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Competencies

Competencies define the abilities expected of the graduate of E-Learning Degree Completion program. These competencies reflect knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

1. Professional Development and Leadership

The degree completion graduate will:

1-1. Identify career options within healthcare, industry, education, and research and evaluates the feasibility of pursuing dental hygiene opportunities.

1-2. Access professional and social networks to pursue professional development.

1-3. Apply a professional code of ethics in all endeavors.

1-4. Participate in self-assessment and implement changes necessary to improve professional effectiveness.

1-5. Understand the need for and establish a plan for professional development.

1-6. Possess the skills and knowledge for an entry-level teaching position in a dental hygiene program.

1-7. Provide documentation of professional knowledge, skills, and growth.

2. Information Literacy and Communication

The degree completion graduate will:

2-1. Access and use information efficiently, ethically and legally.

2-2. Utilize effective communication and interpersonal skills to form partnerships with patients and communities.

2-3. Write at a professional level.

2-4. Interact effectively with people of different cultures and backgrounds.

3. Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

The degree completion graduate will:

3-1. Recognize health conditions and interventions that promote healthy lifestyles for individuals and communities.

3-2. Apply theories of health behavior and behavior change to alter risk factors and improve the oral health of individuals and communities.

3-3. Evaluate health status and risk factors related to oral diseases and develop preventive programs and appropriate interventions across lifespans and levels of health status and ability.

3-4. Integrate an understanding of the impact of oral disease on systemic health in determining patient risk along with intervention and prevention strategies for specific oral and systemic diseases.

4. Evidence-Based Practice

The degree completion graduate will:

4-1. Evaluate professional literature regarding the safety, ethics, and efficacy of oral health products, interventions, and treatments used in dental hygiene practice.

4-2. Utilize scientifically sound technologies and protocols during decision making and the process of care.

4-3. Evaluate information and its sources critically and incorporate selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system.

4-4. Incorporate the scientific method and evidence-based decision making within all dental hygiene practice settings.

5. Community

The degree completion graduate will:

5-1. Identify community resources to increase access to care.

5-2. Support and influence legislative and regulatory efforts by individuals and/or organizations that enhance access to effective oral health care services.

5-3. Promote oral health as an integral component of multi-disciplinary health care systems.

5-4. Assess, plan, implement, and evaluate community-based oral health programs including health promotion and disease prevention activities.