Providing advanced degrees in dental hygiene via computer mediated distance learning: a model program

A chief concern regarding distance education for the health professions is quality of the experience. Distance education has the potential for expanding student access, providing individualized instruction, and promoting active learning among geographically separated members of learning groups. Students and professors who have participated in distance learning platforms have expressed concerns about technical problems, inability to interact in real time with each other, and other frustrations related to this type of delivery. The Dental Hygiene program at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) has addressed these issues and enhanced an already successful program by putting the professor, a technologist, and the student in the same space, at the same time, in real time. This enhancement has substantiated the ability of distance education to provide instruction among geographically separated members of learning groups, making it a plausible solution to the shortage of educators in healthcare professions.