Kaplan Career Institute’s Nashville Campus Launches Dental Assistant Program
Classes Begin Today
NASHVILLE, Tenn., May 15, 2008—Kaplan Career Institute’s Nashville campus began classes today for its new dental assistant diploma program. The program is designed to aid students in obtaining the knowledge, technical skills and work habits required to pursue a wide variety of entry-level positions in a dental office, clinic or lab environment.
“We are pleased to offer the dental assistant program and look forward to sending our graduates into the Nashville area to help fill the demand for dental assistants and other related positions,” said Adam Butler, executive director of Kaplan Career Institute’s Nashville campus. “Kaplan Career Institute strives to offer high-quality, postsecondary programs in high-demand fields in Davidson County. Our objective is to serve the needs of our students and our community for many years to come.”
The 11-month long program emphasizes hands-on instruction in the campus’ new dental lab. The lab features three fully functioning chairs and equipment. Students will have the opportunity to learn treatment room care of the dental patient and how to assist the dentist, infection control and sterilization, medical emergencies, taking digital and film dental x-rays, making impressions, how to use various dental instruments, pharmacology and pain control, preventative dentistry, tray setups and how to assist with oral surgery.
The program concludes with two externships—an 80-hour long specialty dentistry externship and a 240-hour long dental assistant general externship. The externships will give students the opportunity for hands-on experience by applying classroom-learned techniques to real-world situations.
The new dental assistant program will be overseen by Rachel Obptande, dental assistant program director for Kaplan Career Institute. Obptande has been in the dental assisting field for nearly 20 years. She is a registered and certified dental assistant and has worked as a dental assistant educator for the past three years, most recently at High-Tech Institute.
The campus also recently launched a medical billing and coding specialist diploma program on April 17. The program is designed to prepare students with the knowledge, technical skills and work habits to pursue an entry-level position as a medical billing and coding specialist in medical offices, medical clinics, hospitals, and other healthcare and insurance facilities. The 36-week program concludes with a required 160-hour externship.
The Kaplan Career Institute Nashville campus is accredited by Commission of the Council on Occupational Education (COE).
About Kaplan, Inc.
Kaplan Career Institute is part of Kaplan Higher Education, which serves 80,000 students through more than 70 campus-based schools across the United States and in Europe. It also has online programs through Kaplan Virtual Education, Kaplan University and Concord Law School of Kaplan University. Kaplan Higher Education schools offer a spectrum of academic opportunities, from high school diplomas to graduate and professional degrees, including a Juris Doctor degree. Kaplan Higher Education is part of Kaplan, Inc., a subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO). For more information, visit www.kaplancareerinstitute.com.