International Programs

International Elective Externship Program: GSDM students participated in sixteen international service mission trips in Haiti, Jamaica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and Panama. The services provided by the fourth year students also provided them an opportunity to make a positive impact on the oral health of our global community while enriching and diversifying their dental education. Because of the efforts of the 43 students who participated in these programs, thousands of individuals across the world have improved oral and overall health.

Non-GSDM Mission Trip: Student participation in all International Elective Externship trips must be organized through the Office of Global and Population Health. Students cannot participate in any international dental mission trips that are not approved by the Office of Global and Population Health. The Office of Global and Population Health partners with several non-governmental organizations to provide a variety of experiences. All partner organizations are vetted to assure the policies of each are in line with the professional mission and values of GSDM. If a student would like to participate in a mission trip with an outside organization that is not a current GSDM partner, that is possible but a student must submit an application form and receive approval prior to travel.

Application for Non-GSDM Mission Trip

International Elective Exchange Program: GSDM students participated in two exchange programs. Four GSDM students and one faculty member visited three universities in China and another group of four GSDM students and one faculty member visited one university in Japan and one in Thailand. The International Elective Exchange Programs offers our students international cultural interests in addition to enhanced clinical training.

• China – GSDM students were provided the opportunity to gain additional experience in the evaluation and treatment of patients with head and neck cancer at the Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Stomatology, the Fourth Military Medical University School of Stomatology in Xi’an, and Peking University School of Stomatology in Beijing. All three of these universities have great strength in clinical services for oral cancer patients. They have state-of-the-art inpatient operating facilities, where more than 10,000 major operations on oral cancers per year and more than 40,000 routine oral surgery operations per year are performed. GSDM has welcomed student and faculty visitors from each of the three schools over the course of this year.
• Japan and Thailand – GSDM students visited the Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) in Tokyo, Japan and the Faculty of Dentistry, Chulalongkorn University (FDCU) in Bangkok, Thailand. TMDU has Graduate programs in Medical and Dental Sciences, Health Sciences, Biomedical Sciences, and Biomedical Sciences and has the longest history of dental education and clinical dental services in Japan. TMDU is affiliated with the TMDU Hospital of Dentistry, which is the largest dental care institution in Japan serving over 1,800 outpatients per day, and over 19,000 hospitalized patients per year. FDCU offers postgraduate training for Esthetic Restorative and Implant Dentistry (International), Oral Biology, Oral Pathology, Orthodontics, Prosthodontics, Operative Dentistry, Radiology, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Oral Medicine, Pediatric Dentistry, Community Dentistry, Periodontology, Occlusion, and Dental Biomaterials Science.

Global APEX: One GSDM student participated in the Global APEX rotation, which provided the opportunity to integrate and apply classroom learning in Esteli, Nicaragua. While learning from individuals with expertise in health promotion and disease prevention, he helped build capacity within the Esteli community by addressing oral health problems. The student was actively involved in oral health promotion activities, and while working under Dr. Michelle Henshaw’s guidance, he developed practical skills in program planning and implementation.

If you have any questions about international programs at GSDM, please email the Office of Global and Population Health at gph@bu.edu.