Dental assisting program to be evaluated
A team from the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association will be on campus Oct. 5 and 6 to complete an evaluation of the dental assisting program.
The evaluation is a part of an accrediting process the IVCC program has voluntarily participated in since the program was first offered in 1974.
The visiting team will meet with dental assisting faculty, the dental assisting advisory committee, students and college administrators. They will also tour the dental lab and the library, watch student demonstrations and visit dental offices used for clinical training.
On the visiting team are Virginia Stankiewicz, a board member of the Illinois State Board of Dentistry, Linda Matheson, a dental assisting curriculum consultant, and Nancy Roadcap Allan, a board member of the Commission on Dental Accreditation.
Dental assisting instructor Pat Pearson said the purpose of the accreditation is "to assure quality education for dental assistants."
Graduates of an accredited program, Pearson explained, can take the Dental Assisting National Board Exam upon graduation instead of having to wait until they have fulfilled 2,000 hours of employment as a dental assistant. Pearson added that not all dental assisting programs are accredited.
As the only full-time dental assisting instructor, Pearson began working on the accrediting process last fall, reviewing and revising program policies and gathering data. Several members of the college administration had to provide information.
During the summer, Pearson put together a curriculum manual and a self-study report, and sent those materials to the Commission on Dental Accreditation. Noting that those documents totaled 634 pages, Pearson said the curriculum materials included course syllabi and outlines, lab projects, and sample tests.
The self-study report provided information on the dental assisting program’s educational setting, community resources, administration, financial support, curriculum, admissions, faculty, facilities, learning resources, students and outcomes assessments.
"The review is beneficial to ensure that the program is evaluated on a regular basis against set standards," Pearson said. "Weaknesses are identified and plans for improvement are developed and implemented."
She added: "The process could be improved. The documentation is extensive and time consuming."
Pearson said the site visit will be stressful, but she expects a good evaluation and the maximum of seven years reaccreditation from the team.
"I feel we have an excellent program that will receive full accreditation," she said.