Predental Students Find Support, Mentorship in Virtual SHPEP

Student Nauera AbouAbdou on vacation after the SHPEP program, which was online this year.

They skipped dental impressions and campus tours this year, but 20 students who participated in a virtual version of the Summer Health Professions Education Program (SHPEP) still learned to navigate their path to dental school success.

“During COVID-19, we're making this the best program that we possibly can,'' said Dr.Rosa Chaviano-Moran, Associate Dean for Admissions.

The SHPEP program, founded in 1989, is designed to boost the number of underrepresented minority students enrolling in health professions school but also includes students from a range of ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds. Formerly known as the Summer Medical and Dental Education Program (SMDEP), it helps undergraduate college students from across the U.S. learn about the skills and training needed to enter healthcare professions.

The national program, established by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is held annually for rising college sophomores and juniors. The dental portion of the program normally combines lessons on research, science and public health with an intro to clinical basics, like making dental molds. An important aspect of SHPEP  is connecting students with potential role models: minority faculty, staff and current dental students who can give them advice and encouragement they might not get from others.

This year, SHPEP was shortened from six weeks to four weeks and relied mostly on lectures and advice sessions with RSDM students who volunteered for the program as teaching assistants, although it did include a simulation of how to do a digital impressions.

For Nauera AbouAbdou, a Stockton University student, SHPEP offered a lesson in the importance of staying focused to cope with the demands of dental school. "I like working on different projects. I work, I do clubs. But I  learned you have to be tunnel visioned. You can only really focus on your work and classes so you have to learn how to juggle and manage your time.''

Connecting with other minority students, some of whom are immigrants like herself, allowed her to draw from their experiences and feel comfortable asking questions. Like AbouAbdou, many are unfamiliar with the higher education system in the U.S.

“Because I’m an immigrant who came here 5 years ago, I didn't know about a lot of things,'' said AbouAbdou, who's from Egypt."They go into detail about everything. They don’t assume that you know it all. I realized, I'm not behind. I can do this, I’m not a stranger.''

Sara Ezzat, a second-year RSDM student and 2017 graduate of SHPEP, said she wanted to give back to the program because of how it had helped her. “You’ll find that students might be scared to ask certain things, but because we're in their shoes, they connect with us in a different way. I can see from the way they’re asking questions, they’re looking at us as an example,'' said Ezzat who enrolled in the program after hearing about it from her brother, NJMS student Bishoy Ezzat, who completed it in 2015.

"He said it was one of the best experiences he's ever had,'' added Ezzat, who was recently inspired to created an Instagram page for predental students.

"I discuss my journey, give advice and share helpful resources", she said. "Mentoring has always been something that I enjoyed and I hope to continue to do.''