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Seton Hall University

Pre-Medical Pre-Dental Plus Program Scholars Visit Columbia University College of Dental Medicine  

Dental Students 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!

Dental Student 1As 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.

Dental StudentsWhen 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