Brockton High Schoolers Learn About Dental Careers at GSDM

The Division of Community Health Programs, in collaboration with the BU chapter of ASDA, hosted 15 high school children on Wednesday, August 8, 2012, who were participating in the Summer Dental Health Careers program run by the Massachusetts Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Network Summer Brockton Program/Health Imperatives organization. The students came from two Brockton schools. Remarkably, the group was made up of 14 girls and only one boy, proving that women may have a bright future in science and health fields.

The students joined GSDM staff and students in the Simulation Learning Center to learn about careers available in the oral health field, learn about life as a dental student, and build on the knowledge they gained in their summer program. In the SLC, students took impressions of their thumbs and poured models of them to take home.

Kathy Lituri pointed to this being an excellent opportunity to serve as a role model and inspire a high school student to pursue a career in oral health, share stories about the dental student experience, work on presentation skills, and, of course, have fun.

“The dental students and the high school students really connected this day,” Lituri said. “There were so many volunteers that it was practically one-on-one—and the high school students knew so much about oral health!”

According to its website, the mission of the Massachusetts AHEC Network is to increase access to quality health care through the development of community-academic educational partnerships.

Upon completion of the program, the high school students were invited to a Participant Recognition Ceremony on August 23, 2012, for the children. All the CHP and student volunteers were invited, and the invitation featured a photo of the children in the GSDM Simulation Learning Center.

Volunteers included: Gladys Carrasco, Kathy Held, Kathy Lituri, event leaders Jenny Lorenzo DMD 13 and Zara Nensey DMD 14, Ashley Gomes DMD 14, Lindzy Goodman DMD 14, Gurshant Grewal DMD 14, Thomas Keeling DMD 14, Marissa Kobewka DMD 15, Arif Mamdani DMD 14, Keely Matheson DMD 15, Steve Melnic DMD 14, Fransheska Ovalles DMD 13, Drew Popper DMD 14, Neelam Shah DMD 14, Danny Shum DMD 13, and Wyatt Traina DMD 14.