Patient care near and far
Most of the time, dental students at Texas A&M College of Dentistry provide patient care in clinics right here on campus. Then there’s the community-based training program, in which students rotate to clinics near campus and throughout Dallas. In some instances, patient care may occur more than half a world away. Such was the case this July, when several service-driven dental students opted to spend part of their monthlong summer break in Zambia, Africa.
On July 15, D4s Abi Adeyeye, Theresa Halle, Keith Mahipala and Paul Pham set out on more than a day and a half of travel to the country as part of a collaboration with Rotary International, Rotary Club of Dallas, Rotary Club of Kitwe and the Baylor University Louise Herrington School of Nursing. The students were joined by Adjunct Assistant Professor Dr. Jonathan Clemetson ’02, ’10 and Jim Frankiewicz from Dallas’ Rotary club.
Their goal: Team up with the first class of soon-to-be dental graduates from the Copperbelt University School of Medicine in Zambia to treat patients throughout the area. Some care occurred in the NUCare dental clinic at Northrise University in Ndola, and the remainder of the time was spent in nearby Kitwe, where they worked out of a mobile dental unit, also utilizing portable chairs, school gyms and any other spaces at their disposal to perform screenings, cleanings, extractions and fillings.
Here’s a closer look at the experience.
Students’ spirits were high at the outset of their travel to Ndola, Zambia, which included more than 30 hours of flight time. Despite storm delays that kept them grounded at DFW Airport for several hours, D4s Abi Adeyeye, Keith Mahipala and Paul Pham pause to smile for the camera. Not pictured: D4 Theresa Halle.
As soon as Texas A&M College of Dentistry students were on the ground in Ndola, they were ready to spring into action. “We were all eager to get started as soon as possible so although it was around 10 p.m. when we arrived, the first thing we did was head to the location of the clinic to start setting up,” says D4 Abi Adeyeye. They were met by TV reporters, who were interested to know what motivated them to make the trip to Zambia and what they hoped to accomplish during their time in the country. “Overall, after a long journey we were all excited to be at our destination and anxious to get started the next day,” Adeyeye adds.
Part of the Northrise University campus in Ndola, Zambia. Some of the patient care provided during the week took place in the NUCare clinic’s dental operatory behind this building.
“For most of the trip we each paired up with a fellow Zambian student, to learn from each other,” D4 Abi Adeyeye says. Dental students from both Texas A&M College of Dentistry and Copperbelt University School of Medicine in Zambia are pictured here, along with senior leadership and volunteers.
A view of the dental room at Northrise University’s NUCare clinic, where dental students worked for several days.
“As with most mission trips, it took a little while to get used to the surroundings and have a true understanding of what tools were at our disposal,” says Abi Adeyeye, D4, shown here with Dr. Jonathan Clemetson, ’02, ’10, adjunct assistant professor at Texas A&M College of Dentistry, who supervised students on the trip. “The hardest part of this first day was that the generator gave out constantly so we had no electricity, but we were able to adapt although we were limited to simple extractions and hand scaling,” Adeyeye adds. “Our patients were extremely patient, which made us even more eager to provide service; after a long, hard day of work we were excited to return the next day to continue what we started.”
In Kitwe, Zambia, treating patients in a mobile dental unit
Patient care in Kitwe went at a painstaking pace, as the mobile clinic had just one extraction chair, one dental hygiene chair and one chair to do operative work such as fillings. “This meant that we could only go so fast with the cleanings and fillings,” recalls D4 Keith Mahipala. “We ran into a lot of malfunctions with equipment — Cavitron tip started leaking so we fixed it with duck tape; lost electricity periodically, which slowed us down with the operative work; had to utilize spit cups and gauze since we had no suction units. I’ve learned this is very common with dental mission trips. Something will always slow you down, but you adapt and find a way to keep pushing through because there are so many people counting on you for dental work. It’s a little funny how creative we get when it comes to equipment malfunction. Regardless, we met our goal of treating the 20 patients we couldn’t see the previous day, and then treating another 40 + additional patients.”
After receiving soccer balls donated by FC Dallas, some of the children pose for a photo with College of Dentistry students Theresa Halle and Keith Mahipala.
“What a rewarding end to the day … got to spend some time hanging out with these guys after finishing up at the mobile clinic,” says Keith Mahipala, D4. “Climbed some trees and practiced some dance moves — yes — all in my scrubs.”
The mobile dental unit and team, including Rotary International, members of the Rotary clubs of Dallas and Kitwe, Copperbelt University School of Medicine, and Texas A&M College of Dentistry.
