Students sample reality of dental
school
by Cindy
AbolePublic Relations
Survivor, Wife Swap, MTV’s the Real World. All three are all examples of a genre of reality TV shows that feature ordinary people reacting to events and situations.
For four days, eight Wofford College students completed a reality experience of their own as they visited the Palmetto state’s sole dental school, watched dental students and residents in action as they practiced techniques within labs and clinical settings and talked to students. They also met with dental faculty and enrollment staff to learn what’s required to study dentistry full time at MUSC.
2007 Wofford
College-MUSC CDM partnership students include: Matthew Carlisle,
Katharine Claussen, Veronica Guy, Patricia Jordan, Thomas Player,
Steven Richards, John Schoonover and Daniel West.Each year since 1995, MUSC College of Dental Medicine and Wofford College sponsor a dental school experience with Wofford College juniors.
The result is a sound partnership between MUSC and Wofford’s Department of Biology and Organic Chemistry as an effective recruitment tool for potential dental students. The program has been managed by Tariq Javed, DMD, associate dean for academic and student affairs, and Cindy Oliver, both of the College of Dental Medicine, and Charles G. Bass, Ph.D., a Dr. and Mrs. Larry Heam McCalla professor of chemistry, also serves on Wofford’s pre-dental and medicine faculty.
“This program provides an exemplary opportunity for us to introduce dentistry to bright and qualified people and impress on them the qualities of our program from structuring a dental curriculum that continually builds a student’s clinical skills to introducing advances in dental technology and integrating information technology in student learning and practice,” said Javed.
This year’s group included: Matthew Carlisle, Katharine Claussen, Veronica Guy, Patricia Jordan, Thomas Player, Steven Richards, John Schoonover and Daniel West.
Students arrived on campus Jan. 15 and followed a schedule that allowed them to observe classes and clinics, visit labs and meet with dental faculty and current students. Always welcoming is the opportunity to see several Wofford alumni who are currently dental students.
“I was very impressed with the dental simulation lab [Aisic and Riva Hirsch Dental Simulation Laboratory],” said Daniel West, originally from Orangeburg. “Students took time out from their own assignments to show and explain procedures and activities.”
Students also met with enrollment staff to answer admissions questions, Dental Admission Test preparation, academics required to submit an application as a dental school candidate. And with the groundbreaking of the college’s new clinical education center completed last August, the future looks bright for South Carolina students considering professional dental careers.
Patricia Jordan of Dillon feels she has found a piece of the puzzle by participating in the program. Prior to college she shadowed dentists has a way to explore the dental profession.
“All of us are appreciative of MUSC and the College of Dental Medicine for hosting us this week, said Steve Richard, a third-year biology student from Spartanburg. “Everyone has done a great job hosting us and making us feel welcome. We’re very fortunate to take advantage of this special partnership with both schools.”
Friday, Jan. 24, 2006
Catalyst Online is published weekly,
updated
as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public
Relations
for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of
South
Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at
792-4107
or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to
Catalyst
Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to
catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island
Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.