Patel recognized with Procter & Gamble Teaching Excellence Award

Associate Professor Tulsi Patel, RDH, MHA, of UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry has been named the 2023 recipient of the Procter & Gamble Teaching Excellence Award.

The award is given to a faculty member who demonstrates outstanding teaching skills. Patel’s honor was recognized during the 81st Annual Texas Dental Hygienists’ Association Conference in February.

“Winning the Procter & Gamble Teaching Excellence Award means being recognized by colleagues at the state level for teaching excellence,” said Patel. “It’s a huge honor because the award has a long history, with many past recipients being School of Dentistry faculty who have impacted dental hygiene education in a significant way.”

Patel joined the School of Dentistry faculty in 2016 and is regarded for creating a positive and open learning environment for students. In her courses, she implements innovative curriculum and instruction techniques into her teachings.

“I teach the way I would want someone to coach me through something new,” she said. “This means taking complex material and breaking it down into simple concepts so students can learn the lesson faster than the time it took me to fully understand something.

“I also try to incorporate some kind of movement in my classes because it improves attention and retention. Using movement can help students visually see how something works, and since most of us are visual learners, it allows material to stick better than through PowerPoint alone.”

For Patel, she enjoys connecting with students and says she constantly learns from them. The most rewarding aspect of teaching for her is seeing a dental hygiene student’s development throughout the program.

“Watching students mature intellectually from not knowing much at the beginning to asking really in-depth questions by their last semester, tells me their level of critical thinking is focused on doing what is best for their patients, which is the ultimate goal of why I teach,” Patel said.

Patel is a didactic course director for several dental hygiene courses at the School of Dentistry. She is also a laboratory director, a course contributor to some dental courses, and an instructor in all dental hygiene clinical courses.

Patel earned a bachelor of science in dental hygiene and a master’s in healthcare administration from Pacific University. Prior to joining UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry, she practiced and instructed on dental hygiene in Oregon.

In 2018, Patel received the Lorna J. Bruning Award, which recognizes a faculty member who demonstrates exceptional knowledge and competence towards effective learning.