9 Ways to Steer Minorities Toward Dental School 

By Michelle Meadows


Closing the Gap, Putting the Right People in the Right Places • May/June 1999


Even though the total number of applicants to the School of 

Dentistry at the Medical College of Georgia has doubled over 

the last few years, the number of African American applicants 

has dropped. There were 21 applicants in 1997, 15 in 1998, and 

only 9 in 1999, with one acceptance, said Michael Miller, director of 

student admissions for the school of dentistry. 

Miller said the decline in both applications and acceptances results from state legal opinions that discourage the consideration of race 

in admissions decisions. “The state of Georgia has an African American population of 27 percent and it’s disappointing that our dental 

enrollment doesn’t come anywhere near that,” Miller said. 

Another challenge many dental schools face is competing against 

medical and other health professions schools for the same pool of 

applicants. Administrators said the reasons so many students are drawn 

into medical school over dental school vary. Some hear more about 

medical school from advisors, and others are reeled in by television 

portrayals of medical doctors. 

Minorities made up 35 percent of first year dental students in 

1996-1997, according to the American Dental Association (ADA). 

The breakdown: 23.4 percent Asian, 5.7 percent Black, 4.9 percent 

Hispanic, and 0.5 percent American Indian. A key recruiting strategy 

is to catch students before sophomore year and preferably in high 

school. The following strategies are designed to help minorities and 

economically disadvantaged students gain more ground. 

1.	 Conduct outreach to area undergraduate schools with the largest number of minorities. Central to the recruitment efforts at 

the School of Dentistry at the Medical College of Georgia is an 

Area Health Education Coordinator. The coordinator will make 

one visit this Spring to four schools: Georgia State University, 

Atlanta; University of Georgia at Athens, Augusta State University, and Georgia Southern University. The coordinator also 

maintains a health professions contact at each school. 

2.	 Look for ways to add recruiters. “We’ve discovered that to cover 

more schools and make more visits, we need more recruiters,” 

Miller said. The school, which has received Health Careers Opportunity Program grants in the past, is working on obtaining 

state funds to hire another recruiter. Other schools find it costeffective to train current dental students to help with recruitment activities. 

3.	 Link up with other schools for dental events. Miller said his 

school will continue to stay on top of events at other schools. Past 

activities include participating in dental week at Morris Brown 

College and speaking at Morehouse workshops that guide students in applying to health professions schools. 

4.	 Contact students who have taken the Dental Admissions Test 

(DAT). Sending letters to minorities who have taken the DAT is 

one of the most effective strategies for the School of Dentistry at 

Meharry Medical College. The school receives the list from the 

ADA, said Sandra Harris, chairperson of Meharry’s dental admissions committee. 

5.	 Administer scholarships that cover the range of dental careers. 

To encourage entry of Hispanics into a variety of oral health 

careers, the Hispanic Dental Association (HDA) administers five 

scholarship funds. One supported by the HDA Foundation and 

Procter & Gamble gives scholarships for students in dental, dental hygiene, dental assistant, and dental technician programs. 

The association, which is led by executive director Raul Garcia, 

also publishes a newsletter that provides employment opportunities for dentists (1-800-852-7921, http://www.hdassoc.org). 

6.	 Keep close tabs on the academic success of recruits. A couple of 

years ago, the University of Connecticut’s School of Dental Medicine entered into a consortium agreement with local public schools 

and three colleges: The University of Connecticut at Storrs, 

Central Connecticut State University, and Wesleyan University. 

7.	 Hold study-skills programs that include room and board for 

students. The University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine holds a six-week intensive pre-enrollment summer program 

for prospective dental and medical students from the area colleges. Due to financial reasons, many students need to spend the 

summer working. To help ease that burden, the School of Dental 

Medicine works to obtain funding to pay for students’ room and 

board. Funding has come from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and 

the State of Connecticut’s Department of Higher Education, Dr. 

Hurly said. Students can return for subsequent summers for 

more coursework, rotations, and training in test preparation. 

8.	 Educate undergraduate advisors about dental school. Dr. Hurly 

said many students haven’t considered dentistry because they 

were never exposed to it. “Many times the health professions 

advisors in colleges are pre-med advisors,” she said. There’s a need 

to bust the myths about dentistry for both students and educators. For example, people don’t realize that renumeration for dentists is on par with that of medical doctors. And some students 

assume dentistry is just about fillings, Dr. Hurly said. “There are 

so many exciting subspecialties in dentistry that people don’t 

know about.” 

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Office of Minority Health Resource Center	 1 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 
9 Ways to Steer Minorities Toward Dental School 

By Michelle Meadows


Closing the Gap, Putting the Right People in the Right Places • May/June 1999


9.	 Make opportunities easy for students to find. That’s the idea 

behind Opportunities for Minority Students in U.S. Dental Schools, 

a publication of the American division of equity and diversity at 

AADS. Association of Dental Schools (AADS). The handbook 

covers dental school admission requirements, financing a dental 

education, and school-specific information directed at minority 

applicants, said Jeanne Sinkford, DDS, associate executive director at AADS. The new edition of the 200-page handbook 

profiles 14 men and women of various racial and ethnic backgrounds. To order a copy of the handbook, contact: AADS, 

Publications, 1625 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 

20036, 202- of the 667-9433, ext. 172.

Office of Minority Health Resource Center	 2 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services