British students study dentistry at UNMC

Mary Doherty, Karen Bober, D.D.S., and Martina Fell at One World Community Health Center. The students visited the Omaha clinic during their two week stay in Lincoln.

Martina Fell and Mary Doherty marveled at the vast Nebraska sky as they watched the storm clouds roll overhead.

“The weather here is quite interesting,” said Mary Doherty. “The thunderstorms are quite impressive. In England you can’t really see them move across the sky like you can here.”

Fell and Doherty, dental students from the University of Birmingham (England) School of Dentistry, spent the past two weeks at the UNMC College of Dentistry in Lincoln, observing, studying and taking in American culture. “Everyone here has been so friendly and so nice, adopting us for a day, taking us out to dinner,” Fell said. “We’ve really had quite a good time.”

As part of their school’s requirements, Doherty and Fell are supposed to spend part of the summer before their final year of dental school learning something – anything – new.

The students are then required to write a 5,000-word essay about their experience. “You can learn to fly, study another language or study abroad,” Fell said. “Many students will study something related to dentistry in England. We are fortunate to be able to come to Lincoln.”

Martina Fell listens as Ron Attanassio, D.D.S., explains the research he has done on obstructed sleep apnea.

The students arrived July 2 and were the guests of faculty members who hosted them throughout their stay. Doherty and Fell are the third and fourth British students who have come to the College of Dentistry. The last student came in 2000.

Brian Lange, Ph.D., professor and chair of dental practice management, was instrumental in bringing Doherty and Fell to the COD through a friendship he has with a professor at the dental school in Birmingham England.

While in Lincoln, Fell, who is studying obstructed sleep apnea, immersed herself in the research Ron Attanassio, D.D.S., professor at the COD, has done on the subject.

Mary Doherty listens to Brian Lange, Ph.D., describe the ways in which the uninsured in the United States have access dental care.

Dr. Attanassio provided Fell with journal articles on sleep apnea, a copy of one of his case studies and gave her tutorials on the topic. “He also gave me photos of dental appliances used to help people with sleep apnea,” she said.

Dr. Lange provided guidance for Doherty, whose essay is focused on public health dentistry in the United States. He arranged for her to meet Kim McFarland, D.D.S., dental health director with the Nebraska Health and Human Services System.

Doherty spent a day at the People’s Health Center in Lincoln with Dr. McFarland and sat in on a meeting where Dr. McFarland and other members of HHSS discussed how to set up dental screenings for the public.

Doherty and Fell noted several differences they observed during their stay.
“In England people pay very little or nothing at all for dental care through the National Health Service,” Doherty said. “In the U.S. most of the services are provided through private practitioners.”

Karen Bober, D.D.S., shows Martina Fell and Mary Doherty how dental records are charted at One World Community Health Center.

“The other thing we’ve realized,” Fell said, “is how really big Nebraska is.
The population is really centered around Omaha and Lincoln and access to dental care is really limited for people in western parts of the state.”

The students also toured the state capitol, visited the dental clinic at One World Community Health Center in Omaha, paid a visit to the Omaha Indian Reservation and went shopping at Oak View Mall. “That is where we were introduced to Krispy Kreme donuts and Dippen Dots,” Fell said.

The two left July 18 for San Francisco, where they met up with other British dental students for a three-week holiday before returning to school.