DCG Volunteers at Mobile Rural Health Clinic

Several dental students and faculty from the Dental College of Georgia volunteered at the recent Remote Area Medical Clinic (RAM) at Jefferson County High School in Louisville, Georgia, on Sept. 23 and 24. The event allowed students to practice their skills and provided members of the community with access to dental care they might not be able to afford.

“These events allow our students and faculty to address real-world challenges for patients from various backgrounds, much the same as our graduates will see in their future clinical practices. It’s a way for us to give back to the communities, and to give our students a cross-section of the patient population. We’re grateful for this opportunity,” said Dr. William Bachand, Professor in the Department of Restorative Sciences, who is also an advisor to several other student professional development organizations.

Dental services included cleanings, fillings, extractions, and X-rays. The RAM event also offered eye exams, eye health exams, and eyeglasses made on-site. Medical services included women’s health exams and general medical exams. This community engagement registered 189 patients and provided $84,669 in care over one and a half days. Almost all the providers, both direct care and assistants, were associated with The DCG.

Thank you to our volunteer faculty, Dr. Bachand; his wife, Rhonda, who served as his assistant; and Dr. Mohamed El Shewy, Assistant Professor in the Department of Restorative Sciences. Additional thanks go to our team of generous residents, Dr. Kristin Forehand and Dr. Scott Park from the Advanced Education in General Dentistry Residency; and to Dr. Renee Marin Gomez, Dr. Caylor Orr,  and Dr. Thomas Shepherd, in the General Practice Residency. We also thank our civic-minded AEGD dental assistants, Isis Nelson and Gabrielle Allen, for their helping hands.

We hope that our students also learned a lot from the experience. Amanda Bryans, Forrest Collins, Kara Hester, Kendall Cook Tromp, Liz Keller, Carolina Marlin, Tanvi Patel, Danh Pham, Macy Unruh and Lexie Willis all devoted their time and expertise. And we were also proud to welcome two alumni to the volunteer effort: Dr. Phillipe Mansour, now training in endodontics in the US Army at Fort Gordon, and Dr. Thu Doan, who is in private practice with Dental Care at Mullins Colony.

The RAM clinic was founded in 1985 and has treated more than 910,000 individuals, from the donated services of more than 196,000 volunteer dental, vision and medical professionals.