from staff
The difference between a regular dental assistant school and the Assist to Succeed dental assistant program is location. The students at Assist to Succeed aren’t in a classroom designed to mimic a dentist’s office. They are in the St. Nicholas office of Dr. Zan Beaver.
“It’s an accelerated course condensed into 11 Saturdays,” said Beaver, who opened the local chapter of the Assist to Succeed school in 2005. “We offer as good as, if not better, training.”
For under $3,000 per semester, a maximum of 15 students can be trained for a job in high demand. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates dental assistant jobs will grow 29 percent from 2006 to 2016.
“I started the school from scratch three years ago because I found it was hard to find well-trained assistants,” said Beaver, who hired a graduate last fall. “And it’s accelerated, so if you’re working a full-time job, you don’t have to quit.”
Keith Lechwar, one of Beaver’s clients, recalled being treated by the employee, Summer Pearce.
“She did a fine job,” said Lechwar.
Pearce, who read about the school in a newspaper article and responded because she always wanted to be in the medical field, loves what she is doing and was happy to go to school on the weekends while she had a part-time job as a waitress.
“It’s overwhelming at first,” said Pearce, who prior to completing the school’s training had just graduated from high school. “But classes are small, so you get one-on-one with the teachers.”
The typical Saturday consists of morning book work followed by lunch with an afternoon clinical. There is a midterm practical exam and a final. At the end of the 11 weeks, students take month-long externships and finish with 200 hours of work. And the graduates can practice anywhere.
“I get calls from doctors weekly asking for externs,” said Beaver. “Instead of advertising openings, they call and ask if there are any students interested.”
With a state-of-the-art classroom that has PowerPoint capabilities and actual patients coming in, the Assist to Succeed school requires potential students to have a high school diploma or a GED minimum requirement. There are no preliminary tests.
The first Assist to Succeed program was started in Boise, Idaho by Dr. Taylor Clark. The program has since spread to 16 states – from Alaska to Massachusetts and California to Florida.
“My goal,” said Beaver, “is to make the school the best.”