Working

Claudine Paula Drew, RDH, MS, EdD

In 1962, Claudine Paula Drew, RDH, MS, EdD, took her first job as a clinical dental hygienist in a private practice in South Orange, N.J. Four decades later, Drew is more enthusiastic than ever when it comes to the dental hygiene profession and her plans for the future.

"Hygiene has been so good to me. I've been independent, I've been able to live a life, I've done what I've wanted to do and I've been able to use hygiene to help me get there."

Drew's mother, a registered nurse anesthetist, had a great impact on her decision in the 1960s to become a dental hygienist. "She always thought that dentists treat dental hygienists better than physicians treat nurses." So, after high school, Drew enrolled in the dental hygiene certificate program at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pa.

After working in clinical practice for 10 years, Drew enrolled at Columbia University in New York, N.Y., where in 1977 she received her bachelor's degree in dental hygiene education. She later went on to earn both her master's and doctoral degrees from Columbia.

In 1983, Drew packed her bags and moved halfway around to the world, where she worked for a year as a clinical dental hygienist at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. "I just thought it would be fun," said Drew. "Most of the patients we treated were medically compromised. They would covet these permission slips to come in and receive dental treatment because they knew the treatment would be good."

Upon her return, Drew spent several years teaching dental hygiene students at various community colleges in the New Jersey area. In 1992, Drew joined the allied dental department at The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) as a program director and associate professor.

In 1995, Drew was ready for another stint abroad. On leave from UMDNJ, she returned to Riyadh as a visiting professor at King Saud University. "It is interesting because they use an American textbook," said Drew. "I taught community health with a British dental hygienist and it was so neat because here we were, both trained on different continents, singing the same song."

Even though the dental hygiene curriculum was the same as in the United States, Drew said there were many cultural differences, specifically the segregation of males and females, which impacted her interaction with the students. In fact, the girls' dental and allied dental schools was in a completely different part of Riyadh.

Although her two trips were only a decade apart, her experiences with the local residents were quite different. "The Saudis were very caring, and they tried really hard to make us feel at home." said Drew. When I was there in 1983, they liked us, the Americans, very much and they would have us over to their homes on the weekend. The second time I went back was after the first Gulf War, and the atmosphere was completely different."

Drew returned to UMDNJ in 1996, where she relocated from the Health Professions School to the New Jersey Dental School. She taught there until June 2006.

Since leaving UMDNJ-NJDS, Drew relocated to Florida, a move that had been in the making since the 1970s, when she met Dr. I.J. Fisher at an ADHA Membership Committee meeting. "She told me to contact her when I finished my bachelor's degree and that she would find me a job in Florida. I always thought in the back of my head that is where I'm going to go; I'm going to try Florida. It just took me 30 years to get there."

Drew, ready for her next adventure, may have to rethink her plans. "This fall, I was planning to teach at the Bahrain Health Science College in the Kingdom of Bahrain, which is an island in the Persian Gulf located 13 miles off the coast of Saudi Arabia, but I don't know, with the current conflict in the Middle East." said Drew. "I had been there once in 1983 for R and R [relaxation and recuperation] but I never thought I'd go to work there. It fell into my lap, and I thought it would be fun for a year or two." If she is unable to go to Bahrain, Drew says she will look into teaching part time at one of the many community colleges in Florida.

Over the course of her career, Drew has had the privilege of meeting many amazing dental hygienists, specifically her mentor, Regina Dryer Thomas, who always encouraged her to try new things and spread her wings. "I think mentoring is something that we as women should really concentrate on," said Drew. "It is a wonderful gift to give to other young people, especially young women, so that they can make their lives better and happier. It will give them the opportunity to flourish like a flower."

Claudine Paula Drew has been a member of the American Dental Hygienists' Association since 1962, served as presidents of NJDHA and the Supreme Chapter of Sigma Phi Alpha, the national dental hygiene honor society. She has authored over a dozen journal articles, contributed to numerous books and has delivered a multitude of presentations across the country. To find out more about Claudine Paula Drew's career, please contact her via email at Drewdrbunny@aol.com.

This edition of Working was prepared by Katie Barge.