Drs. Britni Duffie of Dallas, program aide in student affairs at Texas A&M University College of Dentistry in Dallas, and Dawn Miller McElroy of Garland, formerly a program aide, smile when someone mentions they’re new Class of 2026 dentists. They worked hard to earn dental degrees, and both have gold stars in perseverance.

Duffie said she attended nearly every predental program A&M Dentistry offers, while Miller McElroy called her path “the scenic route” to dentistry when describing her decade-plus academic climb. That’s why they led this year’s Summer Pre-Dental Enrichment Programs, designed to provide high school and undergraduate students with opportunities to attend at no charge, with stipends, to learn about the dental profession and increase their chances of getting into both college and dental school.

“I remember the long days and nights studying, the pressure to do well, the desire to know all you can to increase your chances of success in dental school admissions, and the nerves about applying to dental school, which many are in the process of doing at this moment,” Duffie said. “It’s a critical and exciting time in their academic journeys and our understanding of that helped us to anticipate what questions they would have, how they’re feeling, and to offer resources and advice that helped us.”

Part of the college’s Bridge to Dentistry academic enrichment programs for prekindergarten through college, SPEP and other initiatives are supported by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers of Excellence grants. High schoolers, college students and others have been on campus from late spring through the summer learning the basics of dentistry, conducting research and preparing for the admissions process.

A goal of Bridge to Dentistry is to grow health professionals who will address the needs of populations and communities that are underserved in dentistry, said Dr. Rosemarie Zartman, clinical associate professor of comprehensive dentistry and interim director of student development.

“We encourage all of them to succeed in the programs and eventually ‘give back’ in service,” she said. “These two doctors are now coming full circle and represent the success stories that we are able to be connected to every year.”

More than 70 students enrolled in SPEP this year. Collegiate I and II for those with some college led the schedule and ran in May and June. The final session, SPEP 10 and 11 for rising high school sophomores and juniors, ran July 13-17.

Duffie entered SPEP as a rising junior in 2015 while also studying dental assisting in a Dallas Independent School District program at High School for Health Professions at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center. At Townview, she was mentored by Dr. Ernestine Lacy, professor and associate dean for student affairs, who oversaw the program before retiring in May.

Duffie later attended Texas Woman’s University in Denton, where she earned a bachelor’s in biology in 2021. She also attended A&M Dentistry’s Collegiate programs in the summers.

Still, Duffie knew neither her grades nor her Dental Admission Test scores were high enough to impress dental school admissions officers. Enrollment in A&M Dentistry’s dental class is capped at 106 students each year.

Duffie was rejected, but A&M Dentistry offered her a spot in the Post-Baccalaureate Program, which allows select applicants to take additional coursework at The University of Texas at Dallas for one year while also attending special courses at A&M Dentistry in two summers. Duffie welcomed that extra year and continues to appreciate the connections it provided her to others on similar tracks; Duffie met Miller McElroy in PBP.

Those who successfully complete the rigorous program are granted admission to A&M Dentistry.

“By working with Dr. Miller McElroy and me, and hearing about our journeys, the students in this year’s SPEP can look at us and know that they will succeed and make it into dental school,” Duffie said. “I also hope they know there is no pressure to fit into anyone else’s timeline, and our journeys toward dental school also serve as proof of that.”

Miller McElroy’s ties to SPEP began her senior year at Garland High School in 2012-13, after she chose prehealthcare electives and took a field trip to A&M Dentistry’s campus on Gaston Avenue. On a whim and attracted by stipends offered to students, Miller McElroy entered SPEP 12 – the four-week program in June for rising high school seniors. Students learn about the dental profession, prepare for the SAT, visit colleges and work to improve their chances of admission into competitive institutions.

“We learned how to wax a tooth and make lab models,” she said.

Miller McElroy entered before attending The University of Texas at Dallas to earn a bachelor’s in healthcare studies. She was encouraged by Dr. Jonathan Clemetson, clinical faculty in comprehensive dentistry and a 2002 A&M Dentistry dental graduate, who continues to support SPEP students.

“He talked about work-life balance,” she said. “If you’re a dentist, you can still have time for family, you can have hobbies and you can enjoy your life while still being part of healthcare…Going into college, I knew I wanted to go into dentistry.”

Miller McElroy also attended Collegiate I and Collegiate II. Each student takes two non-science courses at no charge at Dallas College’s Mountain View Campus, then attends a preclinical course and a lab at A&M Dentistry and another course to prepare for the DAT. They also shadow dentists and dental students.

“It’s a commitment, and we want students to understand that,” she said.

Miller McElroy struggled at UTD, in Collegiate II and on the DAT, despite doing well academically in high school. To improve her chances of acceptance to a dental college, she worked as an orthodontic assistant at a practice in Plano and took an extra year of classes at Southern Methodist University. Miller McElroy also worked at an Apple Store and took a brief career detour with a year-long ministry apprenticeship.

After earning her Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from A&M Dentistry in May and teaching the SPEP participants, Miller McElroy headed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to begin a one-year general dentistry residency at Philadelphia VA Healthcare System/Corporal Michael J. Crescenz Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. She plans to enter private practice in the Dallas area when the residency ends.

Her drive resonated with Fredor “Fred” Bihizi, a student in Collegiate II, who took the class to prepare for the DAT and immerse himself in dentistry. Originally from Burundi, he earned a bachelor’s in nursing from the University of Maine but developed an interest in dentistry after a recent opportunity to shadow a dentist in Tarrant County.

Bihizi found the program while researching online. SPEP showed him what first-year dental students encounter and allowed him to gain insights from Miller McElroy and Duffie and to meet A&M Dentistry faculty, including Clemetson and Dr. Shaun Logan, instructional associate professor in biomedical sciences.

He works at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth and plans to take the DAT for the first time before the end of the year.

“I’m well prepared, and I feel like this is going to help me beyond the application...,” Bihizi said. “I’m looking at how I can be successful in dental school, not only just getting in, but also being the best student I can be at the school and performing well.”

A&M Dentistry is his first choice.

The application deadline for the Class of 2031 is Oct. 1. Nearly 1,500 applied to A&M Dentistry through Texas Medical and Dental Schools Application Service last year.

Duffie plans to go into general dentistry and wants meaningful work.

“I got to experience what a joy it is to give back to the students the way others gave and poured into me,” Duffie said. “I truly enjoyed working with the summer programs, and I hope that any work I do in the future will be more driven by the desire to do work that is personally fulfilling than by external metrics of success.”