ROAAOMS recognized the need for more support and responded. The ROAAOMS Underrepresented Minority OMS Mentorship Program was inspired by the need to connect more with minority dental students who are looking to gain perspective on the OMS specialty. Underrepresented Minorities (URMs) make up only approximately 10 percent of OMS residents, despite comprising 32.6 percent of the U.S. population.

Per the Association of American Medical Colleges, URMs are defined as “racial and ethnic populations that are underrepresented in the medical profession relative to their numbers in the general population,” which in the OMS specialty includes Black/African American, Hispanic, American Indian and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander race/ethnicities.

This program seeks to work toward improving diversity through recruitment and mentorship of underrepresented minority pre-dental and dental students. The goal of this mentorship will be to increase mentees’ knowledge of the OMS specialty, dispel any concerns they may have about entering the field, empower them and guide them through the application process with the intent of increasing the percentages of qualified URMs in the specialty. The ROAAOMS Underrepresented Minority OMS Mentorship Program also hopes to:

• Provide perspective on the application process and residency to URM dental and pre-dental students who are interested in the OMS specialty, given that many dental schools lack OMS residencies with URM residents or attendings.
• Provide mentorship and create long-term networking opportunities.
• Identify obstacles preventing URMs from entering the OMS specialty.
• Begin earlier recruitment of prospective OMS applicants because of a lack of diversity in dental schools that creates a pipeline issue, which the program aims to address.
• Provide a relationship that allows for discussion of concerns unique to URMs.
• Provide education and assistance with the interview process.
• Offer the potential to survey mentors and mentees to produce publishable results about recruitment of URMs to the OMS specialty, then undertake interventions to increase recruitment of qualified URM applicants.
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Find a mentor

Apply today to connect with an underrepresented minority OMS resident. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and reviewed in January, May and August. Assignments will be announced within one month from the review date. Please send applications to Laurie Oddo or fax to 847-678-6286.

Are you an OMS resident looking to join the ROAAOMS Underrepresented Minority OMS Mentorship Program? Mentor applications are available.