On Friday, January 6, 2023, Pre-Medical/Pre-Dental Plus Program (PMPDPP) students enjoyed an engaging tour and interactive activities at Columbia University
College of Dental Medicine, a trip facilitated by PMPDPP alum and Assistant Professor
of Dental Medicine and Associate Dean for Access, Equity, and Inclusion, Dr. George
Jenkins. Their visit included discussions with dental students regarding “The Road
to Dental School”, small-group tours, conversations with recent dental school graduates,
and a motivational session by Dr. Nathan Doctry, an Orthopedic Surgeon who has mentored
Dr. Jenkins during his education and adult life. As an additional highlight, students
also created skeletal mannequin dental impressions!
As PMPDPP freshman Ashley Canela commented, “the visit helped me to realize that becoming
a physician is really not that far out of my reach; it’s not at all like it is portrayed
to be in the media but it’s so much better." Another PMPDPP student – Ningberi Tchontchoko
- expressed being impacted as well, and stated, “the trip was a great experience because
we got to learn more about dentistry – a field I had never thought about before visiting
the school and learning more about it.”
Plans are also underway for a PMPDPP Spring Break tour of each of the New Jersey medical
schools for March 2023. In previous years, the PMPDPP Spring Break Professional School
Tour has also taken students to the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of
Medicine, Nova Southeastern College of Osteopathic Medicine, Charles E. Schmidt College
of Medicine of Florida Atlantic University, Duke University School of Medicine, UNC-Chapel
Hill School of Medicine, UNC-CH School of Dentistry, and Wake Forest University School
of Medicine.
When discussing the impact of these tours, Jason Oliveira, Director of EOF Programs
at Seton Hall University stated the following, “ Over the last 4 years, the Pre Medical
Pre Dental Plus Program has been able to take PMPDPP Scholars to multiple professional
schools across the east coast. These tours provide both informational and educational
value for our scholars." Our PMPDPP scholars are able to engage with current medical/dental
school students in all phases of their educational journey while learning about the
admissions process at each respective institution. In addition to the tours and panels,
we ensure that our students participate in an educational component. Some examples
include the following: at Duke University School of Medicine, our PMPDPP scholars
were able to mock surgeons utilizing the Davinci Robotic Simulator; at Charles E.
Schmidt College of Medicine of Florida Atlantic University, our PMPDPP scholars were
able to participate in a private hands on lesson in the Cadaver Lab taught by FAU
faculty; and at Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, our PMPDPP scholars were
able to learn about the Harvey Mannequin which was created in 1968 by Dr. Michael
S. Gordon at the university. These trips are engaging and provide a new paradigm for
our scholars. We are looking forward to continuing this tradition with our Spring
Break 2023 Professional School Tour.
For more than 50 years, the Pre-Medical/Pre-Dental Plus Program has focused on exposing
students to fields and experiences that may previously have been out of reach due
to lack of financial affordability or social capital. As an integral component in
the successful outcome of numerous physicians, dentists, and other health-related
professionals, it is committed to the education of qualified students from historically
underrepresented backgrounds and working in partnership with them in their pursuit
of an optimal undergraduate education, leading to the preparation of study in the
medical, veterinary, dental or other health-related, non-nursing field, as well as
graduate level programs which lead to such careers. For more information, please contact
Cassandra Graham at [email protected]
Categories:
Education, Health and Medicine
