By Faith Y. Miller, CDA, RDH, MSEd
Sales reps, educational consultants, professional educators, or product reps — whatever one chooses to call them — are valuable resources in dental education. In an already-packed curriculum with seemingly less and less time available for dental hygiene educators to deliver instruction, one hardly has time to give to representatives from dental supply companies. The bone of contention with the "reps" is that they "are too pushy," "always come at the wrong time of the year," "are too aggressive when it comes to the sale of their product — must they always come with a commercial?"
The argument here is to support having reps visit dental hygiene programs. Educational consultants or professional educators (the preferred and more appropriate name) frequently visit dental schools because they recognize that when students graduate, they will more likely be consumers of their products based upon what they learned from the visit. Dental hygiene program educators or directors are often solicited for an audience with a specific class of students and/or the faculty for essentially the same reason — the more they know about the company and its products, the greater the probability they will recommend specific products to their patients. This is no more than common sense.
The perspective is perhaps somewhat different among students and faculty when companies sponsor consultant/educator visits to the schools. Students may see this as a way to skip out on class that day. They may not feel it is necessary to attend the sessions. The faculty, on the other hand, sees this as a way to introduce students not only to a variety of different products, but also to the benefits received from the educational presentations.
Often the consultants/educators are either currently or have been practicing clinicians, and they bring their practical experience to share. Many of them have at minimum baccalaureate or advanced degrees, and can give students information on how far they can go in the profession with more education. The consultants/educators are pleased to provide information on what can be accomplished with a bachelor's degree and the pathways they took that led to their current position with the company. They speak highly of their chosen career, and nearly all of the consultants who visit explain why it is important to be lifelong members of the American Dental Hygienists' Association.
Allowing companies and consultants/educators access to students offers the benefits of networking and the chance to speak with reps about products one-on-one ¿ an opportunity that may be slim or nonexistent at major meetings with large exhibit areas. Once students are out in the real world, they remember the company reps who visited their school. The consultants/educators may leave their contact information with students and encourage them to call if they have any questions. And students do take them up on it! "How do I get in touch with the 'Crest Lady' or the 'Sonicare Lady'" are frequent questions a year or two out of school.
Consistency among companies to retain consultants/educators is helpful when the student, now a practicing dental hygienist, attends meetings and encounters the reps they met during their time in school. Many students are bitten by the marketing bug and alter their educational plans based on feedback from the reps, if entrance into the corporate arena is their goal.
Sales reps, educational consultants, professional educators, product reps — whatever one chooses to call them — are valuable resources in dental education. They are the link to what is new in the corporate world, and ultimately give dentistry the opportunity to render the best possible care to patients who depend on us to keep abreast of trends in products that make their lives better.
Faith Y. Miller, CDA, RDH, MSEd, is an associate professor in dental hygiene at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, as well as a practicing clinician. She can be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
