Awards, DDS, Students

Six Students Named 2016-17 Schweitzer Fellows

Six UNC School of Dentistry DDS students have been awarded with 2016-17 North Carolina Albert Schweitzer Fellowships.

“We are very proud of our past and present students who have received these prestigious awards,” said Dr. Ed Swift, associate dean for education. “They demonstrate a true dedication to community service as they design, initiate and implement the Schweitzer fellowship projects. The projects provide valuable services to various overlooked and underserved populations in the community.”

Erica Afanador and Ivette Landrian, both DDS Candidates 2017, are focused on translation and interpreter service for their project. The two will provide translation services to pregnant patients at the school’s Prenatal Oral Health Program (pOHP) Clinic. The pOHP clinic allows dental students to provide care to pregnant women, providing the women with education about caring for themselves and their baby while dispelling the misconception that receiving oral care while pregnant is dangerous to the woman or her unborn child.

Haldis Andersen and Heather Newman, both DDS Candidates 2018, will work at UNC Health Care’s Wakebrook Facility to provide oral care. The on-site oral health care clinic will focus on caring for patients struggling with substance abuse and mental illness. The project is an expansion of a Schweitzer Fellowship project started by recent graduates Nick Baker and Sarah Brobeck, both DDS ’16. The continuation of the project under Andersen and Newman will include growth of the on-site clinic and the incorporation of dental hygiene students into the oral health education program.

Carli Antor, DDS Candidate 2017, and Jamie Molina, DDS Candidate 2018, will also be continuing a previous Schweitzer Fellowship project. The two will continue the 2013-14 work of Leilah Langston and Gabrielle Jackson, both DDS ’16, to raise oral health awareness among older adults. Antor and Molina will work with Residential Services, Inc. to provide oral health care training and personal care plans for adults with intellectual and physical disabilities and those individuals’ caretakers. The care will take place in a residential group home setting and addresses oral health occupational therapy needs.

The North Carolina Albert Schweitzer Fellows Program is a one-year program in which students focus on health-related community service to underserved populations. During the application process, students identify an underserved population and design a community service project that provides direct service to that population. Once selected, students deliver a minimum of 200 service hours to the selected underserved population via their project. The fellowships, given annually, provide selected students with a $3,000 stipend to fund the projects.

Since 1994, the N.C. Albert Schweitzer Fellows Program has supported nearly 475 fellows who’ve delivered more than 59,000 hours in community service to the state. Nationally, the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship program has provided nearly 600,000 hours of service to those in need.