First Class
Hunt School of Dental Medicine’s Pioneering Graduates Make History at Inaugural Commencement
Growing our own: 18% of the Class of 2025 are from El Paso, and 30% of graduates will stay in our Borderplex to start their careers
Michelle Ortiz vividly recalls the day as a dental student when, after gently adjusting a patient's dentures, she watched as tears welled up in the woman's eyes. After years of hiding her smile behind closed lips, the patient beamed with newfound confidence.
For Ortiz, that single moment confirmed she had made the right decision to become a dentist.
Now known as Michelle Ortiz, D.M.D., she’s one of 40 pioneering graduates who received their Doctor of Dental Medicine degrees from the Hunt School of Dental Medicine on Monday, May 19, 2025, at the Plaza Theatre.
This marks a historic milestone for Texas Tech Health El Paso and Far West Texas, as 18% of the inaugural class are from El Paso, and 30% of all class graduates will stay in our Borderplex to start their careers. In total, 43% will practice dentistry in West Texas.
“Although my mother studied dentistry in Mexico, she did not complete her degree. She later went on to become a successful dental hygienist in the U.S.” said Dr. Ortiz, who worked as a speech therapist and dental assistant before entering dental school. “When the dental school opened in El Paso, I knew this was my chance to fulfill that dream while serving my community.”
After graduation, Dr. Ortiz, a GECU Foundation scholar, plans to work with the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Tigua Indian tribe in El Paso, bringing much-needed dental care to an underserved community.
A new school for a new era
The Hunt School of Dental Medicine opened its doors in July 2021, which required many prospective students, including our inaugural students, to interview in 2020 while the world was adjusting to COVID-19. Despite starting dental school on the heels of a pandemic, our inaugural students took a chance on the first new dental school in Texas in over 50 years.
The school was established to address a severe dentist shortage in Far West Texas, where El Paso County had only one dentist for every 4,840 residents, compared to the national average of one dentist per 1,638 residents.
“We're seeing the beginning of a significant shift in dental care access for our region,” said Richard Black, D.D.S., M.S., founding dean of the Hunt School of Dental Medicine. “Research shows that approximately 75% of dental school graduates establish practices near their alma mater, which positions us to dramatically improve access to dental care in West Texas.”
The school's groundbreaking educational approach distinguishes it from other North American dental programs. Students begin treating patients in their first semester, two years earlier than most dental schools, providing invaluable hands-on experience under faculty supervision.
“By the time our second-year students are performing complex procedures, their peers at other schools have barely completed basic treatments,” said Dr. Black. “Our graduates enter practice with nearly twice the clinical hours of other programs.”
Filling the gap
Each student in the Class of 2025 has spent approximately 3,500 hours in the Texas Tech Dental Oral Health Clinic. Of these clinic hours, over 900 were spent performing procedures ranging from simple cleanings to complex extractions and implants.
Since opening in 2021, the clinic has provided over 6,000 low-cost dental procedures to community members. This region was designated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as a dental health professional shortage area.
The inaugural class achieved a remarkable 100% board exam pass rate, significantly outperforming the national average of approximately 65% for first-time attempts. Additionally, 10 graduates secured highly competitive dental residency positions at prestigious institutions including Yale, Rutgers and the University of Washington.
“We're a unicorn,” noted Terese Andino, D.D.S., M.B.A., the director of clinics with the school. “Other schools were sitting at 65% pass rates the first go-round. Here, everybody passed their boards.”
The curriculum includes mandatory Spanish language courses to prepare students for bilingual care delivery, a crucial skill in the border region. This approach has proven valuable for graduates like Dr. Ortiz, who credits her ability to communicate effectively with Spanish-speaking patients as key to building trust.
“When I first treated a patient back in 2021, I was nervous and unsure,” Dr. Ortiz recalled. “Today, I'm confident in my skills and my ability to connect with patients across language barriers. That transformation is priceless.”
All graduates received not only their D.M.D. but also a Community Health Certificate. The certificate counts toward 15 hours of a Master of Public Health degree, and four students from the inaugural class graduated with both a D.M.D. and an M.P.H. through a partnership with the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health.
The Hunt School of Dental Medicine is the only dental school in the nation that offers this certificate fully integrated within the school. This approach prepares our graduates to address both individual patient needs and broader community health challenges.
Georgia Hejny, D.M.D., M.P.H, is one of the university’s first graduates from the joint program.
“The university taught me how to be a public health advocate within my community,” said Dr. Hejny. “I might be the only individual in a town with medical knowledge and a higher education, creating opportunities to serve on a school board or in a leadership role outside my practice.”
Pipeline to the future
The school's impact extends beyond its graduates. The University of Texas at El Paso's Pre-Dental Society saw a tenfold increase in membership, growing to over 70 members following the dental school's opening. Dental school applications from El Paso residents to the Hunt School of Dental Medicine have more than doubled, from 15 in 2021 to over 30 today.
“We're creating a pipeline of future dental professionals,” said Dr. Black. “It's not uncommon for us to host 120 high school students in a week for seminars in our Dental Learning Center, where they gain hands-on experience using dental tools.”
For Dr. Ortiz, who recently became a mother while completing her dental education, the journey has been challenging but rewarding.
“The scholarship support I received allowed me to focus on developing both technical and interpersonal skills while balancing family responsibilities,” she said.
After crossing the stage and receiving her hard-earned diploma, Dr. Ortiz reflected on her most memorable case – helping that shy patient regain confidence through denture treatment.
“That's why I became a dentist,” she said. “To change lives one smile at a time.”
About Texas Tech Health El Paso
Texas Tech Health El Paso serves 108 rural counties in West Texas and is a federally designated Hispanic-serving institution dedicated to preparing the next generation of health care heroes. Established as an independent university in 2013, Texas Tech Health El Paso is a uniquely innovative destination for medical, nursing, biomedical sciences and dental education.
With a focus on excellence in health care education, research, and clinical service, Texas Tech Health El Paso has graduated over 2,400 professionals over the past decade, and will include dental graduates beginning in 2025. For more information, visit ttuhscepimpact.org.