Dental Pipeline: Pipeline Recruitment Programs

Pipeline Recruitment Programs

Pipeline schools offer both short and long programs to support underrepresented minority pre-dental students.

Each program category consists of various activities, which are details below.
Short Pipeline Programs
Long Pipeline Programs

Short Pipeline Programs
Short educational pipeline programs are interventions to:

Encourage undergraduate students to consider the health professions,
Help them succeed academically, and
Teach them to negotiate the graduate admissions process.

The Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP), funded by HRSA for 20 years, has demonstrated successful short pipeline strategies. Post-baccalaureate programs fall into this category and help college graduates improve their application credentials and ultimately increase the likelihood of gaining acceptance to a health professional school.

The following table describes some of the Dental Pipeline short pipeline activities programs.

Activity	Description
Academic Enrichment & Research Training	College students participate in summer programs offering: Advanced coursework in the basic sciences Problem-based and group projects Exam preparation courses Research projects
Counseling, Mentoring, & Other Support Services	Students are offered time management, study, and learning skills assessments to prepare them for health professions school workloads. Organized mentoring programs with health professions students and faculty also support academic success.
Career Exposure	Students are exposed to clinical practice by shadowing practitioners and participation in hands-on dental laboratory activities. Students may also attend seminars on health career opportunities.
Financial Aid, Admissions, & Information Dissemination	Students are offered individual and group counseling on financial planning, developing a competitive admissions application, and interview preparation.
Post-baccalaureate Programs	Students who were not admitted into dental school on the first attempt can boost their academic preparation through a program (usually one year) of rigorous coursework, assessment, and curriculum exposure.

Long Pipeline Programs
Long educational pipeline programs focus on grades K-12. Activities involve parents, teachers, and the community, and they usually promote academic achievement in science and math. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and W.K. Kellogg Foundation have found programs that deliver strong academic preparation and basic educational reform benefit younger students more than health career exposure. An evaluation of RWJF Health Professions Partnership Initiative showed that those programs considered to be successful focused on basic education reform such as teacher preparation in math and science education, curriculum redesign, and career development for middle and high school students.

The following table describes some of the Dental Pipeline’s long pipeline programs.

Activity

Description

Science Activities

Elementary, middle, and high school students participate in:

Summer science camps
After-school clubs
Saturday academies that emphasize academic achievement in science, math, and often feature hands-on lab projects

K-12 Partnerships

Partnerships with school districts systematically address science, reading, and math achievement. They require input from teachers, parents, health professions, and schools.

For a description of Private Foundation Programs, see page 57 of the report Strategies for Improving the Diversity of the Health Professions published by The California Endowment, 2003.