EDITORIAL: Open wide

With a full year of operation under its work belt at Warhill, Thomas Nelson Community College is adapting the curriculum to go where the jobs are. That’s no small feat as we emerge from the Great Recession.

The other day 10 students were paying close attention in a class on Nursing Assistants, where they’ll graduate next week. They’ve already done outside work with a retirement home, and several have been offered jobs once they matriculate.

Downstairs, 10 more students were preparing to treat patients in the new Dental Hygiene program, whose motto is “Floss, Brush, Smile.” They operate in a modern and real-world environment that visiting dentists admire. So much so that the dentists volunteer to work with students to check out the latest in technology. One gizmo is a portable X-ray gun that replaces the cumbersome arm version we’re all used to. It costs $10,000.

The director is Harold J. Marioneaux Jr., himself a dentist who once ran the School of Science at Hampton University. Dental Hygiene at Thomas Nelson is a two-year program of five semesters that equips graduates with an associate’s degree to take their national board and licensing exams. Then they find work that pays around $32 an hour.

One lab is set up to simulate teeth cleaning, complete with model heads whose teeth need work (inset photo). Students learn the techniques and how to apply nitrous oxide to calm the patient.

Down the hall is a clinic of 11 dental stations with everything to do the work, including real patients. Retirees are among those served, in part because they’re willing to spend longer periods that it takes a student who is getting up to speed.

Students learn how to pour and cut molds, how to process X-rays digitally and on film, how to sterilize instruments, and how to consult with others.

“Dentistry and dental hygiene are very much a team effort these days, no longer an individual practice,” Marioneaux said. Hygienists learn to work with periodontists and orthodontists. Students will get more experience at Olde Towne Medical Center, where they will interact with dental patients as part of the clinic’s ties to public health courses offered by Thomas Nelson.

To be sure, not everyone is cut out for this work. Marioneaux stated they tend to come from a dentist office environment, and they’re rated on a point score in the application process for suitability.

So several things are going on here. Students take practical courses for real work. Patients get the full treatment for only $45. Olde Towne gets working hands to help its formidable load. The community benefits from all this interaction.

The flexibility to adapt to a changing economy is a quiet hallmark of Thomas Nelson, much as it as at W&M’s Mason School of Business. Expanded lab space has led to 600 students enrolled here at Thomas Nelson. Among them are 14 taking courses for a career in phlebotomy. Another 30 are in the nursing program.

It’s worth asking if our high schools are adapting as quickly on their voc-ed curriculum.

Need care? Call 258-6604 for an appointment.

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