New Expedited Program for Dental Hygiene Degrees Enrolls First Cohort

This fall students in the first cohort of a new Dental Hygiene educational program began their streamlined pathway to a master’s degree that can provide a broader array of career options.

The new Accelerated Online AS-MS in Dental Hygiene Program is an innovative program that reduces by a year the time it takes for a hygienist with an associate’s degree in DH to earn a bachelor’s and then a master’s.

Working with U-M’s Rackham Graduate School over the last two years, Dental Hygiene Director Jennifer Cullen and other DH faculty developed an online curriculum and schedule that retains the rigor of earning a DH master’s degree from the school but condenses the time commitment. Previously, it would take two years for a hygienist with an associate’s degree to earn a bachelor’s degree, then another two years for a master’s. Under the new program, both degrees can be earned in three years instead of four. The time savings is due, in large part, to courses that can be applied to both undergraduate and graduate requirements.

Since most of the students are either practicing hygienists or working in related fields, reducing the time commitment is an important factor, as is reducing tuition costs by a year. Yet another plus of the program for those students with jobs is that the program is designed to be mostly asynchronous, meaning students can complete the curriculum online on weekends, evenings or other times convenient for their work and family lives.

Faculty member Stefanie VanDuine, who is director of the DH Degree Completion Program, said the new option is a more attractive, streamlined pathway for hygienists wanting to advance their education. “It opens the door to various career options for the dental hygienist – research, public health, education, advocacy for the public’s oral health, and more,” she said.

VanDuine is one of 11 faculty members who teach courses for the program. The core areas include:

• Educational, where students get experience in lecture-based, didactic, clinical and online teaching.

• Leadership, where students learn how to use their strengths to become leaders in, for example, public health and research.

• Public health and community, where students study about at-risk communities and develop a community project in the field to address health disparities in a community.

• Research, which includes how to design and navigate research projects, beyond their own thesis.

Seven students comprise the first cohort: three live on the west side of Michigan, two are from the Detroit area, with one in Indiana and one in New Jersey. They represent a wide range of about 25 years in terms of educational and career experience, from early-career to mid-career.

Sarah Mueller, who lives in suburban Detroit, is a prime example of how the new program appeals to a wide variety of non-traditional students who would be unable to come to campus for a traditional master’s degree path. Mueller earned her AS in DH from Ferris State University and started a career as a dental hygienist, but a neck injury in a car accident made her work difficult. She said she loved dentistry and wanted to stay in the profession, so she transitioned into several related positions in recent years. She served in management and leadership roles in a large Dental Service Organization, mentoring hygienists and helping dentists identify inefficiencies in their practices. She branched into orthodontics, teaching digital scanning and clear aligners for several years.

Mueller uses that wide-ranging variety of experience in her current position as Vice President of Dental Decision Support for a salivary diagnostics company, Swish Bio. She leads a team of clinicians who work with general dentists to develop periodontal treatment programs through precision medicine. They assist clinicians with interpreting test results and discuss treatment considerations backed by peerreviewed, evidence-based research.

“I had always wanted to go back to school and earn an advanced degree, however, none of the other programs I found made sense,” Mueller said. “I needed a program that is online, as I have a full-time job and family to take care of. I wanted something that focused on research, leadership development, and teaching clinicians. I also wanted something that wasn't going to take too many years, but that would take me from an AS to an MS quickly.”

Mueller said she plans to continue her career journey with Swish Bio. She believes her course of study for the master’s degree will have benefits for helping the company grow, and will help her move up the ranks of its leadership.

VanDuine said Mueller’s story is an example of the dental school adapting to changing educational trends. “It is very attractive for people in mid-career who want more education,” she said. “They can work on the coursework on their own time so they can hold their normal job while they are completing the program. That draws more students, which means we are increasing the number of graduates who are qualified to lead in various areas of oral healthcare.”