ADA for Educators
ADA Student Ambassador Program
The 5th annual program, Collaboration of National Dental School Programs for a Common Goal: Increasing Diversity in the Dental Profession, reached record high numbers of participants, setting the stage for a host of new programs that encourage diversity in the dental profession. Participants met last year in conjunction with the ADA annual session. There were 70 attendees with 46 dental schools represented—a 30 percent increase in participation over the previous year.
The 2010 Student Ambassador Program featured the first ever Ambassador Awards, which were presented to students for excellence in implementing programs in their schools and communities. Award winners included:
- Sonya Nkashama, University of Alabama-Birmingham (first place)
- Robert Trujillo, Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health (second place)
- Dr. Kari Cunningham, Case Western Reserve University (third place)
As the Student National Dental Association's chapter president at UAB, Ms. Nkashama partnered with UAB’s Hispanic Student Dental Association (HSDA) and developed the school's second Impressions program, a peer-to-peer recruitment initiative. Mr. Trujillo created the Minority Mentorship Program for middle schools with a high percentage of Hispanic/Latino students in Arizona. Dr. Cunningham launched several collaborative initiatives with the CWRU admissions office to mentor incoming minority students.
"Increasing diversity in dentistry is essential and an important mission to help eliminate oral health disparities in our communities," said Dr. Francisco Ramos-Gomez. He is a member of the ADA Career Guidance and Diversity Committee, which sponsors the Student Ambassador Program. "Developing future dental practitioners from underrepresented minority communities can help shift the balance of the profession and will have a great impact on peoples' lives," said Dr. Ramos-Gomez.
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"I really believe that in future, this will be one of best programs when it comes to developing a blueprint to help increase the number of underrepresented students entering careers in dentistry," said Dr. Ramos-Gomez. "The students are an essential component of the program. They meet new students and say, 'I made it; you can, too.'" This helps to plant the seed that they can become a dentist one day, and it brings cultural competency into the dental profession," he added.
The committee is made up of dentists, educators and students representing the ADA, American Dental Education Association, National Dental Association, Hispanic Dental Association, Society of American Indian Dentists and American Student Dental Association. GlaxoSmithKline, the committee's corporate member, has contributed funding since the program’s inception.
Plans are underway for the 6th annual Ambassador Program to be held in conjunction with the ADA annual session, Sunday, October 9, 2011 in Las Vegas. For additional information, contact Career Guidance at 312-440-2390.
Students Advancing Diversity
The Student Ambassador Program, Students Advancing Diversity, is a unique student-driven recruitment process and is a program of the ADA Career Guidance and Diversity Activities Committee. The Committee is made up of representatives from the Hispanic Dental Association (HDA), National Dental Association (NDA), Society of American Indian Dentists (SAID), American Student Dental Association (ASDA), American Dental Education Association (ADEA), New Dentist Committee (NDC), National Association of Advisors to the Health Professions (NAAHP) and student groups.
The program’s focus is to recruit students from underrepresented groups to the dental profession. Ambassadors accomplish this by taking the lead in organizing and conducting student-to-student recruitment activities with predental and high school students. The ADA Council on Access, Prevention and Interprofessional Relations (CAPIR) provided funding for the 2011 Ambassador Program.
Participants of the ambassador program have successfully developed a collaborative model of student outreach for all student groups as well as partnerships with dental school admission offices and the NAAHP. Additionally, participants have created best practices in student-to-student recruitment. In 2011, the student ambassadors reached out to over 350 underrepresented predental minority students from around the country. Decidedly, the program works because ambassadors (dental students) are committed to reaching out to other underrepresented students and groups inspiring them to pursue dentistry as a profession.
