MY EDGE PROJECT
Summary
In all aspects of healthcare, there is a major push in helping the underserved in rural locations of the United States, including native american communities. Within these areas, there is a lack of available care and lack of understanding of the importance of personal health by many of the residents. As future healthcare professionals, it is our duty to understand all aspects of healthcare including rural healthcare, that we may one day find better solutions to serve those in these rural locations. For my project, I spent a week job shadowing in a dental clinic in the 4 corners area of Utah, a rural and underserved location. I worked with dental professionals who taught me about what differences there are with running a dental clinic and being a dental professional in a rural location, giving me the hope of one day leading efforts to change rural healthcare in America.
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Goals
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Attend an RHS week-long cultural immersion trip to the 4 corners area in order to deepen my understanding of healthcare practices in rural locations. I was able to complete this goal due to my willingness to listen to my RHS mentors by signing-up early to reserve a spot in this limited-person trip, and prioritizing my time and money allowing me to attend from March 11-16 in 2018.
Outcomes
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By attending an RHS week-long cultural immersion trip to the 4 corners area, I gained a deeper understanding of what it is like to practice dentistry in a rural setting. The benefit of this outcome was an increased understanding of how healthcare practices, specifically dentistry, need to change in the future to allow better access of healthcare, both financially and locationally, to those in rural or underserved areas. I learned more about the lives of those that live in underserved areas and the issues they face. This gave me the capacity to treat patients and others equally and with more compassion despite of their background or current circumstances, while doing anything within my power to assist them with regards to dentistry. As I participated in this trip, I became a better, well-rounded dental school applicant and future leader with regards to rural dental health. This helped to differentiate me from other applicants during the 2018-2019 dental school admission cycle culminating in my acceptance into the University of Utah School of Dentistry.
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Deliverables
For my deliverables, I have included a digital journal that documented the daily activities and shadowing experiences I participated in while in the 4 corners area of Utah. With each job shadowing experience, I included new insights I gained into dentistry overall, specifically how dentistry is practiced in rural and underserved areas. In addition to the journal, are photos that document my journal-listed experiences, although photos inside the dental clinics were prohibited by HIPPA.
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