School’s “Profile for Success” program hits milestone2 min read
Ann Arbor, Mich., Feb. 27, 2020 – When the School of Dentistry’s “Profile for Success” program celebrated its 25th anniversary last summer, it paused to acknowledge a groundbreaking history that has helped increase the racial and ethnic diversity of not just the U-M dental school, but dental schools around the country.
As the program prepares to bring in its 26th cohort of undergraduate students for the 2020 six-week summer session, its goals remain the same – attract college juniors and seniors from educationally and financially disadvantaged backgrounds to increase diversity and underrepresented minorities in the pool of applicants who apply to dental schools each year.
Much of the summer session is spent tutoring the students in the science and math coursework they will find on the Dental Admission Test that dental schools around the country consider when admitting students. PFS is also important for the introduction to dentistry it provides for the potential dental students. They perform some of the simple procedures they will encounter as dental students, such as taking impressions, drilling plastic teeth and making mouthguards. They observe patient treatment in clinics and are introduced to faculty, dental students and practicing dentists who can answer their myriad questions about the profession, dental school and treating patients.
A series of articles detailing the history, goals and successes of the PFS program was published in the dental school’s bi-annual M Dentistry magazine last fall. Dr. Todd Ester, Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and other faculty and staff members discuss the history and the vision for the future of the program, which seeks an endowment to provide funds for the program in perpetuity. A related video includes interviews with school leaders and alumni of the program who discuss what it has meant to them.
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The University of Michigan School of Dentistry is one of the nation’s leading dental schools engaged in oral health care education, research, patient care and community service. General dental care clinics and specialty clinics providing advanced treatment enable the school to offer dental services and programs to patients throughout Michigan. Classroom and clinic instruction prepare future dentists, dental specialists, and dental hygienists for practice in private offices, hospitals, academia and public agencies. Research seeks to discover and apply new knowledge that can help patients worldwide. For more information about the School of Dentistry, visit us on the Web at: www.dent.umich.edu. Contact: Lynn Monson, associate director of communications, at dentistry.communications@umich.edu, or (734) 615-1971.