The Role of the Student Professional Organization in Mentoring Dental Hygiene Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the role of the Student American Dental Hygienists’ Association (SADHA) in mentoring dental hygiene students for the future. This project also assessed attitudes of SADHA advisors towards the utilization of SADHA as a mechanism for mentoring dental hygiene students’ professional development to meet the oral health needs of the public, and the goals of the ADHA. These goals include promotion of education beyond the baccalaureate level to develop qualified faculty, encouraging dental hygiene research, and promoting leadership.

After IRB exemption, a pilot-tested questionnaire was administered using Survey Monkey, an online survey website, to 277 individual contacts at American Dental Association (ADA) accredited dental hygiene (DH) programs. A response rate of 68% was achieved with 186 individual responses. Eighty percent of respondents indicated offering no mentoring opportunities while incongruously, 58.3% felt they actively mentor through SADHA. When asked what the main focus of SADHA should be, SADHA advisors ranked community service/philanthropy as number one. SADHA chapters at institutions that offer a Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene (BSDH) degree completion program offer more mentoring opportunities (p=<.001). Programs offering the BSDH offer a wider variety of topics from guest speakers (p=.038). SADHA chapters in western states have a higher graduate conversion rate than other regions (p=.018).

The majority of SADHA chapters are not offering mentoring opportunities outside of the traditional curriculum for leadership and career development. What is clear is that both students and advisors desire more interaction with the local ADHA organizations. In order to address these issues, efforts should be made to provide networking support among SADHA advisors, and increase perception of the importance of the student professional association through the development of Best Practices for SADHA. This could benefit students by increasing mentoring opportunities and partnerships with local ADHA organizations.