Skip to content
Graduate Program in Oral Health Sciences

MS in OHS (Dental Hygiene)

OHS Dental Hygiene students at Tent City
Please visit the Undergraduate Dental Hygiene page for information about our joint program with Shoreline Community College.

The intent of this two-year program is to train dental hygienists to become dental hygiene educators and work in research and development or related health care roles.  Completion of the required courses normally takes 8 quarters and at least 70 credit hours.

Course Requirements

The overall goal of the program is to train dental hygienists to be educators, researchers and related health care professionals.  Students receive comprehensive training in many of the basic and applied (clinical) sciences, participate in clinical care of special needs patients, and  in a research project.  The program is non-thesis, but students will be required to complete a capstone research project.

MSDentalHygiene

The following courses are mandatory program requirements:

Core Courses
Course No. Course Title Credit Hrs. Quarter Offered
P BIO 375, 376 Human Physiology 4,4 A,W
DENTFN 513 Oral Microbiology 2 A
DENTFN 523/533 Oral Histology & Embryology 1 and 2 3, 3 W, Sp
DENTPC 534, 554, 574 Oral Pathology Intro, Part 1, Part 2 3,2,4 Sp, S, W
OHS 575 Oral Biology Seminar 1,1,1 A, W, Sp
PERIO 575 Immunologic Aspects of Oral Disease 2 A
OHS 568 Biostatistics in Dentistry 3 S
OHS 571 Clinical Epidemiology & Study Design 2 S
BIME 520 Teaching Methods in Medical Education 2 Sp
D HYG 500 Dental Hygiene Seminar 1 Varies
D HYG 501 Capstone 1 2-4 Varies
D HYG 502 Capstone 2 2-4 Varies
D HYG 503 Capstone 3 2-4 Varies
OHS 579 Molecular Biology 2 S
ORTHO 580 Craniofacial Anatomy 2 S

*Note that some of these requirements may be waived and is dependent upon previous coursework.

The Capstone Project will provide the student with the opportunity to demonstrate their mastery of the basic and applied oral biology science curricular concepts, by integrating their acquired knowledge and skills into a research project that is applicable to their individual interest or future career goals. A minimum of 6 credits is required.

Available Teaching Electives
Course No. Course Title Credit Hrs. Quarter Offered
BIME 521 Evaluation of Learning in the Health Sciences 3 Sp
OHS 562 Supervised Teaching in Oral Health Sciences 1-5 A, W, Sp, S
D HYG 595 Teaching Internship 1-4 A, W, Sp
GRD SCH 630 Special Topics in College/University Teaching 2 S

Other electives
Course No. Course Title Credit Hrs. Quarter Offered
OHS 569 Advanced Oral Microbiology 2 W
OHS 578 Research Techniques 2-4 A, W, Sp, S
ORALM 576 Oral Medicine Literature Review 1 A, W, Sp, S
ORALM 601 Oral Medicine Research Seminar 1 A, W, Sp, S
DENTPC 533 Local Anesthesia 3 Sp
DENTPC 511 Introduction to Periodontics 2 A

Clinical opportunities are available in the DECOD (Dental Education in Care of Persons with Disabilities) Clinic.

Clinical opportunities in DECOD
Course No. Course Title Credit Hrs. Quarter Offered
ORALM 404 Considerations in Care of Patient with a Disability 1 A, W, Sp, S
ORALM 460 Clinical Management of Patients with Disabilities variable A, W, Sp, S
DENTGP 653, 663, 673, 683 Treatment of Patients with Special Needs 2 A, W, Sp

Students are also required to attend and participate in the Biomedical Research Integrity Series. This is a non-credit summer course taught through the Department of Bioethics and Humanities and consists of a series of lectures and discussion groups. Each student will need to attend a minimum of three lectures and three discussion groups.  NIH trainees are required to attend every year of the duration of their federal funding.