The Master’s in Oral Health Sciences (OHS) program, part of Boston University's Graduate Medical Sciences in collaboration with Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine, has aimed since its inception in 2005 to provide a pathway for students from underrepresented backgrounds to strengthen their academic qualifications for entry to dental school. This study evaluates the efficacy of the OHS Pathway program in supporting students in achieving their career aspirations while also contributing to the number of graduates from underrepresented backgrounds pursuing dental specialties. Data was sourced from deidentified OHS matriculation and graduation records and compared to published data obtained from the American Dental and the American Dental Education Associations. Student careers outcomes post-dental school were obtained from online platforms, including social media networks and LinkedIn.
The study evaluated data from 263 students enrolled in the OHS program between 2006 and 2018, capturing a range of demographics including race, ethnicity, gender, disadvantaged and first-generation status, along with OHS admission years and career status. Underrepresented minority (URM) status, including Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, were examined within the dataset. This comprehensive collection of demographic data aimed to shed light upon the career outcomes of former OHS students from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds and compare the results with national statistics. This information has the potential to uncover trends, barriers, and opportunities faced by these groups in dentistry, offering insights into diversity and representation within the profession.
The results of this study demonstrate the success of the Oral Health Sciences Pathway Program in enhancing diversity in the dental profession. Graduates from the OHS master’s program successfully pursue careers in both general practice (75.1% OHS; 92.2% URM-OHS) and specialization (24.9% OHS; 7.8% URM-OHS) in post-graduate programs. Interestingly, a smaller proportion of OHS URM graduates chose to specialize (7.86%) compared with national URM graduate trends (15.46%). Additional studies are needed to investigate potential factors resulting in this difference, as well as long-term career outcomes.
Overall, OHS stands as a model program, potentially setting a precedent for replication by other pre-professional schools. This study highlights the OHS program's significant success in providing a path for students, potentially overcoming previous academic challenges, to gain admission to dental school and develop a successful career in dentistry. This emphasizes the growing importance of creating pathway programs akin to OHS to enhance diversity and inclusion within the dental profession.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/47973 |
| Date | 29 January 2024 |
| Creators | Enabulele, Irobosa |
| Contributors | Bottenfield, Karen, Davies, Theresa A. |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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