Journal of the American College of Dentists

Manuscript
for students to increase their competitiveness
by building stronger foundations
in the biological sciences which prepares
them for the challenging dental
school curriculum.
Retaining and graduating URM
students is just as important as enrolling
them. At the local, regional, and national
levels, discussions about increasing the
diversity of dental schools inevitably
include the questions: “How well do URM
students perform once admitted?” “Are
they retained?” and “Do they graduate?”
The American Dental Association collects
national data on the numbers of dental
school graduates, including URM graduates.
However, there is no national data
on retention rates of URM students.
Although it is only one school’s story,
the data presented in this paper show
that, once admitted, the retention rate
of URM students can be very high and
comparable to that of all dental students.
The URM students enrolled in TAMHSC-
BCD’s DDS program perform across
the same range of performance as the
general population of the class. There
are URM students in the top quartile,
middle range, and bottom quartile, just
like the other demographic groups.
Since TAMHSC-BCD is enrolling more
students who come from disadvantaged
backgrounds and URM students are more
likely to be from these backgrounds,
slightly more URM students need additional
help than the non-minority
students. But this is reasonable, since
being disadvantaged by definition means
the student may require more support
to catch up to those who have had many
advantages all along their academic
careers. URM does not equate to “a
retention problem.”
The structure of TAMHSC-BCD’s
retention program is unique due to the
wide array of services provided and the
number of faculty, administrators, and
staff involved in the retention process.
The Student Success Team represents
multiple offices including those of
Student Affairs, Academic Affairs,
Recruitment & Admissions, and Student
Development. This “team” approach
facilitates a collaborative effort by key
personnel who are intimately involved
with students for different reasons and
prevents any student from “falling
through the cracks.”
Peer tutors are trained by the
Educational Specialist to develop and
enhance their teaching skills. Tutors
are also paid by the college in order
to hold them to a high standard of
accountability. In addition, they receive
credit for a selective course for tutoring.
All students are required to take at least
two selective courses.
TAMHSC-BCD pays for a prescribed
number of professional psychological
counseling sessions for students.
Therefore, students do not have to
neglect receiving this service due to
financial constraints.
The five-year curriculum is an alternative
for students who need additional
time to successfully negotiate the firstyear
dental curriculum. Students can
choose the five-year program before
matriculating into the college or they
can enter it once they have are enrolled.
This allows students the flexibility to
make decision about the program at the
appropriate time. For the last several
years, the retention rate of students in
the five-year program has closely
approximated 100%.
The structure that the of Office of
Student Development has developed
into one that has a long-standing
relationship with many of the college’s
dental students. Many of the URM
students participated in one or more of
TAMHSC-BCD’s pre-dental programs.
These students, therefore, have developed
a sense of “belonging” at the college.
The office serves as a place where students
can get help from those that they know
and trust.
How can TAMHSC-BCD’s retention
program be enhanced? Table 2 shows
that minimal students still need to pass
Part II of the National Board exams. It is
the college’s goal that all students pass
this exam while still in dental school.
Therefore, strengthening preparation
for this exam is an area in which we
can improve.
So, URM students are being enrolled
in TAMHSC-BCD and they are graduating.
Where are they practicing? Are they
practicing in areas which increase access
to care for underserved communities
and populations? A study by Solomon
and others in 2001 indicated that URM
students do generally practice in a way
that increased access to care. However,
the college is currently identifying
practice areas of URM dentists that it
graduated over the last 15 years to determine
where they are practicing. When
available, the results of this study will be
shared with the dental community.
The retention strategies outlined
in this paper can serve as a model for
dental schools, other health professions
schools and professional schools in general
that are looking not only to increase
enrollment of URM students but also
seeking additional ways of providing
support for students. ■
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2011 Volume 78, Number 4