ADMISSIONS CRITERIA
The Priority Deadline for Dental Assisting is April 1st. All application steps listed below must be completed by the end of the business day April 1st to be considered in the initial applicant pool. After the priority deadline, the program will move to rolling admissions until incoming cohort slots are filled.
- Follow the Steps to Apply and Enroll.
- Meet the Testing requirements and complete all required transition/support courses.
- Applicants must have a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 or higher on a scale of 4.0 on the most recent academic transcript for the last 10 hours of college credit. If you do not have college credits, your cumulative grade point average will be taken from your high school transcript.
- This program has SELECTIVE ADMISSIONS and can only accept a limited number of students each year. Applicants will be evaluated based on the Health Sciences Admissions Rubric after the Priority Deadline. Although the TEAS test is NOT required for admissions to this program, it can increase the likelihood that a student will be accepted into the program. Please talk with your advisor to determine your best course of action for admission.
Those individuals who are notified of provisional acceptance to the program must attend a mandatory orientation session and have SCC health forms completed by the appropriate medical personnel indicating the candidate is mentally and physically capable of performing the job duties required by this profession.
Once accepted into the program, students will be required to complete an onboarding process, which will include a criminal background check and drug testing prior to participation in the clinical component. If any clinical facility refuses to allow the student to participate in clinical experiences, for any reason, the student will not be able to progress in the program. Each student completing a health science program may be required, by an external agency, to submit a criminal background check and/or drug test prior to a state or national licensing/ certification board approving the graduate to sit for exams.
Due to the rigorous nature of the curriculum, where possible, students are encouraged to have successfully completed general education courses prior to enrolling in program specific courses: ACA 111, BIO 163 and ENG 111 with a "C" or better. See your advisor for acceptable general education substitutes.
REQUIRED TECHNICAL STANDARDS
- Critical thinking/problem solving skills - ability to measure, calculate, reason, analyze, integrate and synthesize information sufficient for clinical judgement.
- Interpersonal skills - appropriate interpersonal interaction sufficient to work collaboratively with the healthcare team, patients and families.
- Communication skills - ability to effectively communicate using English verbal and non-verbal formats with faculty, patients, families, fellow students and all members of the multidisciplinary team to monitor and assess patient and equipment function.
- Mobility - ability to move around clinical operatories, dark rooms, sterilization rooms and other treatment areas; also position chairside in close proximity to patients.
- Motor skills - sufficient motor function to execute movements required to perform duties with the ability to engage in skills requiring the use of gross and fine motor manipulation of arms, hands and fingers.
- Physical strength & stamina - Sufficient auditory, visual and tactile ability to monitor and assess health needs.
- Behavioral/emotional skills - present self in a professional manner in clinical and academic settings, demonstrating integrity, accountability and reliability; function effectively and adapt to circumstances including highly stressful or rapidly changing situations.
- Environmental/occupational exposure - safely work with potentially harmful chemicals used in dental settings and practice standard precautions in the dental setting.
