“We’re very proud of them.”

    That’s how Meridian Community College Dental Hygiene Program Coordinator Dr. Bill Lindsay expressed his feelings when he learned the Dental Hygiene Program sophomores from the spring 2014 class posted a 100 percent pass rate.

     “Although most classes will have a 100 percent cumulative pass rate, this was the first class in several years in which everyone passed on the first attempt,” Lindsay said.

     MCC Associate Vice President Dr. Richie McAlister agreed.

    “Passing Mississippi’s three-part exam and the national exam on the first write is a remarkable accomplishment,” he said, adding, “Once a student is licensed, then the credential is portable throughout the state, even the nation.”

     Lindsay noted colleague Karen McPherson, instructor in the DH program, developed a “very intense, very successful board preparation program that she uses during the students’ last semester in the program; it’s really made a difference.”

     Delia Harwell, also an instructor in the DH program was instrumental in preparation for the clinical board exam; she and McPherson provide instruction on instrumentation. Also, as an instructor of the Community Dental Hygiene course, Harwell spearheads community service projects the program does through the academic year.

     Graduates of the program are awarded and associate of applied science degree in Dental Hygiene and are eligible to write the National Board of Dental Examiners as well as individual state board examinations for dental hygiene.

     Lindsay further explained Mississippi’s state board examination has changed into a three-part exam.

    “There is the hands-on clinical part, in which the student actually treats a patient. The second part is a lengthy computerized written exam and the third part is a written test on the dental laws of the state in which the student is seeking licensure. As of now, all nine have passed all parts of their boards, and should be fully licensed,” he said.

     The graduates who took and passed the exams are LaTonya Boyd and Ashley Deen, both of Meridian; Alex Donoho of Caledonia; Ashley Glaze of Lena; Kateland Hemphill of Carriere; Kacey Johnson of Senatobia; Lilyan Mosley of Toxey, Ala.; Nhuyen Nguyen of Vancleave; and Katie Simpson of Madison.

     Meridian Community College’s Dental Hygiene Program is accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association, a specialized accrediting body recognized by the Council on Postsecondary Accreditation and by the United States Department of Education.