College of Marin - Workforce Grant Expands Dental Assisting Program

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News Contact:
Cathy Summa-Wolfe, Director
Communications & Community Relations
415-485-9528

Workforce Grant Expands Dental Assisting Program

New equipment will help college meet legislative training mandate

Kentfield, Calif.-Aug. 20, 2009—Ten additional students will be invited to participate in the College of Marin Dental Assisting program thanks to a $106,500 Workforce Investment Act grant aimed at helping the college prepare students for the local job market.

The college will increase its current 24-person program which includes part-time and full-time students and add additional administrative and academic support to ensure student success.

“This is great news,” said Roz Harman, director of Health Sciences at College of Marin. “This is a program that really prepares people to get a job immediately. In this economy it’s particularly important. By the end of the program they’ll be getting jobs.”

The grant funds additional teaching staff, a tutor, and secretarial help to monitor student progress and identify students that need remediation with one to one instruction. Students will also get additional training in new areas as mandated by the California legislature earlier this year for licensed dental assistants. New curriculum will include digital impression scanning, introral and extraoral photography and the operation of caries detectors and salivation isolation devices.

The WIA funds also pay for new equipment for the program including a digital scanning impression unit, intraoral and extraoral dental photography, electronic caries detectors and state of the art isolation units. Only two other accredited dental assisting programs in Northern California will have a digital scanning unit.

About the Workforce Investment Act of 1998
The federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998 reformed training, adult education and vocational rehabilitation programs and offers workforce development activities through statewide and local organizations. This year, California will receive about $454 million from the federal government this year to provide services for adults, laid-off workers, and youth.

About the College of Marin Dental Assisting Program
The College of Marin Dental Assisting program is accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation, American Dental Association and is approved by the California Board of Dental Examiners. Full-time students can complete the program in 10 months. Part-time students can complete the program in 19 months. Graduates are eligible to sit for the Registered Dental Assisting Licensure Examination. The program will be moving next year to newly constructed facilities on the Indian Valley Campus.

For more information about the program, visit www.marin.edu/departments/HealthSciences/DentalAssisting/.

College of Marin is one of 112 public community colleges in California and is fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Approximately 10,000 credit and noncredit students enroll each fall and spring semester. Classes also are offered during the summer.

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