South Texas College to develop dental hygiene program

South Texas College is set to develop a dental hygiene program, micro-credential classes and a regional healthcare center with the help of a $1 million grant over the next three years.

“We have been contemplating, since I arrived here two and a half years ago, to pursue those high end, high demand, high pay programs and dental hygiene was certainly on the top of our list,” STC President Ricardo Solis said. “We were elated to hear that finally, we were notified last month, and now we are ready to go ahead and implement it aggressively.”

The grant comes from the U.S Department of Labor and is specifically aimed to serve non-traditional learners and workers in McAllen and the Valley by engaging with marginalized and underrepresented groups in educational programs.

It also aims to foster inclusive programs and collaborative partnerships with community organizations.

Dr. Jayson Valerio, the STC regional healthcare liaison, said the main goal of the grant is to build a future healthcare workforce for the Valley.

“We understand our mission is to meet the health care needs of our region,” Valerio said. “And as of right now, they’re predicting an acute shortage of healthcare professionals, specifically in the nursing staff, until 2036.”

A major part of the grant is to develop an Associate of Applied Science in Dental Hygiene program.

Valerio said that according to the Texas Workforce Commission in 2023, there are about 13 health care high job demands in the Valley.

“We’re very fortunate that South Texas College is offering 11 out of the 13 health care job demands in the Rio Grande Valley,” he said. “And of the two that we’re still not offering, which are considered in great demand for the coming years, number one is dental hygiene and the second one is surgical technology.”

The development of the program is currently in the process of building the curriculum with Valerio adding that 2024-2025 will be a development phase.

The next step in the process would be to get approval from the coordinating board.

Valerio said STC anticipates the first class of the dental hygiene program to start in the fall of 2026.

At STC for over two decades, he said this is a testament for the college in fulfilling its mission to address the needs of the community and especially in the healthcare field.

“That’s why it’s very important to keep abreast with the latest data and trends, especially the supply and demand for healthcare professionals and since we are in the service of institutions of higher education, where we produce the workforce, specifically the health care, we are here to serve the community,” Valerio said.

Along with the dental hygiene program, the grant will fund micro-credential courses targeting high demand health care skills.

“It is targeting non-traditional learners who are adult workers that cannot attend classes during the day time,” he said. “If they want to pursue a healthcare career, we can offer them micro-credentials in healthcare courses that will give the opportunity to them to advance their career.”

Valerio added the courses will also be to up-skill and re-skill healthcare workers as a result of the pandemic.

The program and some of the courses are set to be housed in a newly acquired building right next to the STC Nursing and Allied Health Campus in South McAllen.

The building does not have a name yet but is currently being called the Workforce Development and Continuing Education Center for Health Care Professionals.

“The same building where the dental hygiene program is going to be housed … it’s going to provide other programs for continuing education and also for many certificates and courses,” Solis said.

Some of the types of certificates will range from nursing assisting, radiology and respiratory care.

The building has been acquired and the contract has been awarded to ERO Architects.

The new center is currently being designed to include all of the proper labs, classrooms, officers and a conference room.

Solis said he expects the building to be ready by fall of 2025.