Building Professional Healthcare Workers
(1 CEU)
LIVE WEBINAR
June 24, 2025 at 4 pm PT | 6 pm CT | 7 pm ET
Sponsored by StudentRDH
Overview
Traditionally, the health professions are held to high standards of ethical behavior and accountability by the public. Educators of health professions students have the difficult task of instilling these values and behaviors into students, and verifying those characteristics to credentialing agents. Quantifying the “soft skills” is subjective and can be quite difficult.
The Dental Hygiene faculty of TSTC at Harlingen worked with their students to develop a rubric that outlined the key elements of professionalism. Faculty originally met at midterm and the end of the semester as a team and filled out a rubric for each student, and the department chair reviewed the rubric with each student.
Students found this very helpful, especially since it also provided a one-on-one opportunity to stress the positive things faculty had observed. Time constraints led to the rubric being at midterm, which still provided time for improvement and allowed the students to see their strengths and weaknesses and to act upon them. The success of the activity caused it to be adopted by other health departments at TSTC in modified forms that worked for their activities.
Involving the students in the process promoted “buy-in,” helped foster the culture of professionalism the faculty wished to instill, and helped quantify desired values, behaviors, and attitudes.
Course Objectives
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Identify and demonstrate core principles of professionalism in health professions, including respectful communication, teamwork, and accountability in clinical and academic settings.
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Assess and reflect on personal professional behavior using structured rubrics and feedback, recognizing strengths and creating plans for continued growth.
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Explain the significance of ethical behavior and personal responsibility in healthcare, and how these values build trust with patients, peers, and the public.
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Engage collaboratively with peers and faculty to foster a positive, professional learning environment and contribute meaningfully to shared tasks and group success.
Instructor
Barbara Bennett, RDH, MS
Barb served as the Director of Medical Education and Curriculum at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, Urbana-Champaign, and as an accreditation consultant for the medical school upon retirement. She has been actively involved in dental hygiene and dental assisting education for over 30 years and served as the program chair of the Dental Hygiene program, co-chair of the Dental Assisting program, Division Director of Allied Health Programs, and Associate Vice-President for Student Learning at Texas State Technical College.
Barb is a contributing author for several dental hygiene and dental assisting textbooks and publications and speaks on a variety of topics of interest to health professionals. She is currently working as a subject matter expert for Elsevier Health Professions Division collaborating in developing online testing materials, and resources to assist students in testing success. She served multiple terms as curriculum consultant for the American Dental Association Council on Dental Accreditation and is proud to be a past president of the Rio Grande Valley Dental Hygiene Association.
An active participant in dental hygiene board reviews for over twenty years, Barb loves working with dental hygiene students and faculty and helping them achieve their goal of becoming practicing dental hygienists. She believes that dental hygiene is an amazing profession and that the future is bright for the next generation of registered dental hygienists!
Barb is a contributing author for several dental hygiene and dental assisting textbooks and publications and speaks on a variety of topics of interest to health professionals. She is currently working as a subject matter expert for Elsevier Health Professions Division collaborating in developing online testing materials, and resources to assist students in testing success. She served multiple terms as curriculum consultant for the American Dental Association Council on Dental Accreditation and is proud to be a past president of the Rio Grande Valley Dental Hygiene Association.
An active participant in dental hygiene board reviews for over twenty years, Barb loves working with dental hygiene students and faculty and helping them achieve their goal of becoming practicing dental hygienists. She believes that dental hygiene is an amazing profession and that the future is bright for the next generation of registered dental hygienists!