El Paso, Texas, February 20, 2025 (newswire.com) – Texas Institute of Technology Health El Paso’s first Hunt Dental Class has achieved a notable milestone in its first residency match.
Ten students in the 2025 class have secured coveted positions and, contrary to expectations, set high standards for the only dental school on the US-Mexico border.
Students will begin their respective programs on July 1st at prestigious residency and graduate programs across the country, including Yale University, Rutgers University, Washington University, One Brooklyn Health and the University of Oklahoma. Two students filled two of the six slots available for orthodontic treatment at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston.
“We are proud of our first students. They have demonstrated that despite being a new program, they can compete for being the best program,” says HUNT School of Dental Medicine Dean Richard Black, DDS, MS.
Lubbock native, Conley Green coincided with her prestigious oral and maxillofacial surgery residency at the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine.
The accelerated dental school clinical program allows Green to do his first extraction in his first year and complex surgical extraction by his second year, and Green to practice more than a typical dental student. It gave me the experience.
“It created a lot of opportunities to talk about the amazing work that dental school leadership has done to provide us with great opportunities,” Green said.
The Hunt School of Dentistry plays a key role in addressing local oral health disparities. The school’s Spanish requirements and culturally competent training prepare students to serve a diverse patient population.
Sydney Fields in Houston matched with Chicago’s Advocate Illinois Freemason Medical Center for dental anesthesiology residency in the first round last November. This speciality is particularly competitive, with only 30-35 positions available nationwide. The Chicago program accepts two residents each year.
“My friends in medical school provided me with a lot of resources they use for their classes,” Fields said. “We take similar courses, but the depth of our research differs. They coached me in a variety of subjects and I scheduled personalized tutoring sessions with them.”
Unlike most dental schools, Hunt Dentistry follows the approach adopted by several Ivy League schools, employing a pass-fail grading system rather than a student ranking.
“We have developed a creative recommendation letter focused on introducing students’ unique strengths, professionalism and individual outcomes,” said Rhonda Everett, MPH, Associate Dean, School’s Associate Dean. Masu. “This approach has proven effective in highlighting student potential beyond traditional indicators.”
The American Association of Dental Education reports that the residence has not been walking along while dental school enrollment is growing. The selection process is selective as approximately 6,800 dental alumni compete for just 2,200 residential slots each year.
Georgia Haney and Gentry Neilson both matched orthodontics at UT Health Houston. They filled in two slots available for orthodontic treatment.
“One of my goals is to work in rural areas,” Heni said. “I’m likely to be a specialist, but rural healthcare has minimal dentists and even fewer specialists. That attracted me to my specialist.”
Texas Tech Health El Paso is the only health science center on the US-Mexico border and serves 108 historically underserved counties in West Texas. This is a designated Title v Hispanic Service facility and prepares the next generation of healthcare heroes.
Founded as an independent university in 2013, Texas Tech Health El Paso is a proudly diverse, unique and innovative destination for education and research.
Texas Technology’s Health El Paso has graduated from more than 2,400 doctors, nurses and researchers over the past decade, with its mission to eliminate barriers to healthcare and create life-changing educational opportunities for borderplex residents, and has also graduated from 2,400 doctors, nurses and researchers. From 2019, we will be adding dentists to our graduates. For more information, please visit tuhscepimpact.org.
contact address
Marty Otero
Media Relation Specialist – National Media
maotero@ttuhsc.edu
915-215-6017
Source: Texas Tech Health El Paso
