This community offers to all its members the opportunity to contribute as volunteers to work together and take GHHDA to new heights.  GHHDA has very wonderful talented professionals that will help GHHDA achieve its goals of committment to Service, Leadership, and Advocacy for Hispanic Oral Health.

Hispanic Student Dental Association at UTDB in 2009-2010

By Carlos F. Carrion

I am a third year dental student and the 2009-2010 President of the Hispanic Student Dental Association (HSDA) at the University of Texas Dental Branch (UTDB) at Houston.  Our student members consist of fifty students from both the Doctor of Dental Surgery and the Dental Hygiene programs.  After I took over our organization and after a small internal restructuring exercise, we are now broadening our vision and are committed to three major thrusts: community service, scientific research, and education.  The HSDA at UTDB is now focused and committed to having a stronger presence in each of these areas.

Our student chapter is very fortunate to have the support of the Greater Houston Hispanic Dental Association (GHHDA), especially from the past President, Mrs. Tatiana Ramirez, RDH, MEd, President Alexandra Garcia, DDS and also from the executive officer Mr. Victor Rodriguez, DDS.  We are appreciative of the time that GHHDA members make to talk to us through our Distinguished Lecture speakers and through the UTDB-GHHDA Mentorship program.

We were very excited to have attended and participated in the national Hispanic Dental Association Annual Meeting held in our city this year.  Our student volunteers at the convention were honored to have helped host such an important event, and we were equally appreciative to have had our Dean, Dr. John Valenza support the HDA by hosting the opening ceremonies reception.

The HSDA has had a long tradition of working hard on initiatives that focus on community service.  This year is no exception.  We have been able to reach literally hundreds of people in our community through a number of programs.  To name a few, we participated in the “Nuestra Familia, Nuestra Salud” Health Fair, the HDA/HEB Colgate Project, and the San Jose Clinic - where DH students routinely educate and provide oral health instruction to patients.  In addition, we have now committed to bringing DH and DDS students from our student organization to exclusively provide dental care to patients at the Fort Bend Hope Clinic on a regular schedule on weekends.  This was possible by working with GHHDA, especially with Mrs. Tatiana Ramirez, RDH, MEd.  This commitment shows the strong presence of our members and the dedication of our team towards the Hispanic community.

I am also very proud to announce that the University of Texas Dental Branch has asked our student organization to partner with them through the Hispanic Center of Excellence (HCOE) Grant awarded to UT this year.  We have accepted this partnership since it is a very ambitious and important project in which the HSDA will play a key role in bridging the gap between dental health care providers and our community.  As a complement to this effort, we have launched the “Ambassadors of UTDB” program, in which HSDA members go back to their respective alma mater institutions and give an information session to future DH and DDS students back home.  As you can see, we are focusing not only in reaching our community, but also recruiting and retaining future dental health care professionals.

On the scientific research front, our student members also have had great success from our initiative to promote our research.  Our members have showcased their scientific research in different forums such as the Star of the South Meeting and in the national Hispanic Dental Association annual meeting this year.  In addition, some of our research will be published in relevant scientific magazines in a few months. 

As far as education, we have reached hundreds of potential health care students during the Houston Hispanic Forum Career and Education Day.  This effort, coupled with the HCOE Ambassador program and our community outreach programs have been educating both future dental healthcare professionals and patients as well.

Our work is far from being done, and we are far from being satisfied.  We will keep working to improve the dental health in our community and our state, and will find different and innovative channels to positively impact those in need.

A special note of gratitude goes out to Mr. Sergio Ortegon, DDS, MS and Ms. Margo Melchor, RDH, MEd for continuing to support us as our HSDA at UTDB faculty advisors.

HSDA at UTDB Officers:

   Carlos Carrion – President

   Iven Gonzalez – Vice-President DDS

   Yudith Rodriguez – Vice-President DH

   Vickie Martinez – Secretary

   Veronica Perez – Historian

   Montsy Rodriguez – Social Chair Dental Hygiene

   Sergio Lopez – Social Chair DDS