2014MASTER OF SCIENCE IN DENTAL HYGIENE DEGREE 2013 GRADUATES:From left to right: Tiffany Finesilver, Yvonne Aitken, Katie Pudwill, Valerie Maxey, Jessica ScruggsEWU’s Master of Science in Dental Hygiene degree program graduated 5 students in June 2013. We are so proud of you!

Katie Pudwill, MSDH wrote about what a Master’s degree meant to her:“Obtaining my MSDH degree at Eastern Washington University has given me a chance to advance my dental hygiene career in many ways. The program itself, because of its online delivery, allowed me to continue my education while still maintaining a full time job. The professors in the program have provided me with many opportunities to develop my understanding of dental hygiene care and educational philosophies. With their mentorship, I have been able to participate in national dental hygiene arenas and expand my horizons. After completing my MSDH, I have begun my professional journey in education at the University of South Dakota. I am confident in my roles and responsibilities because of the experiences I was allowed during the program at Eastern.”

Valerie Maxey, MSDH said the following about earning her MSDH from EWU:“Three years ago I sat at the orientation with my cohort and the faculty and could barely turn on my shiny new laptop. I felt so unprepared, so behind the times, and so out of practice as it had been 23 years since my bachelor’s degree, and computers were just starting to come on the scene then. I kept repeating in my head my reasons for being there: something for professional growth; something for personal growth; something new for my future.

I wrote these on a card and had them on my bulletin board in my office at home. Many, many times during those three years I had to stop and read my simple reasons.

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Faculty/StaffRebecca Stolberg: Department Chair Professor 828.1298

Leila Al’Tassan: Operations Manager 828.1317

Donna Shaffer: Office Assistant III 828.1286

Claudia McCoy: Office Assistant II 828.1287

Michele Heidel: Office Assistant II Dental Assistant II 828.1296

Emilie Crawford Program Specialist II 828.1289

Ardean Nickerson: Professor 828.1294

Art DiMarco: Professor RIDE Director 828.1290

Lisa Bilich: Associate Professor 828.1295

Sarah Jackson: Assistant Professor 828.1299

Ann Wetmore Assistant Professor 828.1321

Merri Jones Assistant Professor 828.1320

Janet Nord: Special Faculty 828.1297

Teri Hansen Dental Clinic Supervisor 828.1304

ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS

Katie Pudwill, RDH, MSDH, EWU alum, 2nd place winner at the DENTSPLY/ADHA Graduate Dental Hygiene Student Research program in Boston, MA

NEW FACULTYMerri Jones, RDH, MSDH joined our team of educators Sept. 2013. Merri received her BSDH from the University of Washington and her MSDH from Idaho State University. She

will be teaching Research, Pharmacology, Management of Medically Compromised, Preventive, and Community, as well as being graduate faculty.

NEWS TO SHARE?Do you have news to share with us? We’d love to hear from you with your thoughts, feedback, and possible items to share with other readers of the department’s newsletter. Please direct all inquiries to Michele Heidel,

mheidel@ewu.edu.9623/1.14 Please recycle.

Degree Completion Student: Janis McCllelland, RDH, Appointed to Oral Health Board

www.ewu.edu/dentalhygiene

DEPARTMENT OF DENTAL HYGIENEWinter 2014 Newsletter

Department of Dental HygieneHealth Sciences Building

310 N. Riverpoint Blvd. Box ESpokane, WA 99202

WORDS FROM THE CHAIR

We are so proud that many of our master’s degree students are finishing up and graduating. Special congratulations to our five who graduated June 2013. I was so pleased to see Ms. Katie Pudwill, RDH, MSDH present her research poster at the monumental ADHA celebration in Boston, Mass. and receive 2nd place!

We continue to have excellent national dental hygiene board exam results, and very good WREB results. Our students still struggle to get enough clients who can actually pay for their care. While the department has been very fortunate and not suffered any severe budget cuts, we still need to charge for the oral care received. For those of you working in the Spokane area, if you come across any patients who can’t pay for quadrant scales or small filings, please send them our way. I continue to be very hopeful that with the re-instatement of adults Medicaid for dental in Washington state January 2014, more patients will have access to their desperately needed care.

Our community dental service day in 2013 helped 54 veterans receive $32,600 worth of dental care. We couldn’t do this project without the help of our local dental society, dedicated staff, willing student volunteers and numerous alumni volunteers willing to spend a Saturday with us.

Many of you know that we worked very hard in Olympia the past three years to get law changes that would allow us to have an Advanced Dental Practitioner program. We joined forces with the Washington State Dental Hygiene Association as well as the Children’s Alliance to educate legislators.We all plan to introduce another bill this next legislative session and I have spent the past spring and summer educating numerous community groups and individuals about the importance of this effort to increase access to those folks who currently are not able to access affordable dental care.

If you are interested in possibly training to be a new Advanced Dental Practitioner please let me know and I will place you on our listserv. You can help us by emailing, visiting, and even taking your local legislator to coffee or lunch and educating him or her on the importance of access to care and allowing dental hygienists to work collaboratively with dentists in an even more expanded role.

My continued best to each of you and I sincerely hope that you are still enjoying the dental hygiene profession. We would love to publish your hygiene experiences, funny stories, alumni notes, etc. Please send them to Michele at mheidel@ewu.edu for the next newsletter.

WELCOME TO THE MSDH CLASS OF 2015!From left to right: Heidi Desmarais, Professor Lisa Bilich, Agatha Stavnesli, Romana Muller, Lorie Speer.The Dental Hygiene Department is excited to announce the 2015 Masters of Science in Dental Hygiene class. This year we welcomed 4 women.

GRANTS RECEIVEDSpecial Faculty Janet Nord received a grant in the amount for $77,280 with Physical Therapy Department Dr. Dan Anton to develop educational materials for labor and industry in the state of Washington to improve ergonomics for dental hygienists.

Assistant Professor Sarah Jackson received a $2,000 Empire Health Foundation Responsive Grant for the project “Decreasing the Risk for Dental Decay in Spokane Area Senior Citizens.” which provided free fluoride varnish for 100 low income senior citizens in the dental hygiene clinic.

RECENTLY PUBLISHEDDr. Art DiMarco had a republication of “Understand the Rules” a 2011 article for Dimensions of Dental Hygiene (Bassett, Boynes, DiMarco) in the Journal of the Nevada Dental Association.

Assistant Professor Merri Jones had a publication in Dimensions: Jones, M. (2012). Team approach. Dimensions of Dental Hygiene. 10(7), 60-63.

I knew things had to change in my stagnant dental hygiene practice, in setting and achieving personal goals, and I had to think about new opportunities for the future. All of us have our reasons for undertaking something challenging and stretching ourselves beyond our self-made barriers. Repeating my reasons to myself kept me focused when things got very difficult. Several times during my research and thesis work I would tell myself “Of course it’s hard, they don’t just give these degrees to people.” I would say that’s one of the most rewarding things about earning my new degree, it was hard, and I still did it. All three of my reasons have been fulfilled. Thanks to the dedicated faculty and staff in the EWU Dental Hygiene Department I have:• Grown and improved my place in our profession• Expanded personally and gained much self confidence• Become unafraid of any future challenges and am doing things I never thought possible three years ago.Walking across the stage at graduation in June gave me such pride and I couldn’t hold back the tears. In spite of family challenges and responsibilities, financial strain and physical ailments, there I was. Thank you to everyone at EWU including the faculty, staff, librarian, writing center and tech support!”

Jessica Scruggs, MSDH shared the following: “Getting my MSDH from EWU was a huge accomplishment for me personally. It has not only opened doors for me professionally it has also helped me find a path that was mentally stimulating and flexible to my life style. The Professors and faculty were 100% supportive and served as great mentors and now peers. I am proud not only of my degree but also the group of alumni that I am a part of now.” 

DEGREE COMPLETION PROGRAM UPDATE

The BSDH degree completion program was created in 1999 when Gail Orton, Chair of the EWU DH program, and Gail Liberman, Director of the Clark College DH program recognized the need for providing RDHs with Associate degrees opportunities to complete a baccalaureate degree. Since that time RDHs living near EWU’s off-campus sites were able to take face-to-face and hybrid courses at Clark College, Pierce College at Fort Steilacoom, Shoreline College, and most recently Lake Washington Institute of Technology including use of ITV to reach Yakima Valley and the Peninsula. This spring we welcomed 45 students into the ranks of EWU alumni!

In order to reach more RDHs who desire a BSDH and after a full year of planning and developing, our BSDH Degree Completion program has moved online. The revised curriculum includes 37 credits of upper division dental hygiene courses and 24 credits of upper division general education requirements. The Dental Hygiene content includes the professional roles of the RDH including technology in dentistry, teaching dental hygiene, evidence-based research, advocacy, health promotion, leadership, and administration/management culminating with a personal Capstone project. All courses are delivered online via CANVAS the EWU web-based Learning Management System and no campus visit is required.

With the hard work of our former Co-Directors Jessica Scruggs, Merri Jones, and Monica Hospenthal as well as our new Program Specialist Emilie Crawford, we recruited and accepted almost 50 students into our first cohort of online learners for Fall 2013. These learners bring diverse experiences as RDHs from new graduates to non-traditional RDHs wishing to advance their education. We appreciate their patience and feedback as pioneers who provide opportunities for us to learn from and implement best practices in online teaching and learning. Please welcome the 2013 BSDH Online students as they “Start Something Big”.

Ann O’Kelley Wetmore

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EWU DENTAL HYGIENE MASTER’S PROGRAM

With one exception, all courses in the MSDH program at Eastern are offered online, so our students come from all over the state, the nation and the globe. If you are interested in receiving information about this program, email Emilie at ecrawford@ewu.edu.

Dr. John Wesley

Ms. Jenny Faulhaber, RDH

Dr. Robert Wilder

Ms. Amber O’Doherty, RDH

Dr. Brandy Richey

Ms. Michelle Florin, RDH

Dr. Sue Weishaar

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS:

Ms. Gail Heacox, RDH,

Dr. Jay Sciuchetti

Ms. Alicia Seyhanli, RDH

Dr. Andrew Garabedian

Ms. Barb Lynch, RDH

Dr. Molly Gunsaulis

Ms. Erica Wegner, RDH

Rebecca Stolberg

2014