Life has always been a balancing act. People juggle around their priorities with family, work, and friends. Attempting to go to school becomes a difficult task adding yet another commitment to be balanced along with the others. For many dental hygienists, furthering their studies is something that needs to be planned very carefully. Through UBC’s Dental Hygiene Degree Program, those who want to further their studies in the field are able to do so at their own pace. It is a specially designed program where students can complete their degrees through online courses offered by the Faculty of Dentistry.
Development of online courses began in 1997 through distance education funding with the planning of one course that was offered in 1999. Today the whole 3rd and 4th year curriculums can be completed online. Using WebCT, students can access their classes without having the need to be on-campus. Some courses are highly interactive, and students have opportunities to collaborate with each other as they complete their work. According to Prof. Bonnie Craig, Head of the Dental Hygiene Degree Program, they wanted to provide the flexibility in scheduling that distance education brings but still provide a sense of community to their students. As she describes it, “There are students from Ontario, some from Alberta, and some from the Lower Mainland. They will have to coordinate by themselves when they can discuss their assignments and projects. We just didn’t want them to feel that they went through a structured process.” Graduates from the program receive a Bachelor’s degree at the end of their fourth year. It is the only program of its kind in Canada.
UBC’s Dental Hygiene Degree Program is also helping to address a documented shortage of dental hygiene educators in both Canada and the United States. The Canadian Dental Hygienists’ Association passed a resolution that by 2005 all students entering dental hygiene programs would be entering baccalaureate degree programs. According to an article written in the Journal of Dental Education, the resolution triggered a number of dental hygiene schools to convert their current diploma programs into bachelor’s degrees. However, there has been some concern about the recruitment of faculty with suitable qualifications to teach undergraduate students. Because UBC’s Dental Hygiene Degree Program is an academic program, graduates of the program can pursue their MSc and PhD at UBC. Today, one out of four graduates have gone on to pursue their Masters and the first program graduate has commenced a PhD. In September 2007, the program will start its direct entry option. Interested students will be able to complete their whole four years at UBC. Graduates from this program will help to fill the shortage for dental hygiene educators. Another indicator of the program’s demand is that even though dental hygienists do not require a degree to perform their practice, student enrolment has been increasing by 50% every year. “Similar to other professions, there has been a movement towards higher education. People will always demand the best service they can find,” says Prof. Craig. She also said that most people who enroll in the program have a genuine desire to continue their education. They want to become more specialized in their field of interest.
As UBC moves forward with TREK 2010, the Dental Hygiene Degree Program embodies many of the TREK’s goals to support people, learning, research, community, and internationalization. Through the unique options offered by the Dental Hygiene Degree Program, more people will have access to higher education and will develop the skills and gain the credentials they need to educate others in the profession. Prof. Craig says that some of the students in the program are the most internally driven people she has met. In many ways, the program’s innovations bridge the gaps caused by distance and time constraints that prevent people from pursuing something they desire.