CVCC plans dental hygienist program
Lynchburg News and Advance
Monday, January 14, 2008A new program at Central Virginia Community College could reduce a shortage of Lynchburg-area dental hygienists while also providing free dental care to low-income and uninsured families. The school is partnering with Virginia Western Community College, the Free Clinic of Central Virginia, the Virginia Tobacco Commission and the Lynchburg Dental Society to create a fully accredited dental hygienist program in Lynchburg.
The two-year program, scheduled to begin this fall, would be a step toward filling a growing number of dental hygiene vacancies in the area, said James Lemons, CVCC’s dean of business and allied health.
The classes will be taught by faculty at VWCC, which already has an accredited dental hygiene program. Students enrolled in the program at CVCC will attend the same classes through a technology called compressed video.
Also, students in the program would help fill another need in the community byworking at the Free Clinic, which provides primary medical, nursing, dental and pharmaceutical services to low-income and uninsured people. Their work at the clinic would fulfill some requirements for the program.
The Free Clinic will provide lab space, patients for the student interns and additional lab time. In exchange, CVCC will purchase new dental hygiene instruments and equipment for the Free Clinic.
The college also plans to build a dental hygiene lab at the Free Clinic later this year, said Robert Barlow, executive director of the Free Clinic.
“What this will do for us is it will expand the number of dental hygiene appointments that we will be able to give to our patients,” Barlow said. “I think the more partnering we see in healthcare, the better we can meet the people’s needs in this community.”
Lemons said the school is working to find a site coordinator who will guide the program into completion.
The school plans to accept 12 applicants into the first year of the program.
In accordance with guidelines established by the Virginia Tobacco Commission, which is helping to fund the project, two students will be selected each from Appomattox, Bedford and Campbell counties, which are both serviced by CVCC and the commission.
Remaining applicants will fill the other six positions.
“It’s going to be a very competitive program, so we’ll try to find the best,” Lemons said, adding that the school already has begun accepting applications. “In the future, if we can expand, that’s what we would want to do.”
Upon completion of the program, students will graduate with an Associate of Applied Sciences degree and be eligible to take examinations for licensure as a registered dental hygienist.
“It’s not a bad investment of your time from a student’s perspective,” Lemons said. “To go through a two year program, and you’re talking about easily making $50,000 a year - it’s a pretty lucrative job market.”
HOW TO APPLY:
• What: CVCC’s two-year Dental Hygiene Program
• When: Classes start in Fall 2008
• How: Students may fill out a regular admissions application at CVCC or at www.cv.cc.va.us.
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