Feature Stories
Community Volunteer Clinic Program
Abbotsford—April 2, 2011
The Abbotsford Food Bank helps people with more than temporary and supplemental food assistance. It's also home to the Abbotsford Free Dental Clinic operated by caring volunteer dental professionals four half-days a month. Recently the clinic hosted UBC Dentistry's Community Volunteer Clinic Program—a student-led extracurricular community service learning opportunity—which presented a day of free community dentistry.
View the slide show to discover the breadth and depth of dental service 11 DMD students, two volunteer community dentists, a faculty member and two additional support-role volunteers did for people in need last Saturday, on April 2, in Abbotsford.
Perhaps the best summation of the day comes from Shiny Sachdeva, first-year DMD student, by her reflection:
| "The experience at the Abbotsford clinic was fantastic. I enjoyed every minute of it because I learned a lot from the third- and fourth-year DMD students and from experts like you [Dr. Lawrence Rossoff]. Now I know what a "post" is, and terms like "reversible pulpitis" and "chronic apical periodontitis" make sense. Plus I’m happy I volunteered on a day of 14 extractions! I just wish we had more of these opportunities—people in my class are still waiting to go—and hopefully there will be many more clinics in the upcoming months". |
Dental services at the Abbotsford Food Bank's dental clinic during the Community Volunteer Clinic Program's day of free community dentistry on April 9 were provided by:
Chris Barlow DMD 1989
Vivian Chow DMD 2011 (candidate)
Ray Dyck DMD 1992
Amro Foda DMD 2012 (candidate)
Matthew Francisco DMD 2013 (candidate)
Sangwoo Ham DMD 2014 (candidate)
Patrick Kanda DMD 2012 (candidate)
Lachlan McLean DMD 2013 (candidate)
Chandni Parekh DMD 2012 (candidate)
Peter Park DMD 2011 (candidate)
Taekhyun Rhee DMD 2014 (candidate)
Dr. Lawrence Rossoff, Clinical Assistant Professor, UBC Dentistry
Shiny Sachdeva DMD 2014 (candidate)
April Wang DMD 2011 (candidate)
Other volunteer support was provided by:
Bonita Buddee, CDA
Lala Khankishi-Zade, Clinic Administrator, Abbotsford Free Dental Clinic
Abbotsford Free Dental Clinic at the Abbotsford Food Bank
The Abbotsford Free Dental Clinic at the food bank opened in 2008 by UBC Dentistry alumni Ray Dyck DMD 1992 and his committee: Chris Barlow DMD 1989, David Larsen DMD 1987 and Jennifer Larsen Dip DH 1985. Dentists, dental hygienists and certified dental assistants are welcome to volunteer.
Located 68 kilometres from Vancouver, Abbostford is British Columbia's fifth largest municipality with
a population of just over 130,000.
Community Volunteer Clinic Program
The goal of UBC's Community Volunteer Clinic Program is to engage volunteer dentists, including alumni, and all years of students (both DMD and dental hygiene degree students) in up to six weekend (Saturday) clinics at multiple locations annually.
The program’s mission is to improve and sustain the oral health of people in need within the community; to promote health education and social betterment, and provide assistance through treatment, training and education; and to enhance students’ awareness and role as global citizens with sustainable opportunities to serve.
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Volunteer Dentistry in the Downtown Eastside—DMD Students Rise to the ChallengesSo why would students who are in the thick of studying—and particularly those in upper-level years who are also performing demanding clinic work on campus—volunteer their skills on a Saturday morning? More>> |
