Page 27 - Healthcare News Jan/Feb 2023

STCC Celebrates Dental Assistant Graduates
SPRINGFIELD — Springfield Techni- cal Community College (STCC) recently honored dental assistant graduates with
a pinning ceremony that celebrated their academic achievements and welcomed them into the profession. The pinning ceremony was the first since the program relaunched at STCC in January 2022, with a move to run the program across a calen- dar year using afternoon and evenings to ensure access.
Students in the one-year dental as- sistant program train to receive certificates and face a high-demand job market. All six dental assisting graduates — Lauren Bresnahan, Makenzie Hernandez, Kim- berly Perry, Amber Sosnicki, Courtney Thornton, and Sheyleen Marie Troche- Rivera — have been offered positions at dental offices.
Vital members of a dental team, dental assistants perform a variety of tasks, in- cluding chairside assisting, dental-practice management, dental radiology, adminis- trative assisting, and infection control.
“The job demand right now for dental assistants is crazy,” Sosnicki said. “Dental offices are looking to hire. You can make yourself very marketable, too, because you know they need assistants. You’re almost guaranteed a job when you get out.”
Joelle Connor, associate professor and director of the dental assistant program, pinned each student and congratulated them for their achievement. “We have been so honored to work with this spe- cific group of six students, and we are so excited to welcome the first graduating class since the reopening of the dental assistant program last spring,” she said. “We are even prouder to now call them colleagues.”
The ceremony featured remarks from STCC leaders, including President John Cook, who said he was excited to
STCC dental assistant graduates, from left: Courtney Thornton, Amber Sosnicki, Kimberly Perry, Makenzie Hernandez, and Sheyleen Marie Troche-Rivera.
celebrate the graduates. He noted the vital contributions to healthcare that dental practitioners provide. “Every one of these graduates has a job and probably would have had three or four offers if they were really looking. That, to me, speaks to the value that STCC provides in this type of a program. It’s very exciting.”
Demand for the re-energized program has significantly rebounded from the height of the COVID pandemic, with an
incoming dental assisting class expected to max out at 24 students.
Christopher Scott, dean of the School of Health and Patient Simulation, said the dental assistant certificate program was designed to allow students to advance to other STCC programs as well as enter the workforce. For example, they could move into the two-year dental hygiene program, which leads to an associate degree.
Dr. Vincent Mariano, who sits on the
dental assistant advisory board, said the program provides a valuable service in Western Massachusetts. “I can tell you that dentistry here in the Valley needs all of you, whether it be dental assistants or dental hygienists,” he said at the cer- emony. “We need your support. We need a community college like we have today at STCC to support the people in dentistry, which is such a fine profession.”
WSU Athletic Training Program Receives Lengthy Reaccreditation
WESTFIELD — Westfield State University’s (WSU) Athletic Training program has earned the maximum reac- creditation duration after a recent review by the Committee on Accreditation for Athletic Training Education (CAATE). It is common for reaccreditation of three- or five-year periods. The 10-year reaccredi- tation recently earned by WSU Athletic Training program extends through the 2032 academic year.
WSU has been accredited by CAATE since 2001, and the curriculum has under- gone considerable changes due to evolving
practices in the field. The reaccreditation process now details compliance in 109 profession-specific standards.
Recent events, such as Buffalo Bill Damar Hamlin collapsing on the field due to cardiac arrest and a severe neck lacera- tion suffered by an Army men’s hockey player, highlight the vital need for athletic trainers in many settings.
The extensive coordination of athletic- training education with other healthcare professions on campus prepares WSU students for interprofessional strategic planning, communication, and implemen-
tation in emergency and non-emergency healthcare situations. In addition to
their rigorous academic coursework, athletic-training students are required to participate in a variety of graded clinical settings to assure a high level of technical proficiency before their graduation. Addi- tionally, the WSU coursework emphasizes advanced, evidence-based clinical research strategies by undergraduates. This has resulted in WSU’s undergraduate students publishing articles in professional journals and presenting research at national and regional conferences over the last six
years.
WSU graduates are working as athletic
trainers in high schools, universities, and clinics throughout the region. Alumni are also employed in professional baseball, professional ice hockey, industrial set- tings, and leading research hospitals. Recent graduates have also furthered their professional knowledge by adding gradu- ate degrees in related fields to extend their impact on healthcare delivery.
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