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Making a
Difference
LSUSD Steps in
for Puerto Rico
Originally planned for
last fall in San Juan,
Puerto Rico, the American
Student Dental Association
(ASDA) District 5 annual
meeting had to be
cancelled when two
category-four hurricanes
devastated the island.
However, Jeffrey
Kerst, ASDA
District 5 Trustee, who
was responsible for
planning the annual
district-wide meeting for
dental students in
Louisiana, Alabama,
Mississippi, Florida, and
Puerto Rico, volunteered
to host the group at LSUSD
in January.
Participants at the
winter meeting included
130 students from the
other schools, including
12 from Puerto Rico. As a
tribute to Puerto Rico,
the group held a
fundraiser to offset
registration costs for the
Puerto Rican students.
The two-day meeting
consisted of welcome
speeches from Dean Henry
Gremillion and LSU Health
Chancellor Larry Hollier,
presentations from
practitioners and industry
leaders, interactive
workshop sessions, social
events, and a taste of New
Orleans with poboys for
lunch and "beignet breaks"
throughout the day. Dr.
Jeffrey Cole, American
Dental Association
president-elect, spoke
about "Leadership Through
Ability".
Generous sponsors were
Heartland Dental, MedPro
Group, Aspen Dental,
Pacific Dental Services,
and Dentsply Sirona. The
LSU departments of oral
surgery and prosthodontics
helped with the afternoon
interactive workshop
sessions.
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At
ASDA District 5
Annual Meeting,
l-r, Dr. Jeffrey
Cole, Jeffrey
Kerst,
Dean Henry
Gremillion,
Chancellor Larry
Hollier
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Library
& Pediatric
Dentistry Collaborate
Dental librarians Julie
Schiavo, MLIS,
and Wesley Lucas,
MLIS, and Dr.
Priya Ritwik,
associate professor of
pediatric dentistry, have
obtained a grant from the
National Network of
Libraries of
Medicine/South Central
Region in the amount of
$10,000 to promote oral
health for medically
compromised children. The
purpose of the project,
entitled "Connecting
Systemic Diseases and Oral
Health for Children:
Accessible Information to
Help Families Understand
the Relationship", is to
provide online information
on the oral aspects of
systemic diseases for
health professionals and
consumers.
The website will
initially focus on ten
health topics selected
from the needs of patients
at Children's Hospital of
New Orleans. The contents,
with links to pages with
additional information,
will be in an easy-to-read
format. This
well-researched,
comprehensive resource
will enable parents of
children with systemic
diseases to access trusted
information on oral health
care. The website will go
live in March 2019.
Summer
Enrichment for Future
Students
First begun in 2007, the
LSUSD Summer Enrichment
Program for
underrepresented minority
and disadvantaged students
just completed its 12th
year. The program has
three goals: to
identify students from
underrepresented minority
and disadvantaged
backgrounds who have
demonstrated the potential
to handle the rigors of
the dental curriculum; to
prepare participants to be
competitive for
application to dental
school; and to develop
relationships with these
highly sought-after
students so they will
choose to attend LSUSD
over other dental schools
in the United States. The
one-week program
introduces students to the
dental profession, the
dental school application
process, and the demands
of dental school.
Six students participated
in the 2018 program,
organized by Drs.
Stephanie Noe
and Stephen
Brisco.
Louisiana Dental Center
and Campus Federal Credit
Union continue to be major
sponsors of the program.
Since the inception of
the Summer Enrichment
Program, 112 students have
participated. Sixty-one
are either enrolled in or
have been accepted into
dental school; 37 of these
students either enrolled
in or have been accepted
by LSUSD.
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Summer
Enrichment program
participants,
l-r: Dawn
Alexander,
Kimberly Nunez,
Tina Tran,
JaKerick Johnson,
Dr. Stephanie Noe,
Dr. Stephen
Brisco, Hana
Alkhafaf, Dean
Gremillion, Nina
Nguyen
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