In 2012, my brother and I established an annual summer camp designed for 11 to 14 year olds from underserved neighborhoods in Contra Costa County, California. The theme for last year’s camp was “Mind-Body-Spirit,” an intensive, holistic health session centered on the importance of finding a healthy balance of the mind, body and spirit, as well as strategies to develop their potential and contribute to society. This encompassed fostering a positive outlook on their oral and overall health.
In January 2018, I began visiting the Boys & Girls Club of Jacksonville, Alabama. Through my involvement in my local community and its schools, I noticed that an overwhelming number of children lack professional role models. I wanted to help change that.
Hurricane Florence made landfall south of Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, on Sept. 14. Classified at its peak as a Category 4 hurricane, the storm’s winds reached speeds of 130 mph. It caused 53 casualties and at least $12.7 billion worth of damage from flooding to the area in its path, according to an Oct. 24, 2018, Engineering News-Record article. The hurricane might be over, but flooding remains. In some areas, it may take years to rebuild from the damage.
The Rutgers Tooth Fairies was founded in March 2018, comprised of five predental students. The group’s mission is to increase access to care in underserved areas of New Jersey by bridging gaps between private practice, non-profit clinics and community outreach.
Outreach has always been a pillar of organized dentistry. Because of this, in 2017, the Council on Professional Issues spearheaded the launch of ASDA’s National Outreach Initiative (NOI). This year, the council plans to maintain the momentum generated by NOI’s inaugural year, while continuing to promote various events and opportunities for involvement throughout 2018 and 2019.
As an undergraduate at Loyola University Chicago, I knew I wanted to enrich my education with adventure and community service. I joined clubs, networked with numerous people, and made unforgettable memories. Global Brigades is the organization that had the biggest impact on my journey. After volunteering for two international trips, I knew I had found my future profession.
We all aspire to become dentists, but after graduation our paths will diverge in many directions. My dream is to establish a volunteer dental clinic in the Philippines. As a junior in high school, my family went on a dental mission trip to Manila, Philippines. We brought instruments, a lawn chair, flashlights, and did screenings on children within the basement of a church. This eye-opening experience solidified my commitment to pursue dentistry. Since then I’ve had an un-settling desire to return to the Philippines on my own dental mission. In my second year of dental school, I had the honor and privilege to participate in a Jamaican mission trip through the Christian Dental Society, lead by Drs. Jim Carney from Illinois and Bill Griffin from Virginia. I was inspired not only by the number of lives we touched, but also how established the dental clinic was…
