DMD Student Shirley Austin Named Schweitzer Fellow

The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship has named Shirley Austin DMD 09 a 2007 U.S. Schweitzer Fellow for a community service project to improve access to oral health care for refugee families in Greater Boston.

Beginning this month, Austin will visit seven Somali and five Burmese refugee families to discuss preventive care. "A lot of the families are not used to going to dentists on a regular basis in their countries," Austin says. "If they can get into the habit of going for checkups, they’ll prevent problems down the line."

Austin plans to create a brochure and video in the Somali and Burmese languages, which future refugee families can access, and participate in an oral health fair for refugee families in the future.

Austin volunteered with a Sudanese family in 2006, helping members orient to life in this country, and has a wealth of experience at hospitals in New York.

Since 1991, the Fellowship has awarded students in the health fields for volunteer projects in underserved communities. The Fellowship seeks to reduce disparities in health and healthcare through these students’ leadership roles.

Also honored this year were BUSM students Anthony Lim, Elizabeth Selden, and James Yeh, and BU Sargent College students Rebecca Hanson and Elizabeth Lima.