The Hispanic Center of Excellence at the School of Dentistry is helping recruit dental students from underserved communities in South Texas and retain them with programs to bolster their educational success.
“As the only dental school located in South Texas, we help provide oral healthcare to the region through student clinical rotations and by training the professionals who will return and provide care to their communities,” said Juanita Lozano-Pineda, DDS, MPH, associate professor and the center’s director.
“That is where our focus has been through this center of excellence. We want to help recruit and retain these individuals through guidance and participation in programs we have in the School of Dentistry.”
Programs provide academic, peer and networking support
The center — an initiative funded by a grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — reaches out to pre-dental groups at South Texas high schools, colleges and universities to introduce them to dentistry and invite them to participate in the center’s summer programs for college-level kids through its Building Our Leaders in Dentistry, or BOLD Program. The program enables students to participate in hands-on dental activities, including tooth preparations with the use of portable equipment.
“As we recruit individuals from those communities, we help mentor and guide them to be successful applicants,” Lozano-Pineda said, adding that the center’s Learning Enhancement for Achievement in Dentistry (LEAD) Program helps students achieve their dental career goals with a series of summer programs starting with a three-week, pre-dental enrichment summer program to boost their science background, enhance their leadership skills and prepare them to become more competitive applicants for dental school admission.
“Once they start dental school, we are here to support them through their journey as they navigate our four-year curriculum,” Lozano-Pineda said.
School of Dentistry alumna Alyson Miller, DDS, AEGD, was among the students who participated in the LEAD Program.
She was accepted into the School of Dentistry through the Dental Early Acceptance Program, which allows students to apply credits they earned during dental school to college requirements, saving a year’s worth of work while earning both a bachelor’s degree and a Doctor of Dental Surgery, or DDS.
First-year students accepted to the university’s dental school can participate in the LEAD summer program to familiarize themselves with the academic program while building a support network, Lozano-Pineda said.
Before starting dental school, the LEAD Program helped Miller prepare for the dental admissions test, get exposure to pre-requisite coursework and build her resume with community service.
“Throughout their academic journey, the LEAD summer programs provide continuity and leadership development. The program also allows for students to develop a supportive peer network as they get better acquainted and to help each other out,” Lozano-Pineda said.
LEAD gave Miller access to additional resources to help her excel in dental school.
“The program would give me the inside scoop on what the next year’s curriculum had in store both in didactics and hand skills,” Miller said. “It allowed me to get a head start in some courses and gave me access to resources like additional [tooth models] and tutoring.”
Center offers tutoring for all dental students
The Hispanic Center of Excellence provides tutoring to any dental student who is interested.
“We have our course directors identify students who may be struggling in their course who can benefit from additional tutoring,” Lozano-Pineda said.
To respect confidentiality, students needing help are given the names of tutors so they can communicate with them.
Miller was happy to give back to the LEAD Program by becoming a tutor herself.
“After all the help I received, I had to pay it forward and help other students in need,” she said.
LEAD’s promising results
First-generation students are also invited to the summer programs to help ease their transition into dental school from one year to the next.
And the LEAD program has yielded promising results.
Of the pre-dental college students who participated in the LEAD Program between 2014 and 2024, 61% applied to dental school. Sixty-four percent of those who applied got accepted, and of those accepted, 61% chose to attend the university’s School of Dentistry.
Miller is now among three general dentists at Red Square Dental and Orthodontics in Edinburg, Texas, an underserved community with a ratio of about 4,800 people per dentist.
And that is the hope for the program, said Lozano-Pineda.
“The Center of Excellence exists to create a workforce that is needed.”