ATSU dental and SLP students collaborate to provide oral cancer screenings on Mesa campus
Posted: October 29, 2024
A.T. Still University-Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health (ATSU-ASDOH) and ATSU-Arizona School of Health Sciences (ATSU-ASHS) Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) program students recently partnered up to provide oral cancer screenings to ATSU students and employees on the University’s Mesa, Arizona, campus.
Organized by Ivonne Maldonado de La Rosa, PhD, MS, CCC-SLP, assistant professor, ATSU-ASHS SLP, and Mai-Ly Duong, DMD, MPH, MEd, ’12, associate professor, ATSU-ASDOH, alongside ATSU’s chapter of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association (NSSLHA), this interprofessional collaboration offered students a valuable opportunity to work together and promote oral health education.
Over two days, two groups of students performed a total of 68 oral cancer screenings. Both groups consisted of students from various program cohorts, enhancing the collaborative learning experience.
ATSU-SLP faculty, including María Centeno-Vázquez, PhD, CCC-SLP, BCS-S, associate professor and program director, and Darrell Dern, SLPD, CCC-SLP, director of clinical education and assistant professor, along with ATSU-ASDOH faculty Ann Eshenaur Spolarich, RDH, PhD, FSCDH, assistant dean for research, Marc Shlossman, DDS, MS, associate professor, and Heather Johnson, RDH, MEd, director and instructor of Dentistry in the Community, supported the event by providing goodie bags for participants.
“The event highlighted the strength of our interprofessional education efforts and was a wonderful demonstration of teamwork in promoting public health and early detection,” Dr. Maldonado de La Rosa said.
