“Do I want to be a dentist?” Ten undergraduate students from Florida colleges and universities spent 10 days discovering their answers to that question as part of the college’s Ninth Annual Summer Learning Program held July 7 – 16, 2010.
The program, one of several college outreach programs for minority, disadvantaged students, was developed to attract the best and brightest minority students to dentistry – a profession in which some minority groups are underrepresented.
“Each year we are so impressed with the quality and diversity of our participants. I think it says a lot about the students and the program that 67 percent of our participants are accepted into a dental school or another professional graduate program after they complete their undergraduate studies,” said Patty Xirau-Probert said.
About 45 students from across the state apply for the Summer Learning Program each year and 10 are selected. Participants attend lectures, shadow dental students, receive admissions and financial counseling, network with college students and faculty at social functions, and produce hands-on projects in the dental simulation laboratory. This year participants complied a portfolio which included individual capstone projects and presentations. All of the activities are specifically geared to teach the students about dental school and interest them in choosing dentistry as their profession.
The program, coordinated by the Office of Student and Multicultural Affairs, is funded jointly by the Academy of Alumni and Friends and the college. For more information about the program, visit the Student and Multicultural Affairs website.