Diversity Information

During the fall of 1996, the College of Dental Medicine added a new department entitled the Office of Diversity for the College of Dental Medicine. The creation of this department was developed in response to the low number of underrepresented minority applicants to the College of Dental Medicine. The primary purpose of this office is to increase the number of underrepresented minority applicants, enrolled students, and retention in the College of Dental Medicine.

Dental schools across the country have realized the importance of diversity in all aspects of dental health and dental education. The American Dental Education Association (ADEA) realizes that an important component to increasing the number of minority applicants is making the prospective student feel welcome and at home on the various dental school campuses. There are various student organizations that cater to the needs of the minority student such as the Student National Dental Association (SNDA), Hispanic Dental Association (HDA), and the Society of American Indian Dental Students (SAIDS).

Programs are also implemented to encourage students to pursue a career in the field of dentistry. Some of these programs involve information about the educational background needed, the admissions process, and financial aid, while others include summer and enrichment programs and academic support programs. In addition, student recruitment and outreach programs are also implemented to reach prospective dental students.

The College of Dental Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina acknowledges recruitment efforts to include participation in federal and private-sector grant programs, establishing partnerships and linkages with schools and colleges with large minority enrollments and committing its faculty and staff to participate in state and national conferences that focus on minority recruitment and retention as well as providing financial support to the currently enrolled minority student.

Outreach Programs

1. Dental Careers Opportunity Program (DCOP)
   The DCOP program is an annual partnership with a historically black four-year college or university. Ten promising students are identified by the pre-health advisors as having a strong interest in dentistry. Students spend 1.5 days at the MUSC College of Dental Medicine where they will attend dental classes, interact with enrolled students and faculty, attend seminars focusing on dental specialty areas and admission/financial aid workshops.
2. Dental Day
   The dental day program is an annual fall event that exposes undergraduate prehealth advisors and their students to the College of Dental Medicine and dentistry as a career. Advisors and students spend 1/2 day on campus meeting faculty, students and staff, while learning about admissions, financial aid and dental specialties.
3. Future Health Professionals Academy
   The goal of this Academy is to increase the acceptance, retention and
   graduation rates of under-represented minority and disadvantaged students
   within the Medical University of South Carolina dental training
   program. The College of Dental Medicine has collaborated with the College of Nursing, and South Carolina AHEC for this two week program. Forty undergraduate students are chosen to participate after a stringent application process( twenty Dental Academy Fellows and twenty Nursing Fellows). Academy Fellows take part in a week of clinical and didactic sessions on the campus of the Medical University of South Carolina. Fellows present project
   presentations to MUSC Faculty at the end of the first week. The following
   week takes place as part of the SC AHEC Future Health Professionals
   Leadership Institute at a chosen participating college in South
   Carolina, which in the past has been at Furman University in
   Greenville, SC. Fellows receive a small stipend upon completion of
   the program.

Additional information is available from the MUSC Office of Student Programs, Student Diversity.