To prepare the next generation for the rewarding yet arduous journey all dental professionals must embark on, the UW School of Dentistry’s Office of Educational Partnerships (OEP) is working to make sure that students, particularly those from underserved backgrounds, become exposed to opportunities in oral health during the early years of their education. Whether it be in high school, at the start of college, or even sometimes in middle school, the more time they have to prepare for and envision themselves in dental professions, the better.
To pursue their mission, OEP collaborates with other pathway programs at UW and through community partnerships that send students to the School of Dentistry’s D1 simulation clinic for a crash course in basic dental procedures. These programs are designed to provide high schoolers from disadvantaged backgrounds with resources for college preparation and opportunities for higher education experiences that they otherwise might not have.
According to OEP’s director Dr. Amy Kim, the pathway programs are well aligned with the service mission of her unit and the School overall. “Serving minoritized and disadvantaged youth is some of the best work of our School,” said Dr. Kim. “I feel so privileged to work with our cadre of truly committed dental students. They inspire me every day to help make the future of dentistry better.”
This summer, students from Dare to Dream, Making Connections and the Summer Health Professions Education Program (SHPEP) all visited the UW School of Dentistry to try their hands at dental practices. Students from the Na-ha-shnee STEAM Summer Institute at Washington State University Spokane visited Eastern Washington University to work with RIDE students. In the spring, high schoolers from the Community Health Professions Academy (CHPA) visited the D1 clinic as one of their six Saturday rotations.
“[The CHPA] has been an invaluable opportunity and experience that made me more excited and passionate to pursue my dream,” said 2024 CHPA scholar Layan Sattout in an address to her fellow CHPA scholars and their families at the end of the program. “Thanks to this program I feel more prepared, confident and motivated to provide healthcare for people and make a difference and impact on the community and the world.”
Sattout is one of the many high school students whose curiosity towards a career in healthcare leads them to the available pathway programs as a way to cultivate it into a passion.
“A student applies to the CHPA, as an example, completes the six-week course and, hopefully, is excited about dentistry,” said OEP’s program manager, Sarah Lynch, detailing the route a student may take through the pathway programs.
Depending on the program, students participate in activities from multiple healthcare professions, including medicine, public health, neuroscience, and nursing, to give them a well-rounded experience.
Once a student enrolls in community college or college, they could then apply to SHPEP which gives them access to mentors, additional classes and support throughout that six-week program. After that they use their gained knowledge to apply to graduate school and, finally, once in dental school, they engage as a student volunteer to help the cycle continue.
Zain Natha, the 2025 Class President and School of Dentistry Student Body President, participated in SHPEP the summer after her sophomore year of undergrad. She credits the experience with properly preparing her for the dental school application and solidifying her decision to pursue a career in dentistry.
“We had exposure to all three of the fields (medicine, dentistry and public health), and they set the classes up like you were a graduate student, so you got to understand what the day-to-day process would be like if you were in graduate school,” said Natha.
“Then there were sessions with just our dental cohort where Dr. [Susan] Coldwell and Dr. [Douglass] Jackson gave us information about admissions to dental school, what to look for when applying to a dental school, when is the best time to take the Dental Admissions Test (DAT), and what are good resources for studying for the DAT.
“We also had the opportunity to talk to dental students and have hands-on experiences in the sim lab, so it felt like most, if not all, aspects of the dental application were covered in the short program.”
After graduating from SHPEP, Natha returned to Occidental College, where she was enrolled at the time, and was able to shape the next two years of her undergraduate studies toward her goal of enrolling in dental school.
Natha ended up returning home to Washington to attend the UW School of Dentistry in the Regional Initiatives in Dental Education (RIDE) program. As a RIDE student, most of her time has been spent on the EWU campus in Spokane, but last year, when she was studying in Seattle, Natha volunteered to be a student leader in the sim lab during CHPA.
“For me, I wanted to volunteer because I know how beneficial the program was since I’d gone through it,” said Natha. “I do think there’s a benefit in volunteering in the sense that you remember that you were in [the younger students’] shoes and you’re going to be helping the next generation of dentists.”
The student-led crash course on the dental profession is designed by Lynch and Dr. Kim. Depending on the pathway program, the workshop will run anywhere from one to three hours and features activities such as impressions, wax-ups, and composite restorations.
Rich Lee, the School of Dentistry’s Manager of Program Operations in Dental Maintenance, also built a game coined the “mirror maze” where students can mimic the inverse vision that dentists use in procedures by racing each other through a series of obstacles.
These activities are a hands-on introduction to oral health professions and a glimpse of what could be if students choose to pursue dental assisting, dental hygiene, and/or dentistry as their future path. They also serve as one-on-one opportunities for dental students to engage with young scholars, share their journeys and inspire future colleagues and dental team members.
“The students are really good teachers and a lot of them really like to volunteer,” said Lynch. “They bring a really good energy and attitude to the day and we could not do what we do without their help.”
“Inspiring the next generation of dentists is such a rewarding experience,” said student volunteer Wolfgang McLelland (‘25). “I really enjoyed getting to know the students and their stories while sharing my passion for dentistry.”
This upcoming spring, the CHPA program will be changing to a dental academy. Students can sign up for a three-to-four-week session where they will partake in solely dental activities. Registration for the dental academy will start this fall.
“A huge thanks to the OEP Team for making this all possible,” said McLelland. “I wish I had something like this back when I was thinking about career options.”