withdrawals, repeats, advanced degrees, and dental experience are considered here) *Hands-on (tests dexterity, hand-eye coordination, precision and steadiness, visual-motor coordination, ability to follow directions) Dental Hygiene Admissions Process

8. The Interview: • Students who meet the minimal requirements and have a complete application form will be interviewed. Interviews are typically held the first Friday in March. • Interviewers are asked to recuse themselves from interviewing any family members and/or applicants with whom they are familiar. Dental Hygiene Admissions Process

9. Interview Schedule: • Applicants are scheduled approximately: • 15-20 minutes for interview (2 from interview committee) • 30 minutes for “hands-on” testing Dental Hygiene Admissions Process

10. Applicant Selection: • Scores for each applicant are placed into a computer ranking formula. A relative total score in which each sub-component of the score is valued based on the item’s upper limit, the percentage allocated, and the applicant’s score for that item is utilized to rank applicants. The committee admits the top students (approximately 25) based on the rankings. • An additional five students are selected as alternates into the program based upon these same rankings. Dental Hygiene Admissions Process

11. Applicant Notification & Registration: • All students are notified of their status as accepted contingent upon course completions, alternate, or rejected by the Office of Student Records and the Registrar. Dental Hygiene Admissions Process

12. Reasons to Attend UMCfor Dental Hygiene: • Bachelor of Science degree awarded (the only DH program in the state of MS that offers a BS) • State-of-the-art facilities (including rotation sites) • Hands-on clinical training • Student support • High quality education Dental Hygiene Admissions Process

13. Dental Hygiene Curriculum: JUNIOR YEAR: SENIOR YEAR: Dental Hygiene Admissions Process

14. Dental Hygiene Curriculum: • Please understand, this is a “lock-step” program. What this means is that all accepted applicants will take the courses provided for them in a specified, sequential order (between 12-19 hours per semester). If a student does not successfully complete what is required per semester (fails 1 course, doesn’t maintain a 2.5 GPA, fails to maintain professional standards, or fails to meet any requirement), the student may be dismissed from the program. Dental Hygiene Admissions Process

15. Summary for Applicant: • Please see website: http://shrp.umc.edu/DH/index.html • February 15- application deadline • Begin FASFA/ financial aid application anytime after January; completed FASFA application due March 1 • March (typically 1st Friday in March)-interviews and scoring • April- students are notified that they are accepted, alternate, or rejected • August- registration and fall classes Dental Hygiene Admissions Process