New Dental Hygiene Fund Helps Graduates Enter the Workforce

The Eastern Washington University Dental Hygiene Clinic provides care for 1,500 to 2,000 community members a year – with some needing multiple visits.

The clinic, which serves children, senior citizens, people with medical conditions and noninsured patients, is powered by student dental-hygienists-in-training who provide compassionate care under the guidance of experienced dental hygiene faculty members.

With its cohort of 40 students each year, the clinic provides vital hands-on experience to budding professionals while also serving some of the community’s most vulnerable people.

Last fall, Dr. Eric Ellingsen and Smile Source Spokane established the Dental Hygiene Career Launch Fund to support EWU dental hygiene students as they earn their degrees and professional credentials in advance of entering the workforce.

The new fund, which helps to ensure that Eastern students are well prepared to deliver exceptional patient care where it’s most needed, is part of their larger support for Eastern’s Dental Hygiene Program. That larger support includes participating in career fairs, mock interviews and other events and, also, hiring Eastern graduates.

The fund’s focus is assisting with professional qualifications expenses. Before students can step into local clinics and begin professional practice, they must pass six rigorous exams during their senior year. These mandatory assessments, ranging from local anesthesia and restorative licensing exams to the National Board Dental Hygiene Exam and Washington State Law Exam, involve fees of approximately $3,100 per student.

Melissa Caldie, who received one of the first awards, says she is incredibly appreciative of the support.

“Thank you so much for the opportunity to receive the Dental Hygiene Career Launch Fund scholarship,” she wrote. “With so many fees accruing over the last couple of years, this scholarship will really help alleviate some of the financial stress as an (almost) new grad.”

Caldie especially wanted to thank Ellingsen and his team at Smile Source: “I am so grateful for your generosity and kindness to the new generation of dental professionals!”

Along with the generosity of Ellingsen and Smile Source, other alumni and supporters have started contributing to this fund. Together, their efforts will go a long way toward ensuring that when Spokane needs compassionate dental care, these graduates will be ready to serve.