Back to School
Summer may be winding down here in River City, but at the School of Dentistry, things are in full swing for new and returning students, residents, faculty and staff.
Meet the D.D.S. Class of 2022
Residency
60 Virginia residents (more than half of the class)
12 states other than Virginia
16 countries of origin other than the United States
Demographics
Total class size 95
Females 42
Males 53
Average age 24
Age range 21 – 40
African American 5.3%
Asian 26.3%
Hispanic 9.5%
White 58.9%
Meet the D.H. Class of 2020
Residency
Virginians 15
Out of state 1
Demographics
Total class size 16
Females 14
Males 2
Average age 21
Age range 20-31
African American 3
Asian 1
Hispanic 1
White 10
Class of 2020 Dental Hygiene students hear from Kim Isringhausen, assistant dean for community and collaborative partnerships, during orientation week.
Pedo clinic progressing at CHoR
The new pediatric dentistry clinic in the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU is on schedule to open next year.
In July, I gave visitors from the Cultural Ministry of Kuwait a hard hat tour of the new clinic, which has striking views of Richmond’s Old City Hall. Photo: University Relations, P. Kevin Morley.
A big thank you to the Children’s Hospital of Richmond Foundation and the VCU Health System for their support of this new clinic.
Urgent Care Clinic relocates
The Urgent Care Clinic, which opened within the Douglas Clinic in May 2017, recently relocated to the first floor of the Wood building.
With me at the ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating the new Urgent Care Clinic are, left to right, Ryan Brown, practice manager; Charity Hunter, dental assistant; Dr. Steve Marinelli, oral diagnostic services; and Dr. Sameer Jain, clinic director.
Woolwine renovations
Open wide. New mannequins, handpieces and sim units await students in the Woolwine Sim Lab.
July renovations in the Woolwine sim lab included the installation of 109 new A-dec sim units, new Frasaco mannequin heads, and Bien-Air electric handpieces. Thank you’s to Bien-Air for their donation totaling nearly $1 million for handpieces in Woolwine and in the grad endo and faculty practices.
Congratulations!
Join me in celebrating the achievements of our recently promoted faculty.
- Susie Goolsby – From Assistant Professor Term – to Associate Professor Term
- Janina G. Deeb – From Assistant Professor Term – to Associate Professor Term
- Patrice Wunsch – From Associate Professor Term – to Full Professor Term
- George Deeb – From Associate Professor Tenure Track – to Full Professor Tenured
- Esra Sahingur – From Associate Professor Tenured – to Full Professor
- Chris (Chunhao) Li – From Professor Tenure Track – to Full Professor Tenured
Celebrating 15 years
I’m proud to share this news item from our celebration at the Free Clinic of Central Virginia marking 15 years of partnership.
Seated with Dean David Sarrett are Kim Isringhausen, asst. dean; Christina Delzingaro, Free Clinic CEO; Dr. Gus Petticolas, DDS, dental director; Wynn Burtner, Dental Clinic Coordinator; Second row: Carol Birce; Malissa Thomasson; Dr. Ryan Anderson, DDS; Dr. Daniel Grabeel, DDS; Ashley Milstead; Dr. Richard Zuchini, DDS; Dr. Joshua Binder, DDS; Third Row: Dr. Steve Hatch, DDS; Dr. John Salmon, DDS; Dr. Raj Guraya, DMD; Dr. John Dean, DDS; Dr. Keith Austin, DDS; Dr. Lewis Arthur, DDS; Dr. Dustin Reynolds, DDS; Dr. James Peery, DDS; Dr. Ronald Hendricksen, DDS; Dr. Lee Saunders, DDS; Dr. Daniel Savage, DDS photo courtesy of K. Jugar
The Free Clinic of Central Virginia and VCU School of Dentistry celebrated 15 years of partnership at a Dental Program Reception on Thursday, Aug. 23, at the Free Clinic in Lynchburg, Virginia. The event included remarks by Dr. David Sarrett, Dean of the VCU School of Dentistry, and recognition of VCU adjunct faculty appointments for the Dentist Mentors that volunteer at the Free Clinic.
Fifteen years ago, the Free Clinic of Central Virginia became the first of now 16 Service-Learning sites. The VCU School of Dentistry clinical service-learning program works with interested friends of the school to develop collaborative clinical service-learning sites that allow their senior dental and dental hygiene students to participate in community-based and private-practice clinical experiences. The clinical service-learning experiences provide opportunities to continue the development and integration of skills and professional judgment required of the entry-level practitioner in a real-world dental practice environment.
Since 1987, the Free Clinic Dental Services Program has provided essential dental services to low-income uninsured or underinsured adults. Using a Dental Mentor model, dental services are provided to patients who do not have dental insurance, or whose dental insurance does not cover the medically necessary service they are requesting.
In the Dental Mentor Model, services are primarily provided by fourth-year dental students and dental hygiene students from VCU and Howard University under the supervision and direction of 24 volunteer dentists who act as Dental Mentor/Professors. Last year, 166 dental students and dental hygiene students donated a total of 7,077 hours of service. Evening clinics are staffed by volunteer dentists. The total value of volunteer dentist and dental student time last year was over $298,000.
In 2017, the Free Clinic of Central Virginia provided 4,714 dental visits to 1,877 unduplicated patients at a value of $1,414,200. The dedication of hundreds of volunteer health care providers who give of their time enables every $1 raised to be the equivalent of $6 in necessary goods and services.
The Free Clinic of Central Virginia envisions a community where everyone has access to quality healthcare services. Its mission is to provide primary medical, dental, pharmacy, and health education services to those in Central Virginia who do not have the resources to obtain these basic health care services.
There’s more….
Don’t forget to tune in to my Vlog on YouTube: The Dental Fill-In where you’ll find more news from around the school, new building updates, and more.
Categories Deans blog