International Interprofessional Service Projects

In July 2018, faculty and students from the University at Buffalo’s School of Dental Medicine and School of Nursing traveled to Dakar, Senegal, for an immersive interprofessional clinical experience. Their mission was to provide much needed advanced nursing and dental care to the wonderful men, women and children of the West African nation. The team – consisting of six DDS dental faculty, one OS dental faculty, 11 D4 dental students, one nursing faculty and two DNP nursing students – provided vital sign screening, health histories, dental exams, dental extractions and dental restorative procedures. Together, they completed nearly 1,600 procedures consisting of either extractions or restorative work amongst both pediatric and adult patients. The team, with the help of four interpreters, also educated each patient about proper dental care and provided them with dental floss, toothpaste and toothbrushes.

UB nursing and dental students, along with several UB faculty, and staff members traveled to the Greek island of Lesvos in July 2017 to provide free screenings and emergency dental and health care to hundreds of refugees displaced by the civil war in Syria and ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The weeklong humanitarian mission was a partnership between the UB’s schools of Dental Medicine and Nursing; the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, whose students and faculty treated refugees affected by PTSD; and DocMobile, a non-governmental organization (NGO) providing medical care to remote areas of Greece.