Dental Hygiene, RDH to BSDH
The RDH-to-BSDH Completion Concentration is a degree-completion concentration within the existing Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene (BSDH) program at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. The program is designed for licensed registered dental hygienists seeking career advancement opportunities through a flexible, fully online format.
Applications are accepted for Spring admissions. All applicant materials must be submitted
by the application deadline for students to be considered for admission.
- RDH to BSDH applicants are required to be a graduate from a CODA-accredited entry-level dental hygiene program.
- RDH to BSDH applicants are required to hold an active, unrestricted U.S. dental hygiene license.
- Be actively engaged in the practice of dental hygiene.
- Submit official transcripts from all colleges/universities attended.
The patients treated by dental hygiene students in the dental hygiene clinics are usually registered patients of the College of Dentistry who are receiving limited or comprehensive dental care through the undergraduate and graduate dental education programs. Most of our patients are recruited from the city of Memphis and the surrounding tri-state area, which has a population of well over one million.
The program maintains the College of Dentistry’s primary patient recall system and provides regular ongoing preventative maintenance care in the dental hygiene clinic to a patient base of over 2,700 individuals. In addition to the dental hygiene clinic, students have scheduled clinical rotations to provide preventative services to patients seen in dental specialty clinics. Approximately 60% of all student dental hygiene clinical experiences are provided in UTHSC clinics.
- The dental hygiene program will ensure graduates are able to provide appropriate planned education services through organized community efforts to promote health and disease.
- The dental hygiene program will produce professional oral healthcare providers who competently deliver preventive, therapeutic, and educational oral health services in accordance with the ADHA Code of Ethics.
- The dental hygiene program will provide graduates with the knowledge, values, and skills to use evidence-based decision-making to provide comprehensive oral healthcare that will promote and achieve oral health.
- The dental hygiene program will inspire graduates to enhance their practice of dental hygiene through professional activities and continuing education.
The campus is part of the largest health science center in the Mid-South, providing great potential for access to a variety of population groups. Formal agreements have been reached between the university and several local clinics for student clinical rotations outside the program’s primary on-campus teaching clinic. Specific learning objectives and experiences have been identified for such rotations.