Duo Turns Collaborative Course Work into APHA Poster Presentation
Adeel Khan DMD 11 and Cammellia Shahram Askari DMD 12 attended the American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting in Washington D.C. at the end of October to present a research poster titled, “A Trans-Disciplinary Approach to Implement a Fluoride Varnish Protocol in a Community Health Setting.”
The poster is based on research they completed as part of the Fall 2010 elective course, “Leading Community Health Initiatives: Public Health, Medicine, and Dentistry as Partners.” The course is a collaboration between GSDM and the BU schools of Public Health and Medicine and was offered for the first time to students from all three schools in Fall 2010. The course grouped seven to nine students from each of the three schools with one faculty member, and a site. Khan and Shahram Askari’s site was South End Community Health Center. Students were given some information on what problems the site might like to address and from there had to identify an issue and put together a plan to address it. Coursework provided students with the tools needed to put the plan into action and at the semester’s end they submitted a report detailing all they had done.
From this report Khan and Shahram Askari developed an abstract which they submitted to the APHA. Their abstract was selected to be presented in poster form as part of the forum: "Expanding Workforce Models and Programs to Improve Oral Health.”
The duo was excited to have the opportunity to attend the conference and humbled by the interest other attendees had in their work. Said Khan, “I was amazed to see the importance of prevention and the scope of public health projects and initiatives. There is a lot of ongoing research not just in the field of dental public health but also related to other public health diseases and problems.” He continued, “Overall we felt our work was well-received. The presentation attracted a lot of interest and we left the Meeting with many suggestions on how to further expand our work”
Added Shahram Askari, “I was so happy to see the feedback we got from the attendees at the conference. It really showed how important our project was and how it could make a great impact if it has enough support nationally. This is just the beginning for a project like this. There is a lot of potential.”
Khan and Shahram Askari also enjoyed being able to meet and talk with other dental students, dental health care professionals, lobbyists, researchers and educators, including GSDM’s own Kathy Lituri—who was the moderator of the forum—and Dr. Woosung Sohn.
“I was very pleased to see Adeel and Cammellia expand their project from the collaborative course into a presentation for the APHA Annual Meeting,” said Assistant Dean for Community Partnerships & Extramural Affairs Dr. Michelle Henshaw. “The dental students who participated in the collaborative course were really able to learn a great deal from working with their School of Medicine and School of Public Health peers, and it is inspiring to see their continued passion for their projects. I look forward to seeing where Adeel and Cammellia take this project next, and I hope that they serve as an inspiration to other dental students interested in enrolling in the collaborative course.”