State dental award presented for NMC-tribal college partnership
Beckie Wooters (download high-resolution photo)TRAVERSE CITY — NMC Dental Assistant program director Beckie Wooters has been named the 2024 Allied Dental Professional Educator by the Michigan Dental Association.
Wooters was selected for NMC’s articulation agreement with Bay Mills Community College, which seeks to enroll students from the tribal college in the U.P. at NMC in order to increase access to dental care.
Dr. Jessica Rickert (download high-resolution photo)Retired Traverse City area dentist Dr. Jessica Rickert, who connected NMC and Bay Mills, accepted the award on Wooters’ behalf at the MDA’s annual session in Lansing in April. Rickert is the first female Native American dentist in the United States. She now consults with insurer Delta Dental of Michigan and leads Anishinaabe Dental Outreach, whose goal is to improve dental health in Native communities. Rickert saw an opportunity to connect NMC and Bay Mills to better serve the Upper Peninsula, where the shortage of dental professionals is especially acute.
Ability to earn RDA licensure is a key advantage of NMC’s program, the furthest north among six accredited dental assistant programs in Michigan. Wooters also designed a second-year program schedule that will allow BMCC students to return home for frequent visits.
Find out more at nmc.edu/dental.
Release date: MAY 17, 2024
For more information:
Cari Noga
Communications Director
cnoga@nmc.edu
(231) 392-1800 (Mobile - call or text)