NC-HCAP News

Students Works to Fill Need for Minorities in Health Careers
03.04.05

Chapel Hill, NC — University of North Carolina senior Annbec DeShield hopes to provide dental care to North Carolinians, both by practicing herself and by recruiting other minority students to the profession. DeShield, who is applying to dental school this year, tries to recruit her peers not only to dentistry, but to all health careers, as president of the North Carolina Health Careers Access Program’s Ambassador Program.

As of 2000, North Carolina ranks 45th in the nation in dentists per capita, and 79 of the state’s 100 counties qualify as nationally recognized dental health professional shortage areas. This shortage shows the importance of DeShield’s efforts. She and the ambassadors are working to increase the number of minorities in dentistry and other health professions through presentations and workshops while earning the degrees that will allow them to provide care to the state’s underserved communities.

“You would be surprised how many students do not know even now about health professional majors, such as clinical laboratory science, public health administration, dental hygiene and radiological science degree programs, that are available right here on our campus,” said DeShield, who is also the founder and president of the Undergraduate Student National Dental Association at UNC.

While African-Americans, Native Americans and Latinos account for 10 percent of North Carolina’s health care workforce, these minority groups comprise 24 percent of the state’s population. Recognizing that minority populations continue to be under-represented in all health professions in North Carolina, DeShield encourages other minority students to explore and pursue careers in health professions.

“It has been shown that minority health professionals are more likely to serve areas that are considered health profession shortage areas,” said Denise Belle, co-director of the program. “This, in turn, could work toward decreasing the health status gap between majority and minority populations.”
Belle sees DeShield and the other ambassadors as windows of hope through which others find inspiration. When other minority students see the ambassadors begin a graduate or professional program irrespective of economic status or geographic location, they believe they can as well, she said. “We must continue to peak their interest, motivate, recruit and, most importantly, retain minority students in graduate and professional health programs,” said Belle. “This is one of the goals of the Ambassador Program.”

Since her freshman year, DeShield has spent her free time volunteering in the community and serving her peers by informing them of resources and career opportunities in health professions. When she graduates from dental school, she wants to be a positive role model and mentor in minority communities of North Carolina. “It will be my duty and my pleasure to utilize my knowledge in order to give back a service of assistance that is lacking to the citizens of my community,” said DeShield.

DeShield is not waiting until she has her dental license to start serving local communities. She and Michelle Hamilton, Ambassador Program vice president, co-chaired the Health on the Block community outreach project in March and plan to hold a second health fair this spring. At the event, disadvantaged residents of Carrboro and Chapel Hill received free healthcare information, screenings for dental work, speech and hearing tests and blood pressure and glucose checks.

“My most valuable experience with the program involved me being able to help plan and recruit health professionals for Health on the Block,” said Hamilton, who is pursuing a career in health administration. “The event was important to me because I was able to serve an indigent community I grew up near.”
DeShield, who first explored the field of dentistry through the Ambassador Program, attributes her networking skills, preparation for dental school and strength as an applicant to her involvement in the program as well as other components of NC-HCAP.

The Ambassador Program, created in 1998, is a group of pre-professional health science students with interests in health careers who are committed to increasing students’ awareness of the services and activities of the North Carolina Health Careers Access Program. In addition to making presentations to student groups and conducting workshops on healthcare and health professions topics, the ambassadors serve the community through annual health fairs, projects at the Ronald McDonald House, blood drives, fundraising to improve local education and quality of life and tutoring relationships with local students.

For more information on the Ambassador Program, visit http://nchcap.unc.edu/ambassadors.html or call (919) 966-2264.