In an effort to contribute solutions to the workforce challenges faced by Florida dentists, the Florida Dental Association (FDA) has implemented Jumpstart. Jumpstart is an initiative to connect pre-dental students interested in volunteering or working with dental offices in need of staff. The brainchild of FDA President Beatriz Terry, Jumpstart is a new tool exclusively offered to FDA members.
“We all know it’s hard to find employees. Our hope is that this Jumpstart initiative will help,” said Dr. Terry. “My practice has experienced great success hiring pre-dental students. They’re smart, interested in dentistry and hardworking. In fact, we had one student who came working part-time and has now grown to be a full-time assistant and very valuable staff member. This could potentially happen for other offices, too.”
Of course, areas near colleges and dental schools may have the most demand; however, students often travel to other parts of the state for summer or other breaks. The best way for dentists to know is to take a look at the Jumpstart directory and contact students to start a dialogue. The idea is to transform students’ enthusiasm to experience while providing a needed service for dentists.
Interested students are still being encouraged to register at floridadental.org/jumpstart so the directory may continue to grow. Dentists who have staffing opportunities should look through the directory to see if there are any students who fit their needs. Some students may be looking for community service hours and others may be interested in shadowing or paid employment; they may also have differing hours or days of availability. While we acknowledge this may not be a solution for all, it is a first step in connecting interested parties and hope to build out the program with networking and educational components.
Beyond the Bite 