Jared Van Ittersum

“Outreach is a phenomenal experience.”

“Be hungry. Don’t wait to act. If there’s something you want to do when you’re at an outreach clinic, don’t be shy about asking. Get more experience at other sites as a fourth-year dental student, even if that means your workload will be heavier as a third-year student.”

That’s the advice from fourth-year dental student Jared Van Ittersum to his predoctoral classmates.

In addition to four weeks of community dentistry at Cherry Street Health Services in Grand Rapids and at Muskegon Family Care in Muskegon Heights, Van Ittersum also helped patients with their dental needs last summer at clinics in San Francisco’s Mission District and at an Indian Health Services facility in the same city.

“Outreach is a phenomenal experience. I can’t think of a better way for dental students to get involved in real world dentistry. The dental school has done a great job with this program,” he says.

“These outreach experiences are the best, and perhaps the most important part of our education as dental students,” he adds. “But I don’t think dental students should settle for just four weeks. If they can find a way to get more outreach experience, do it.”

Van Ittersum plans to become a private practitioner after graduating this spring. He says working at community dental clinics made him reevaluate his career plans. “Whether it’s accepting patients receiving Medicaid assistance for dental care, or volunteering a certain amount of my time to help in public clinics, I have certainly realized the need and know there is a lot I can do to help,” he says.

Dr. Bill Piskorowski, director of Outreach and Community Affairs, says, “Jared’s a dynamo. He has taken advantage of everything the School has to offer and has always asked to do more, be it here in Michigan or at sites in other parts of the country.”