Mentoring Program Introduces High School Students to Dentistry, Higher Ed

As part of the hands-on activities, the Summer Mentorship Program participants took impressions in the simulation lab.

Philadelphia – For the past several weeks, Penn Dental Medicine has been hosting 10 high school students as part of Penn’s Provost Summer Mentorship Program (SMP), introducing them to career possibilities within dentistry and to the higher-education environment. This four-week, college-career immersion program, July 9 – August 3, is aimed to inspire first-generation and under-represented minority students in Philadelphia to view higher education as an achievable goal. Students participate with the five professional schools at Penn, which in addition to Penn Dental Medicine include Penn’s School of Engineering & Applied Sciences, School of Law, Perelman School of Medicine, and School of Nursing. Penn Dental Medicine has been participating in the program since 2006.

“This is an important pipeline program. A strong mentor and role model can play a vital role in encouraging students to pursue a college education and ultimately a dental career,” says Dr. Beverley Crawford, Director of Diversity and Inclusion, whose office oversees the SMP at Penn Dental Medicine. “By interacting with our current dental students, participants can build mentoring relationships that last long beyond the program.”

The program here at Penn Dental Medicine includes hands-on experiences in both the preclinical simulation lab and the advanced/virtual reality simulation lab. Activities range from impressions, model pouring and wire bending, to experiencing what it is like to use a handpiece to prepare a tooth and place a restoration. Participants also attend lectures presented by Penn Dental Medicine faculty – this year’s topics included pharmacology, an introduction to research, dental laboratory technology, dental hygiene, orthodontics, radiology, community oral health, cariology, removable prosthetics and periodontics. In addition, students observed clinical care first hand, shadowing in a variety of clinics, including endodontics, general restorative, oral surgery, and pediatrics.

This year, Terigray Nnanabu, D’21, and Herta Granado, D’21, served as the SMP coordinators, planning the daily program of activities for the participants and serving as instructors for the hands-on components.

“The SMP provides great leadership opportunity for rising second-year dental students who work as SMP Coordinators,” says Dr. Crawford.

There are also program activities, both social and educational, planned by Penn’s Office of the Vice Provost of University Life, which oversees SMP, that bring all the SMP participants across Penn together.

Since 2009, 255 out of 276 SMP alumni are either currently enrolled at or have graduated from a postsecondary institution.

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