UAMS Clinics for Dental Hygiene, Speech and Hearing Education Move to New Locations
| LITTLE ROCK — The Dental Hygiene Clinic and the Speech and Hearing Education Clinic have moved to new locations and are accepting appointments. Both clinics are part of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Health Professions.
The Dental Hygiene Clinic in the college’s Department of Dental Hygiene is on the fifth floor of the Freeway Medical Tower, 5800 W. 10th St., in Little Rock. The Speech and Hearing Education Clinic in the college’s Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology is in the UAMS Education South Building, 4021 W. Eighth St., in Little Rock.
“These moves mean better learning space for students in both programs and better access for patients to the services they provide,” College of Health Professions Dean Susan Long, Ed.D., said. “It’s an exciting development for these programs and the college. The college turns 50 this year, and change and growth have been constants for most of that time. These openings are evidence of that.”
The new Dental Hygiene Clinic now has 20 separate treatment rooms and five X-ray rooms. With individualized treatment rooms, every patient will have their own room to eliminate the spread of aerosols to other patients and provide for patient privacy.
“We feel blessed because I didn’t think I would see this happen,” said Claire Tucker, Ed.D., RDH, chair of the Department of Dental Hygiene and director of the program. “We are an educational facility, and we’re not a high revenue generating clinic. We are so fortunate to have the university’s support of our program.”
UAMS and the University of Arkansas-Little Rock jointly administered the two clinical graduate degree programs in the Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology. The collaboration ended amicably in the summer of 2019 with UA-Little Rock retaining the undergraduate program and the two clinical graduate programs — master’s in Speech-Language Pathology and Clinical Doctorate in Audiology — moving to UAMS.
“What was most important is our program came together again — the academic and the clinical sides,” said Laura Smith-Olinde, Ph.D., professor and chair of the UAMS Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology. “Additionally, I think it is going to raise awareness of our Speech and Hearing Education Clinic as being part of UAMS. We have never had that visibility before on the UAMS campus.”
The Speech and Hearing Education and the Dental Hygiene clinics are open to the public. All services at the clinics are provided by students under the direct supervision of licensed and certified faculty. They provide services at low or no cost to patients.
The Speech and Hearing Education Clinic provides speech, language, literacy, and hearing evaluations and therapies tailored to an individual’s needs. The Dental Hygiene Clinic offers routine cleanings and examinations, X-rays, preventative periodontal treatments and sealants.
To make an appointment at the Dental Hygiene Clinic, call 501-686-5733.
To make an appointment at the Speech and Hearing Education Clinic, call 501-320-7300.
UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute and Institute for Digital Health & Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise including its hospital, regional clinics and clinics it operates or staffs in cooperation with other providers. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. U.S. News & World Report named UAMS Medical Center the state’s Best Hospital; ranked its ear, nose and throat program among the top 50 nationwide; and named six areas as high performing — COPD, colon cancer surgery, heart failure, hip replacement, knee replacement and lung cancer surgery. UAMS has 2,876 students, 898 medical residents and four dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or www.uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.