GPC dental hygiene students work across metro area
Dunwoody Crier, Jan. 7, 2014
It’s 1 p.m. on a Wednesday, and Georgia Perimeter College dental hygiene students are gearing up for a busy afternoon of patients, preparing instruments and reviewing patient charts. They’re working at the Faith in Serving Humanity Clinic—better known as the FISH dental clinic—in Monroe. …
The clinic serves those who cannot afford dental care and attracts many patients who have never set foot in a dental clinic, says Cherie Rainwater, chair of the college’s dental hygiene program. …
For students Teresa Hartnett and Cecille Jones, both of whom live in Dunwoody, working at the FISH clinic offers a gratifying facet to their dental hygiene education at GPC.
“It’s very rewarding. The people who come here are low income patients. They really express how grateful they are,” says Jones. Says Harnett, “We talk about community involvement, but until you do it, you don’t really appreciate the difference you can make.”
That difference was amplified recently by the Walton County Health Care Foundation, which donated $15,000 to the program. …
Providing free dental care for underserved patients is a hallmark of the education of GPC dental hygiene students. In addition to their work in the college’s community clinic on the Dunwoody Campus, students volunteer at clinics across Atlanta as part of their training, including the Good Samaritan Clinic and the Ben Massell Dental Clinic in Atlanta.
“Going to clinics for the underserved populations does not allow the students to spend much time getting to know the patients and building a relationship,” notes Rainwater. “But there is a very different reward for the students here. We feel the gratitude that patients have immediately. Helping others is always more rewarding to the giver than the receiver.”