Responding to the need of dental educators to be recognized for their individual growth and mastery of skills, the ADEA Micro-credentialing program launched in March 2022. This portfolio-based assessment program is designed to validate that individual skills have been put into practice and share those achievements with the wider dental education community. Five high-value micro-credentials are currently available to membership, with more to be added over time. They include:

• Developing a Teaching Philosophy,
• Facilitating Small Group Learning,
• Promoting an Inclusive and Humanistic Environment,
• Promoting Critical Thinking and
• Technology Integration in the Didactic Setting.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has awarded the Summer Health Professions Education Program (SHPEP) a grant for the next two years, differing from the past where SHPEP was awarded the grant on an annual basis. SHPEP is a free, national program for students to explore their interests in medicine, dentistry, nursing, optometry, pharmacy, physical therapy, public health and more. It is funded by RWJF with direction and technical assistance provided by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and ADEA.

There were 953 matriculants for the 2022 summer sessions, which used three modes of learning: fully virtual, fully in-person or two weeks virtual and four weeks in-person (hybrid). Some sites noticed a drop in numbers after moving to in-person options. Organizers believe there was a group of individuals who needed to work simultaneously and were therefore unable to be away from home for six weeks.

The launch of a new Summer Health Professions Education Program (SHPEP) scholarship, the Sherket B. Peterson Scholarship for Research & Innovation, occurred Aug. 1. Dr. Peterson is a Minority Medical Education Program (MMEP) alumna who created the scholarship to support and recognize outstanding, full-time historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups students who have participated in SHPEP and demonstrate a drive to succeed in their pursuit of a health professions career, leadership and a passion to create change in their community. The $3,000 scholarship includes a one-year mentorship from Dr. Peterson. A private donor has matched Dr. Peterson’s gift, affording two awardees.

ADEA and Association of American Medical Colleges collectively reviewed the applications, selecting seven finalists for Dr. Peterson to review and select the two awardees. The scholars are Johan Portillo, a 2021 SHPEP alum from the University of Alabama site and Jacques Calixte, a 2022 alum from the University of Columbia site.

ADEA participated in Health Professions Week, a nationwide collaboration between today’s health care and education organizations designed to provide reliable, accessible resources to explore careers in the health professions. Geared toward high school students, it is an opportunity to explore 20+ unique career options. HPW took place Nov. 5-11, 2022 with a week full of programming and other engagement activities. The event had 2,500 registrants the day before it began with a goal of 4,000 registrants by the start of the week.

ADEA supported the event in multiple ways, including securing students to participate on the LGBTQ+ Student Panel and BIPOC Student Panel. ADEA also created three videos to support on-demand programming for the event that included Juliette Daniels, Ed.D., University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry, on Being Flexible & Resilient; Amisha Singh, D.D.S., University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine on Finding Your Career Fit; and Timothy Treat, D.D.S., Indiana University School of Dentistry on his Pathway to Teaching Dentistry. ADEA also had the opportunity to share a student experience and selected Jaerae Dell, University of Michigan School of Dentistry, who shared why he chose dentistry. ADEA also hosted a three-hour student panel in our virtual booth showcasing four dental students from East Carolina University School of Dental Medicine and Howard University College of Dentistry as well as a dental hygiene educator from Reed College.

ADEA engaged with the National Society of High School Scholars with an email and social media campaign. One campaign focused on students, “Invest in YOURSELF With Experiences to Further Your Dental Career Journey”, and another focused on parents, “Tips to Help Your Student Further Their Dental Career Journey”. This outreach had tips on how to engage with ADEA as well as ideas on what students can do in high school to learn more about the profession and gain experience.

The student email reached 86,000 unique opens and the parent email reached 90,000 unique opens, with SHPEP and ADEA GoDental Instagram as the top clicks. This campaign produced 36 new leads for ADEA in the Enrollment Management Program.

Educational Pathways completed a review of the 2023 ADEA GoDental Recruitment Event Registration portal in partnership with the ADEA Meetings, Conferences and Educational Technology team. Changes to the portal will streamline registration and align the data captured in the Streampoint registration platform with the data captured in Enrollment Marketing Platform (EMP). These changes will give Educational Pathways pertinent information on all student registrations to enter into EMP and add registrants to the correct audience group for communications

The 2022 ADEA GoDental Virtual Fair (GDVF) took place May 24−25, 2022, attracting 2,667 registrants and 1,817 attendees during the scheduled programming. In addition to offering two live panel discussions, ADEA AADSAS Booth Day, a financial aid session and dental school chats, ADEA added an optional video opportunity for schools to “go live” during the dental school chat day. Thirty schools completed the requirements to “go live,” during which many of the schools engaged attendees through the new video option for a portion of the event.

ADEA increased registrants’ engagement by 18%, from 47% in 2021 to 65% in 2022. Part of this increased engagement may be attributed to the move from a three-day to a two-day event.

The American Dental Association (ADA) has accepted an invitation extended by ADEA to further develop a modular curriculum that will assist new dentist and allied dental teaching faculty entering academia from private practice. Clinicians are filling most of the open vacant positions and dental schools and programs have identified the need for a tailored learning experience that addresses the specific learning needs of these new faculty. Six domains have been identified and a contemporary, modular, “microlearning” curriculum is being planned. Completion will be tracked at ADEA through eLearn.