For the third straight year, the UP College of Dentistry actively participated in the UGM International Dental Summer Course. This year's theme was“Transforming Oral Health Care: Implementing Digital Dentistry for Special Needs Communities”. The course was held from July 1 to 11, and was a hybrid program which consisted ofonline lectures from July 1-5 and the on-site program was from July 7-11. The program was a collaboration between the Faculty of Dentistry and Faculty of Engineering of UGM.
The student participants from UPCD were Roxanne Lapastora, Kyla Crissia De Guia, and Alyssa Mendoza.
Dr. Gay A. Raralio, UPCD faculty in Pediatric Dentistry accompanied the group and gave an online presentation on ‘Overcoming the Behavioral Challenges of Patients with ASD, ADHD and DS in Achieving their Bright Smiles.”
The participants were from the different partner universities of Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) Faculty in Dentistry in Indonesia namely Universitas Sumatera Utara, Universitas Hang Tuah, Universitas Brawijaya, Universitas Airlangga and Universitas Hasanuddi, Universiti Malaya (UM) and University of the Phil College of Dentistry and they were joined by post graduate student members of the International Association of Dental Students who hailed from Universitatae De Medicina Si Farmacie ”Carol Davila” Din Bucuresti in Romania, Alexandria University in Egypt and Altamash Institute of Dental Medicine in Pakistan. There were approximately 75 student participants.
Academics from the Faculty of Dentistry of UGM and their international partner universities comprised the lecturers. Majority of the lectures were online, and the face-to-face program consisted of a tour of UGM Faculty of Dentistry and Faculty of Engineering where the participants had their hands- on workshop on Digital Dentistry.
An intensive immersion type community service / field trip to state run centers; Disability Rehabilitation Center and a Special Needs School gave the participants an eye-opening glimpse on how to successfully provide quality oral health care to the vulnerable cohort.
A culminating project of the students was a group presentation in the Pitching contest. The judges were, Dr Jessica Francis, lecturer from UM, Dr Gay Raralio from UPCD and Dr. Heriati Sitosari from UGM. The post graduate student members of the International Dental Students Association were judged the first prize winner of the pitching contest with their presentation on a software they called “Smiley”.
The Gala dinner was full of excitement and fun as all the participants were required to perform. The talented UPCD clinicians sang an OPM song which drew much attention.
During the last day, the UGM organizers led by Dr Henytaria Fajrianti treated the participants to a cultural sightseeing at the Keraton, Taman Sari Yogyakarta and the Lava tour at Merapi mountain. The Lava Tour definitely clicked with everyone.
Gay A. Raralio, DDM, DPBPB, FPPDSI
Assistant Professor
SDG 3,4,17
# University of the Philippines Manila
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