8 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, June 17, 2002
Dental students help migrant workers seti 2r
By Jemnier Mistha
Daily Staff Reporter
Giving dental check-ups to children in a classroom
with Disney movies playing in the background before
engaging in a game of soccer with his patients was a
rewarding summer experience for dental school alum
Ryan Van Haren.
Van Haren spent part of last summer working at the
Dental School's summer migrant dental program, pro-
viding oral health care to migrant workers and their
children. The program will run again from June 24
through Aug. 2.
Dental Prof. Robert Bagramian, director of the sum-
mer clinic program, said Dental students have worked
with migrant workers in various locations around
Michigan in an effort to improve their oral health for
the last 29 years.
"Eight students are on site for two weeks," Bagrami-
an said. "Basically there is one faculty member to four
dental students."
He added this ratio allows students to be the princi-
ple care-giver with supervision from a practicing den-
tist. During their rotation, the dental students work at
three different elementary schools, seeing children dur-
ing the day and their parents after work.
The program has come a long way since it was first
started in Ann Arbor in the early 1970s, Bagramian
said, but the services have maintained popularity
among migrant workers, and the program has remained
unique among many states.
The program grew even more when phone calls
from migrant workers prompted dental students to
travel daily to places around Ann Arbor and eventual-
ly moved all over Michigan to the point where "peo-
ple in Traverse City contacted me and asked if we
would come up there," Bagramian said.
Arrangements for student housing, vehicles
and portable equipment enabled the summer pro-
gram to move to the northwest section of the
state where there is a greater migrant worker
population.
The idea of working with an underrepresented popu-
lation appealed to Dental student Julie Ann Fattore in
her first year, when she leamed about the program
from Bagramian and upperclassmen. Fattore applied to
the program because she feels the ability to help others
is a huge responsibility.
"In Traverse City, the migrant farm workers are
thought of as the invisible population as they intermin-
gle with the vacationing tourists," Fattore said. "This is
an opportunity to help treat and educate these children
and families."
Van Haren said the children enjoy their experience at
the clinic. He added that in the few hours of interaction
each day, dental students have the opportunity to "sit
"There ends up being a
great level of comfort."
- Ryan Van Haren
Dental alum
down with kids" and "hang out."
"There ends up being a great level of comfort,"
Van Haren said. "The level of care given to kids is
equivalent to what they'd get in private practice."
But, there are some problems with the program.
Follow-up care is difficult to provide, and Van
Haren said no specialists are on-site and he avoids
giving referrals.
"Referring out doesn't do much good," Van Haren
said. "(The migrant workers) can't afford the desired
specialized treatment."
Despite language barriers, Fattore said she
expects her time in Traverse City to be a memo-
rable learning experience. "As students we will
learn to work quickly and work with what we have
in less than ideal conditions," she said. "I will
learn to speak some Spanish, but I am not con-
cerned about communication. I know that the best
communication starts with a nice warm smile and
that's what dentistry is all about."
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Continued from Page 1
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