DMD 16 Student Travels to Northernmost Point in America to Provide Dental Care

For nearly two weeks in the middle of August 2015, DMD 16 student Matt Mara was in 30 degree weather in two isolated towns surrounded by tundra at the tip of Alaska. Mara was in Alaska participating in the Indian Health Service’s (IHS) Dental Externship Program, which allows fourth-year dental students from across the country to gain valuable clinical skills by providing oral health care to vulnerable indigenous populations at one of 29 sites in the United States.

Mara served at the IHS Dental Externship Program site located in Barrow, Alaska, a town of about 4,000 people that borders the Arctic Ocean. Barrow is the northernmost point in the United States. It is closer to the North Pole than it is to Seattle, WA. The highest temperature ever recorded in Barrow is 79 degrees Fahrenheit, while the lowest is negative 56 degrees Fahrenheit.

While Barrow is isolated, the opportunity to participate in the IHS Dental Externship Program in Barrow is highly sought after by dental students; only 10 dental students from various schools across the country are picked from a large pool of applicants each year. These 10 students all participate in separate, two week, stints in Barrow. Mara served in the Dental Externship Program in Barrow from August 16 to 29, 2015.

“It was nice to see how a Community Health Center works in a rural setting,” said Mara about his time in Alaska. “Regardless of where they were, they were still trying to provide as much care as possible.”

Mara is also not the first GSDM student to participate in the IHS Dental Externship Program in Barrow. In fact, GSDM students have been participating in the program in for the past several years. Ryan Pasiewicz DMD 15, Lindzy Goodman DMD 14, and Andrew Jorgensen DMD 13 all participated in the IHS Dental Externship Program in Barrow, Alaska, during their fourth-year at GSDM as well.

During Mara’s two weeks in Alaska, he worked at both Samuel Simmonds Memorial Hospital’s Dental Clinic in Barrow, and—during his second week—at the town’s health clinic in Wainwright, Alaska. Wainwright is a town about 100 miles west of Barrow with a population of less than 600 people. At these Health Center’s, Mara saw four to six patients a day.

Most of Mara’s days in Barrow were spent at the Samuel Simmonds Memorial Hospital’s Dental Clinic. Still, he was able to explore the town of Barrow’s Heritage Center and he was even able to throw a football on Barrow High School’s blue AstroTurf field with some of the assistants from the dental clinic.

After the week in Barrow, Mara boarded a 40-minute flight to Wainwright with a supervising dentist and two dental assistants. He and his three colleagues began seeing patients later that day. The people of Wainwright only receive dental care three to four times a year when dental teams, like Mara’s, make special visits.

Mara and his three colleagues also worked in a school in Wainwright applying fluoride and completing various fillings and extractions.

“With rooms filled with supplies and hundreds of paper charts to sort through, we began to see patients Friday afternoon,” Mara wrote about his time in Wainwright.  “And so began the revolving door of patients, twelve hour work days, tired hands, all while off the grid from Internet and cell service.”

Mara was also able to appreciate various cultural aspects of Barrow and Wainwright. Barrow’s population is about 57 percent Native American and Wainwright’s is about 90 percent. One afternoon in particular, Mara, along with his dentist mentor, joined two children from the community as they hunted for cloudberries. The group also came upon some baleen on the Alaska coast.

“I would like to congratulate Matt Mara on participating in this prestigious Dental Externship Program run by the Indian Health Service,” said Dean Jeffrey W. Hutter. “I am very pleased to hear that he not only gained real-world clinical experience, but also did so while serving much needed communities in highly isolated areas.”