A program designed to bring more dental assistants to tribal communities in the Upper Peninsula was highlighted by the Michigan Dental Association this month.
The partnership between Northwestern Michigan College and Bay Mills Community College is only a year old but was praised by the MDA for targeting non-traditional students.
It's the first dental assistant program offered at a tribal college in the country but advocates like Jessica Rickert say the service is universally needed.
Rickert, a now-retired dentist in Traverse City, was the first female Native American dentist in the United States. She helped both institutions bring about the agreement.
She remembers speaking to dentists near Sault Ste. Marie about severe staff shortages in the region.
"I said, 'Well, why don't you have some of your tribal members get trained in dentistry? Where is the dental training, they can get in the Upper Peninsula?'" Rickert said. "He laughed at me and he said, 'There's no dental training in the Upper Peninsula.'"
The partnership between the two colleges makes it easier for students at Bay Mills, who take prerequisite courses online, to transfer to NMC where they can continue their studies to become a dental assistant in clinics.
Beckie Wooters, the dental assistant director at NMC, was the one recognized by the MDA for its Allied Dental Professional Educator Award.
She says she hopes it draws in more students.
“We could get people trained to be working in the clinics, that are seeing Native Americans," she said. "They'll be trained through an accredited program, so they can become an RDA and use that expanded knowledge that really helps offices.”
Diana McKenzie is dean of Science and Allied Health Education at Bay Mills Community College.
She said anybody in the country could take the prerequisite courses through Bay Mills and have them be transferable to NMC.
But she hopes more locals take up the program to serve their own community. Around 60 percent of students enrolled at Bay Mills Community College are Native American
"I am born and raised in the U.P., so I know how long it takes to get into a dentist appointment — my children know how long it takes to be seen by a dentist," McKenzie said.
More information on the academic articulation agreement between between NMC and Bay Mills can be found on NMC's website.
