Summer 2008
Career | Mentoring

Web Exclusive: Full interview transcripts

For the full article click here.

Modern Hygienist recently had the opportunity to interview program directors from Kennedy-King College and the College of Lake County’s Dental Hygiene program; two reputable programs located in Illinois on the south side of Chicago and northwestern suburbs, respectively. By combining a shared passion for education and dental hygiene, these women are making a difference in the lives of their students and communities .

kennedy-king college

Shirley Beaver, RDH, PhD, is the program director of Kennedy-King’s ADA certified dental hygiene program, which provides students training in educational, clinical, and therapeutic services, preparing them for work in the preventive oral healthcare industry as a dental hygienists.

Modern Hygienist: What aspects of the program at Kennedy-King are you most proud of?

Shirley Beaver: The diversity of the program; we have a very diverse program in terms of first-generation international students and underrepresented minorities. We have students as young as 19 and as old as 54 and, for a few years, we had a couple of males in each class. I’m also proud of the unique partnership between Kennedy-King College and the University of Illinois College of Dentistry (UIC). The students have the best of a community college and professional university dental school collaboration.

MH: The relationship between hygienist and dentist is an important factor in career satisfaction. Tell us more about how you work with UIC.

SB: We have a great opportunity at the UIC because we don’t have a separate dental hygiene clinic. There, we have six clinics—each has five hygiene students, along with 2nd, 3rd and 4th year dental students. Each dental hygiene student is assigned to a group of dental students and they provide care to the patients in collaboration. Also, there are general practice dentists, periodontists and other specialty dental faculty that teach the dental hygiene in the clinical setting.

MH: What do you think are some of the main challenges facing dental hygienists in the next 5 to 10 years, and how is your program working to prepare students accordingly?

SB: First, availability of full time positions with benefits. Many areas of the country are oversaturated with dental hygienists. Second, but of greatest significance, is determining what the role of the dental hygienist is really going to be in the overall picture of access to oral health care. A third challenge is the need to move entry-level dental hygiene to a bachelor’s degree level in order to be able to effectively teach all of the information that’s available in a rapidly changing healthcare environment; we’re working to establish an online bachelor’s degree completion program. Moving into a bachelor’s program is the way to ensure that students have enough time to acquire the skills of the future.

MH: On the flip side, what do you see as key opportunities available to future dental hygienists?

SB: We’re graduating more dental hygienists than dentists, so I think that we are positioned to provide more services. I think that there’s going to be an explosion of technology and new information that’s going to affect dental care. Research linking oral disease to heart disease and diabetes is just the beginning of emphasis on the need for dental hygienists who have the level of knowledge to provide safe, effective care. I believe working in a public health environment may become extremely important as we move toward providing access to care for all populations. We’re teaching students how to critically read scientific information, so that they will be able to evaluate new techniques and procedures as they become available. Students participate in a variety of rotations, so they are aware of opportunities that might exist in public health. As the population increases and we have less dentists per person, our dental hygienists will be ready to effectively provide access to care. We have students rotate through service learning in areas where they are educated in providing care to the elderly and those with special needs.

MH: In telling the story of dental hygiene education and where it’s headed, what are some essential points to make?

SB: I think we need to focus on graduating a professional dental hygienist who is able to keep up with the expansion of knowledge that is happening right now. A further challenge in dental hygiene education is incorporating technology and active learning into the curriculum. We, as educators, must capitalize on technology in order to engage the student. The most important issue facing education is the need to educate dental hygienists who are interested in becoming educators and researchers. Without them, our profession will be unable to move forward.

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