Harvard School of Dental Medicine’s Bridge to Dental School Program has been named a recipient of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine’s 2021 Inspiring Programs in STEM Award. The Award recognizes programs that encourage and assist students from underrepresented groups to enter the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The Bridge to Dental School Program, now in its third year, is aimed at helping pre-dental students navigate the process of applying to dental school. HSDM’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) student fellows organize the program and serve as instructors. This year the program accepted 60 participants, most of whom were from backgrounds underrepresented in dentistry and first-generation college students.
“For this year’s Bridge to Dental School (BDS) program, we completely reimagined the curriculum. We implemented resume workshops, interview tips and mock interviews, personal statement workshops, and more,” said Jordan Middleton, DMD23. “Programs like this are incredibly important for so many reasons. The goal is to mentor students who not only come from underrepresented minority groups, but also those coming from institutions that lack advising resources and other means to work with students throughout the application process. Every student who’s interested in dentistry should have access to resources like BDS, which is why the ODI fellows are happy to run this program every year!”
“We are grateful for our HSDM ODI fellows who have developed this excellent and impactful program. We are appreciative and proud of them for volunteering their time to mentor pre-dental students from across the country. They have demonstrated their strong dedication to improving representation in dentistry, are very deserving of this recognition,” said Dean William Giannobile.
