New Dental Assisting courses hope to fill gap in worker shortages
With fewer healthcare providers in the workforce, especially in rural areas, many people struggle to find consistent sources of care. While there are many ways to address this issue, one solution is to find ways to streamline training and get more professionals into the system, with the goal of treating patients sooner rather than later.
The University is making an effort to address this labor shortage, so it had a speedy response to the Minnesota Board of Dentistry plan’s to create a new pathway for obtaining limited dental assisting licenses. The board invited dental educational institutions, including the School of Dentistry, to submit curricula for approval, and the school responded. Two classes, Radiology for the Unlicensed Dental Assistant and Local Anesthesia for the Dental Assistant, are currently up and running, and they’ve already had hundreds of enrolled students in attendance.
According to many of the faculty and staff, much of the credit for this quick ramp-up belongs to former Continuing Dental Education (CDE) director Jo Peterson. “She received news that the Minnesota Board of Dentistry was thinking of passing this legislation, and she wanted CDE to have a program in place by the time it passed,” said Jill Hormann, clinical assistant professor in the Division of Dental Hygiene. “That quick response helped us meet the demand from Licensed Dental Assistants, who were eager to add these skills to their scope of practice. “
Mansur Ahmad, BDS, PhD, is an associate professor and director, Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology and Limited Dental Assisting License for Oral Radiology. He developed the radiology course, and doing so certainly pushed him out of his usual comfort zone: “The primary challenge was to create 50 hours of lecture videos,” he said.
“For four months, I dedicated 16 to 18 hours each day to this project, managing to sleep only about four hours a night,” he recalled. “Fridays were particularly difficult, because I couldn’t record properly, thanks to the noise of garbage collection. On warm afternoons, the sound of lawnmowers in the neighborhood also interfered.”
As the students were learning, his behind-the-scenes work continued. “By the time the course began, I was about 80% finished with the videos, but I continued to produce content as the course progressed,” Mansur said. “Amusingly, the participants did not realize that the course was not fully ready when it began. Looking back, I should have treated myself to a two-week vacation at the beach after this ordeal.”
More students continue to enroll in the courses, and those who developed the curricula are pleased with performance and results. Gina Radeck, clinic manager of the Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology Clinic, says, “We see the excitement in our participants, and it’s very rewarding. Most of our participants do go on to Dental Hygiene or DDS Programs. Each class fills up very quickly, so the need is still there.”
Ahmad agrees: “Many participants have emailed us to share their success in obtaining their licenses. Notably, at least one participant has gained admission to a DDS program and is now a third-year student at the University.”