Ann Arbor, MI — September 16, 2011 — An international exchange of dental students that involved the University of Michigan School of Dentistry and a dental school in Brazil is helping the dental students prepare for future leadership in the global community by sharing professional and cultural experiences.

This summer, two U-M dental students, Saroj Saha and An Nguyen, and four from the University of São Paulo School of Dentistry in Bauru, Brazil, participated in the three-week exchange to observe how oral health care is practiced in the two countries.  The exchange was a collaboration between the International College of Dentists (ICD) and the School of Dentistry’s Global Initiatives Program.

During their three weeks at the U-M School of Dentistry, the Brazilian dental students attended classes and lectures with other D3 students, reviewed research projects, and observed clinicians in student and faculty clinics including periodontics, prosthodontics, operative dentistry, oral medicine, and orthodontics.  After classes, the students visited museums and other points of interest in Ann Arbor and elsewhere in southeast Michigan.

The two U-M dental students were also enthused about their experiences in Brazil.  In a blog, Saha described his experiences in Brazil as “amazing.”  He wrote, “I was able to experience the value of our Michigan education.  In my short time in Brazil, I was able to see the work of several of our professors being cited in their lectures.”  Read his entire blog at Saha blog-Brazil.

“The University of Michigan was selected by ICD because of the dental school’s interest in global oral health, humanitarian outreach programs, and the variety of cultural enrichment opportunities on campus,” said Dr. Ronald Paler (DDS 1961) and ICD vice regent.  “The School of Dentistry was one of the original schools involved with the International Student Exchange program when it was created in 1991,” he added, “and was well received by Dean Peter Polverini when we talked to him last December about this initiative.”

Saha and Nguyen's participation in the exchange was recommended by a group from the School of Dentistry and two alumni who are and have been involved with ICD.  The group from the School of Dentistry included Dr. Yvonne Kapila, the School’s director of Global Initiatives; Dr. Dennis Lopatin, senior associate dean; and Dr. Carol Anne Murdock-Kinch, associate dean for Academic Affairs after they completed a detailed application.  The two alumni involved with ICD included Paler and Dr. Dick Shick (DDS 1954, MS 1960), a past president of ICD’s USA section and also a past vice president of ICD.