CARE-ing for Underserved Communities
The CARE program was launched in the college’s Admissions office six years ago to encourage students from Ohio’s federally designated Dental Health Professional Shortage Areas to establish practices in those areas after they earn their dental degree. Dean Carroll Ann Trotman orchestrated the move to benefit students and their future patients. “The program’s move to the college’s Community Outreach office brings students in direct contact with resources related to improving access to dental care,” Dean Trotman said. “Program participants will benefit from a team that focuses full-time on preparing our students to serve diverse populations.”
Rachel Whisler, ’23 MPH, the CARE program manager, supports CARE students’ academic journey and introduces them to the “language” of public health. She organizes workshops, training and mentorship opportunities to help students prepare for their future work in under-resourced areas of Ohio. Recent student experiences have included a trip to Washington, D.C., to take part in the ADA Dentist and Student Lobby Day; a workshop by Jacinto Beard, ’90 DDS, on how to build a practice that accepts Medicare; and a trip to Iowa to attend the Midwest Public Dental Health Conference.
“We want students to be well-versed in public health so they know where dentistry fits in,” Ms. Whisler said. “Our focus is on developing leaders who can come to the table in the communities they serve and make sure that oral health is considered when health care decisions impacting the community are made.”
Up to 10 students per dental class who come from Dental Health Professional Shortage Areas can be accepted into the program. In addition to special training, students receive a $10,000 scholarship to lessen the debt that has been demonstrated to deter dental graduates from practicing in underserved areas. The scholarship is renewable each year of dental school if participants remain in good academic standing.
SPOTLIGHT ON A CARE PROGRAM ALUM
John W. Savopoulos, MS, ’22 DDS
In 2018, Dr. John Savopoulos was a first-year dental student and one of a small group of inaugural CARE program participants. Today, he is a young dental professional who has fulfilled the promise he made to himself “to be able to take care of anybody who comes to the door.” A dental provider in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC)— the Community Action Agency of Columbiana County in northeast Ohio—Dr. Savopoulos credits his time in CARE with helping reinforce his plans to treat underserved patients. “The CARE Program brought awareness of the complexities that people in underserved areas have when accessing treatment,” he said. “It is one thing to ‘know’ an area is underserved; it is another thing entirely to understand the ‘why’ it is underserved. The CARE program shed light on this and allowed me to get a better didactic understanding of this issue.”
After graduating from the College of Dentistry, Dr. Savopoulos completed the General Practice Residency program at Mercy Health, St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Youngstown, Ohio. Although he is early in his career, he is already making a mark. In 2023, he was one of five recipients of Delta Dental Foundation’s Community Commitment Award for his work in an underserved area.
“By far the most rewarding aspect of practicing in an underserved area is providing quality care to people who have only had limited or no dental care throughout their entire life and seeing their sincere appreciation for it. There is not another facility exactly like ours in the tri-county area (Trumbull, Mahoning, or Columbiana). Furthermore, there is not an oral surgeon or endodontist within 50 miles that accepts the majority of our patients’ insurance, so being able to provide these services to these people is extremely rewarding. My time at Ohio State and in my residency at St. Elizabeth’s in Youngstown prepared me to do just that. Dentistry is everything and more than I expected it to be! There is nothing else I could see myself doing, and I know I chose the perfect profession for me.”
