Lessons from a community health center
Posted: January 7, 2019
Students from A.T. Still University’s Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health (ATSU-ASDOH) recently visited Adelante and Mountain Park community health centers. Led by ATSU’s vice president of community partnerships, Gary Cloud, PhD, MBA, the group toured the facilities for a Dentistry in the Community class.
Adelante and Mountain Park community health centers offer comprehensive care, treating the whole person while delivering services that meet the unique cultural and health needs of their patients. As nonprofit organizations, Adelante and Mountain Park community health centers are not focused on treating as many patients as possible, but instead focus on working with each patient to get well, be well, and live well.
This is the second year that a tour has been part of the curriculum. The day included an introduction to the history of community health centers by Dr. Cloud, followed by tours of each site.
Ashley Roth-Garcia, a third-year student at ATSU-ASDOH, looks forward to working in a community health center. “Community health centers provide the unique chance to feed your soul and to go to work every day and know you are making a difference in your community,” Roth-Garcia says. “It is seamless and fulfilling and I look forward to being an active member in the future.”