Pictured | Andrea Keyser | Dental Hygiene | Middlebury, Indiana (hometown)
Club Affiliations | IU South Bend Dance team, Honors Club, Hoosier Hygienist
Mission
The mission of the programs in dental education is to be a leader in providing high quality education, clinical experiences, and interprofessional collaborative opportunities to undergraduate students for future roles as oral health professionals. The program is committed to excellence in the theory and practice of dental hygiene and in the development of competent, socially sensitive, culturally diverse, and ethically responsible professionals.
Program Goals
At the completion of the dental hygiene program students will be able to:
- Exhibit the highest level of professionalism.
- Deliver high quality patient care by the use of sound judgment, critical thinking skills, and evidence based decision making.
- Emphasize the role of the dental hygienist as a patient educator involved in community health engagement activities related to health promotion and disease prevention.
Program Objectives
To be able to fulfill the requirements of a Bachelor Degree in Dental Hygiene and promote the overall program goals, graduates of the Department in Dental Hygiene at IU South Bend will be able to:
- Apply didactic information through patient care.
- Demonstrate critical thinking through writing, speaking and listening.
- Adhere to the ethical, legal and professional codes of conduct expected of the dental hygiene practitioner.
- Evaluate the different career roles of the dental hygienist.
- Assess, plan, implement, and evaluate oral health community events that provide solutions to access to care and health education.
Accreditation
The IU South Bend Dental Hygiene degree program is fully accredited by the American Dental Association Commission on Dental Accreditation.
The Student’s Responsibility
All universities establish academic requirements that must be met before a degree is conferred. These regulations concern such things as curricula and courses, the requirements for majors and minors, and university procedures and policies. Each student is individually responsible for fulfilling them. Advisors and faculty are available to advise students on how to meet these requirements. If the requirements have not been satisfied, the degree will be withheld pending satisfactory fulfillment. For this reason, it is important for each student to be knowledgeable of all of the requirements described in the IU South Bend Undergraduate Bulletin and the Program in Dental Hygiene Academic Handbook.
Students are expected to comply with the:
- Academic Regulations and Policies of Indiana University
- Professional Codes of Conduct of the American Dental Hygienists' Association
- Standards of Practice of the American Dental Hygienists' Association
- Components of Professional Behavior of the IUSB Dental Hygiene Program
- Dental Hygiene Program Handbook and Clinic Manual
Dental Hygiene
The Dental Hygiene degree program offers the Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene degree. The bachelor degree program prepares students for not only entry into clinical practice, but also for leadership roles in the profession.
General Information
Dental Hygiene is the study of the art and science of preventive oral health care including the management of behavior to prevent oral disease and promote health.
Admission Policies
Predental Hygiene Program
Students are admitted as Health Sciences students while they are completing prerequisite courses for the Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene. The student services staff of the Vera Z. Dwyer College of Health Sciences provides academic advising for all Dwyer College of Health Sciences students. Students can schedule an appointment with an advisor through the Student Appointment Scheduler (SAS) in One.IU.
Professional Program
One cohort is admitted into the Dental Hygiene degree program each year to begin the course of study in the fall. Admission criteria is established by the adminstration and faculty of the Division of Dental Education. Evaluation of application materials is reviewed reviewed by the Program Director, and conferred by the Vera Z. Dwyer College of Health Sciences APG Committee. An application for admission to the Dental Hygiene degree program must be completed and returned to Dental Education by February 1 for best consideration. Applications will be accepted after the February 1 deadline. Late applications will be reviewed after consideration of all applications meeting the February 1 due date. Matriculation of late applicants to the program will be decided pending available cohort positions. .
Each applicant is evaluated on the basis of academic preparation and record.
Criteria for Admission Eligibility
Students must
- Be admitted or is eligible for admission to Indiana University. IU South Bend applications must be sent to the IU South Bend Office of Admissions.
- Submit required dental hygiene admission materials to the Dental Hygiene degree program.
- Complete all prerequisite courses or their equivalent with a grade of C or higher in each course.
- Be able to complete all prerequisite courses by the start of the program. Preference will be given to students who have completed all coursework by the end of spring semester.
- No more than three program required courses may be repeated, of which only two prerequisite science courses.
- Complete a 300-word typed response to a question posed by the Admissions, Progression and Graduation Committee. Contact the department for the questions.
Academic Regulations
Students are expected to comply with the:
- Academic regulations and policies of Indiana University, Professional Codes of Conduct of the American Dental Hygienists’ Association, Components of Professional Behavior of the IU South Bend Dental Hygiene degree program, the Vera Z. Dwyer College of Health Sciences Student Policy and Procedures Manual, and the Standards of Practice of the American Dental Hygienists' Association.
- Students admitted to the Dental Hygiene degree program should consult the program handbook and the clinic manual for updates and additional policies governing academic policies, procedures, and academic standing.
Academic Policies
- Students must earn a grade of C or better in all required courses, including general education courses, and maintain a semester and overall GPA of at least 2.0. A student who does not meet the academic regulations of the University and the Dental Hygiene Program is placed on probation.
- Students must follow the Dental Hygiene course sequence as outlined in the IU South Bend Campus Bulletin. Failure to follow the sequence can result in delayed/denied admission to the next course sequence.
- If a student does not pass one of the clinical practice courses (DHYG-H 218, DHYG-H 219, DHYG-H 221, DHYG-H 300, DHYG-H 301, DHYG-H 302) or one of the radiology courses (DHYG- H 303, DHYG-H 305, DHYG-H 306, DHYG-H 307) with a grade of C or better, the student will not be eligible to continue in the clinical practice course sequence and his or her status will be changed to out-of-progression. Out-of-progression students must follow the policies and procedures regarding reinstatement in order to complete the program. Out-of-progression students will work with Student Success, APG, and the Dental Hygiene Program Director to develop an individualized plan for success.
- A student will be dismissed from the program if any two clinical, didactic, radiology courses or a combination of these courses are not passed with a grade of C or better. There are no options for reinstatement.
Clinical Promotion
In addition to the general academic policies, students must meet the following requirements to be promoted through the clinical course sequences:
Students will be promoted to the H219 Clinical Practice I upon successful completion of:
- DHYG-H 218 Fundamentals of Dental Hygiene
- DHYB-H 303 Radiology Lecture
Students will be promoted to DHYG-H 300 Clinical Practice A-S upon successful completion of:
- DHYG-H 219 Clinical Practice I
- DHYG-H 221 Clinical Dental Hygiene Procedures
- DHYG-H 305 Radiology Lab I
- DHYG-H 205 Medical and Dental Emergencies
Students will be promoted to DHYG-H 301 Clinical Practice II upon successful completion of:
- DHYG-H 300 Clinical Practice A-S
Students will be promoted to DHYG-H 302 Clinical Practice III upon successful completion of:
- DHYG-H 222 Advanced Clinical Dental Hygiene Procedures
- DHYG-H 301 Clinical Practice II
- DHYG-H 306 Radiology Lab II
Withdrawal and Course Drop from the Dental Hygiene Program
Students who withdraw from the Dental Hygiene degree program and/or course once admitted into the clinical program can apply for reinstatement. Students who withdraw a second time are not readmitted or eligible for reinstatement. Students who are administratively withdrawn from the program are not eligible for reinstatement.
Photo provided by the Vera Z. Dwyer College of Health Sciences