The dental hygienist is a licensed professional oral health educator with specialized clinical and educational skills who works as part of the dental health team. Dental hygienists are primarily concerned with the prevention, recognition, and treatment of dental and oral disease. Employment opportunities exist in health clinics, private dental offices, school systems, dental hygiene educational programs, research facilities, public health departments and industry.

Prerequisite courses: CHEM 1A; CHEM 8; BIO 2A & 3; PSYCH 1A; ENGL 1A/1B; SOC 1; SPCH 1A; HIST 17.1* or 17.2*; POLS 1*; MATH (one UC-transferable college-level math course)

* U.S. History and Political Science requirements may be satisfied in U.S. High School

5 semester units of social sciences, humanities and/or foreign language in addition to above requirements

The Bulletin of the School of Dentistry is the definitive source of information regarding requirements and transfer into the dental hygiene program at UCSF.

• Beginning with Fall 2003 admissions, all SRJC students must take BIO 3; the substitution of ANAT 1 and PHYSIO 1 will no longer be accepted after July 1, 2002.
• Students must have a minimum of 60 UC-transferable semester units including the courses outlined above.
• Students must take the Allied Health Professions Admissions Test (AHPAT) no later than January of the year in which you wish to admit (you may receive information regarding the AHPAT by calling 800-622-3231).
• Eligibility requirements dictate a minimum GPA of 2.4 both overall and in the sciences, however to be considered a competitive candidate requires a GPA of 3.0 or above.
• Factors considered in the admission process include: overall GPA, science GPA, AHPAT scores, letters of recommendation, dental employment or observation experience, community service, science courses completed above the prerequisites, personal statements as submitted with the application and interview results.
• While applications will be accepted with in-progress courses, all courses must be completed by the end of the spring semester prior to admission.
• Applications are accepted from July 1 to March 1 for admission in the following fall.
• Early application is STRONGLY advised.

*Natural Sciences (15 semester units): CHEM 60; ANAT 1; PHYSIO 1; MICRO 5 or 60; College Math (any transferable course in college math)

Social Sciences (8 semester units): *SOC 1; *ANTH 2 or 30; any transferable course in Political Science, Psychology, Anthropology, Economics, or Geography

Cultural (14 semester units in at least 2 of the following areas):

Religion (Required - 4 quarter or 3 semester units per year of attendance at Loma Linda University),

Any transferable course in History/Civilization, Fine Arts (theory course work), Literature, Foreign Language, Philosophy/Ethics

*Communication Skills (9 semester units): ENGL 1A; ENGL1B; SPCH 1A or SPCH 60

*Health (2 semester units): FDNT 10 or HLE 50

*Physical Education: 2 activity courses

* Program specific pre-entry course requirements

Minimum units needed for entrance: 64 semester units

*ANAT 1

*CHEM 60 or CHEM 1A + 8

*PHYSIO 1

*MICRO 5 or 60 or HLC 55

FDNT 10 or 62

PSYCH 1A or 4 or 53

SOC 1 or 2 or 10 or 30

SPCH 1A or 60 or COMM 5 or 66

* These courses require a 5-year recency

The following courses must be completed with the grades documented on official sealed transcripts and mailed with your application before your application can be considered complete:

• Introductory chemistry for health occupations = CHEM 60
• Human Anatomy = ANAT 1
• Human Physiology = PHYSIO 1
• Intro to Microbiology = MICRO 5
• English Composition = ENGL 1A

* Students may be required to take additional nutrition courses after selection to the Dental Hygiene Program.

Contact the Admissions Office at DVC for an information sheet describing admission requirements and a special application.

The student applicant must meet certain minimum enrollment requirements. Final selection of qualified candidates is competitive using the following criteria. Documentation of residency within the nine counties will assign a higher level of eligibility to the applicant. Those residing outside of the nine counties are assigned a lower eligibility. (Butte, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity)

Applicants must have an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher in all dental hygiene general prerequisite courses. Applicants must also have a GPA of 3.0 or higher in all dental hygiene science prerequisite courses. Only courses from an accredited college or university will be accepted.

Additional credit is given for: full-time dental assistant, Registered Dental Assistant licensure (RDA), National Certified Dental Assistant (CDA), graduation from an accredited dental assisting program, working in a health care office, previous applicant, previous degrees (Associate, Bachelor's, Master's or Doctorate), linguistic diversity, additional coursework in the sciences.

Applicants must have all prerequisite courses completed at the time of application. Concurrent enrollment in any prerequisite course at the time of application is not accepted.

Prerequisites include: Anatomy 1 (5 units), Physiology 1 with lab (5 units), Microbiology (5 units), English 1A (4 units), Introduction to Organic and Biochemistry CHEM 1A & 8, Soc 1, Psych 1A, Speech 1A or 60, and nutrition (FD NT 10 or 62)

For a brochure call: 530-245-7332 or email kmiller@shastacollege.edu

For additional information on specific admission criteria call 530-225-4862

The Dental Hygiene Facility is located at 2701 Old Eureka Way Suite 2-A, Redding, CA.