SPEP for High School Grades 10 and 11

The curriculum for the SPEP 10 & 11 consists of:

• PRECLINICAL DENTISTRY provides lectures and hands-on laboratory exercises with dental materials
• INVESTIGATION DENTISTRY allows students to investigate a dental topic and present their findings
• CULTURAL COMPETENCY SEMINAR

To be eligible for consideration, all individuals must:

• Have an interest in dentistry, health professions or science
• Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident
• Attend a Dallas-area school
• Provide an official high school transcript documenting a grade point average of at least 2.75 (or 77.5 on a scale of 100)
• Submit an application
• Submit one letter of recommendation from a science or math teacher
• Have a history of overcoming adverse circumstances
• Demonstrate a strong potential of working with under served populations or in communities with limited access to dental care

• A stipend to help cover the cost of food, transportation and miscellaneous expenses
• Clinic and laboratory supplies
• Notebooks and other instructional materials

• A committee will review all applications and select participants for each program
• Participants selected for SPEP 10, SPEP 11 and their parents will be required to attend an orientation session

All applicants must complete and submit the on-line application and all supporting documents by May 9, 2025.

Contact walexander@tamu.edu for application.

This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as a part of an award totaling $3,493,000 with ~30% financed with non-governmental sources (Texas A&M College of Dentistry). The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit HRSA.gov.

*An academically disadvantaged individual is one who comes from an environment that has inhibited the individual from obtaining the knowledge, skill and ability to enroll in and graduate from a health professions school. For the purpose of this program, an applicant is considered academically disadvantaged if he or she is or will be a first generation college graduate to earn a baccalaureate degree in his or her family.

An applicant is also considered academically disadvantaged if he or she meets at least 4 of the following criteria:

• English is not the applicant’s primary language
• Overcame or is experiencing extreme hardship
• From a single parent family
• Non-traditional student (including older age) ♦ Significant employment while attending school
• Attended a low-performing high school
• Resident of a financially poor school districtdistrict
• Resident of a county designated as underserved by health professionals
• Resident of a lowest 10% per capita income county
• Other disadvantaged factor(s) identified by the applicant

NOTE: The pre-dental programs offered via Bridge to Dentistry will not accept auditors. Applicants who do not satisfy eligibility requirements, or cannot commit to the program in its entirety, will not be considered

• Program Dates: July 14-18, 2025
• Application deadline: May 9, 2025
• Notification Date by: June 13, 2025