River Cities Business Journal: Education

Special to the Journal

In the second year of the program at Mohave Community College, all dental hygiene students in the graduating Class of 2007 passed their national board exams on the first attempt.

The MCC Dental Hygiene Program opened its doors in the fall of 2004, turning out the first program graduates in May 2006. This year, all 11 students in the class received passing marks on their first attempt at the national certification board tests, administered by the American Dental Association's Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations. The national board exam is one of the last steps to becoming a registered dental hygienist.

“A lot of credit goes to the students and to the instructional staff at MCC,” chancellor Tom Henry said. “For 100 percent of the class to pass the exam on the first attempt is a proud moment for MCC and a real feather in the cap of the students, who never lost sight of a very tough, long-term goal.

“Programs such as Dental Hygiene, which are vital in rural areas such as Mohave County, are tough and complicated programs that take the full concentration and dedication of the students and their families,” Henry said. “These students should be proud of themselves, and their families should hold their heads high as this is quite an accomplishment.”

Dr. Michael Kearns, currently the vice chancellor of instruction at MCC and a dentist who was founding director of the MCC Dental Hygiene Program in 2004, said, “Having everyone pass the exam on the first try is always our goal; but often text-anxiety or fatigue can prevent that. The fact that every one of them made it is a testimony to the quality of these graduates and their determination to enter the world of dental health care.”

Tracy Gift, director of the Dental Hygiene Program at MCC, said, ‘It is really heartening with a program this young to know we are on the right path.

“Nationally, the success rate is about 95 percent for those taking the board for the first time,” she said. “For 100 percent of this class to pass the first time is nice for us at MCC - but a real tribute to the students who came in here and stuck to the tough task they faced when they began the program in the fall of 2005.”

Last year, in the MCC program's first year of existence, about 93 percent of the graduating class passed the board on the first attempt.

The Dental Hygiene Program runs from the fall through the spring and summer semesters and subsequent fall and spring semesters, Gift said. But the students must have completed a long list of prerequisite courses before they can even apply to the program. Because class spaces are limited, they must also make it through a selection process.

“Passing the board is like finding the light at the end of a very long journey,” Gift said. “It is really easy to lose sight of the real goal over two years.

“These students must be determined and dedicated to attain this goal, and it takes a tremendous amount of giving on the part of these students - many of which have husbands and children at home - and their families,” she said.

The final hurdle is for the graduates to take their clinical exams, where they must demonstrate their knowledge and application with real patients, Gift said. The students will be taking their clinical exams in Phoenix this weekend or in Las Vegas in June, she said.

“These clinical exams are no simple matter either,” Gift said. “This exam goes back over the entire Dental Hygiene Program and to prerequisites. Some of the questions may pertain to topics they covered in such classes as embryology, histology, phlebotomy, radiology, pharmacology, ethical and legal issues or community health planning.”

When the clinical exams are completed and passed, the students still must apply for licensure in the state where they will be practicing. Then they can begin their careers as registered dental hygienists.