Situated in the heart of Yakima, Washington, Pacific Northwest University’s (PNWU) School of Dental Medicine is leading the way in community-focused dental education. With a highly selective cohort of just 36 students, the school offers a uniquely hands-on learning experience designed to develop future dentists who are deeply committed to making a difference in rural and underserved communities. Achieving that goal starts with the admissions process.
"We know that the Dental Admissions Test (DAT) offers minimal predictive value in assessing future success," explained Dr. Fotinos Panagakos, Dean of the School of Dental Medicine.
"Research shows that individuals from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, who lack access to resources needed to prepare for admissions tests, are often deterred from pursuing a career in dentistry."
“We wanted to reach potential applicants who have been historically excluded by traditional dental school barriers, like the DAT,” Dr. Panagakos continued. “Instead, we wanted to focus on their experiences, traits, and soft skills—qualities predictive of success in dentistry. When we explored holistic assessment tools, Kira Talent stood out as the perfect fit for our needs.”
Using Kira to gather early applicant insights
As they prepared for their first admissions cycle, Kira helped PNWU’s School of Dental Medicine build a holistic evaluation aligned with their program's mission and goals.
“Kira gives us an early understanding of the applicants’ personalities and helped identify those who showed real potential and alignment with our mission,” explained Professor Olga Gutierrez, Associate Professor of Dental Hygiene in the School of Dental Medicine.
“Our assessment in Kira functions as a pre-interview questionnaire,” Dr. Panagakos explained. “We’re able to dig into the non-cognitive aspects of the applicant to understand what motivates them, see how they align with our mission, and assess their commitment to helping underserved communities.”
“Kira helps us get an early indication of applicant fit, and ensures that we’re optimizing our time during the final interview stage.”
“The final interviews typically last around 45 minutes — that’s a short window to truly understand who an applicant is and what value they could bring to the program,” he continued. “With Kira, we’re able to get a lot of information upfront, so the final interview can be more personalized and focused.”
“It was incredibly helpful to have a sense of who the applicants were before they arrived for their interviews,” added Dr. Jennifer Domagalski, Assistant Professor for the School of Dental Medicine. “We could greet them by name, personalize the conversation, and build rapport right from the start.”
Kira helped PNWU’s School of Dental Medicine build a holistic evaluation aligned with their program's mission and goals — and with just one week from setup to launch, the team was able to implement the new process quickly and efficiently.
Creating a fairer, more mission-aligned evaluation
By combining Kira’s structured video assessments with implicit bias training, PNWU’s admissions team is better equipped to evaluate applicants holistically and fairly.
“We feel confident that our process is now better equipped to recognize and mitigate bias in a meaningful way,” explained Dr. Panagakos.
“The scoring platform in Kira is well designed, with rubrics built into the module that give clear guidance on what differentiates one score from another,” noted Dr. Domagalski. “I found that my scores consistently aligned with those of my fellow interviewers, which gave me confidence in the consistency and fairness of our evaluations.”
Building a process that evolves with a new program
“Kira has been a very positive change for our admissions process,” shared Dr. Panagakos. “Making process changes in admissions can be arduous. Kira made it painless. Our staff and faculty find the platform very straightforward and easy to use, and Kira provided great support.”
“We approached this process with scalability in mind,” Dr. Panagakos continued. “Kira gives us a flexible way to implement holistic review and refine our tools without overwhelming the team. We can review and update our questions as needed, and re-recording new prompts is simple with the support we have in place.”
As a new dental school, PNWU approached their admissions process with the expectation that it would need to grow and improve over time. With Kira, they’ve found a platform that not only supports this evolution but helps make it seamless and sustainable.
Program Snapshot
- Institution: Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences
- Programs: School of Dental Medicine
- Admissions Volume: 36 students for inaugural class
- Launch Window: One week from Kira to Live
