Michael Whitcomb DMD 17 Wins Pierre Fauchard Academy’s 2016 Foundation Dental Student Scholarship Award
On Wednesday, April 20, 2016, Dean Jeffrey W. Hutter, Dr. Joseph Calabrese, and Dr. Cataldo Leone presented Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM) DMD 17 student Michael Whitcomb with the Pierre Fauchard Academy’s 2016 Foundation Dental Student Scholarship Award. Dr. Leone is a Professor in the Department of Periodontology, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and Professor in the Department of Molecular & Cell Biology. Dr. Calabrese is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of General Dentistry, Assistant Dean of Students, and Director of Geriatric Dental Medicine.
Every year, the Pierre Fauchard Academy awards the scholarship to a dental student who has demonstrated the greatest potential for development into an outstanding leader in the dental profession due to his/her participation in the university, dental school, and community.
“This is a prestigious award,” said Dr. Calabrese. “It is great to see that Michael was recognized for all of his hard work and academic accomplishments. It is well deserved.”
Whitcomb, who says he aspires to enter into an oral and maxillofacial surgery residency program upon graduation in May 2017, has been incredibly active both inside and outside of the classroom at GSDM.
During his first and second year at GSDM, Whitcomb was ranked first in his class (class rankings for the 2015-2016 school year have not yet been released). From 2014 to 2016, he served as a Research Assistant under Dr. Timothy Osborn, working on research that won him first prize in the undergraduate category for research poster presentations at the 2015 GSDM Science Day, which took place on March 19, 2015. In 2015, he also won the American Dental Association’s (ADA) Pre-doctoral Dental Student Scholarship Award (read about that here).
He has served as a Student Host, Vice President of the Oral Surgery Study Club, Vice President of the Student Research Group, and Chair of the Ethics and Professionalism Committee of the GSDM chapter of the American Student Dental Association. Whitcomb also frequently participates in dental volunteer events in the community, and he is a member of the Student Coalition on Addiction, which is a student group that supports and advocates for people with substance use disorders.
He is also a member of several organizations: the American Association for Dental Research (AADR); the American Student Dental Association (ASDA); the American Dental Association (ADA); the International Association for Dental Research (IADR); the Massachusetts Dental Society (MDS); and the National Student Research Group (NSRG).
Before coming to GSDM, in 2011 Whitcomb received a BA in Government from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, and—in 2013—he completed his remaining pre-requisite courses at the Harvard University Extension School, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, while working as a project coordinator for Partners HealthCare. In 2013, Whitcomb was an author on a paper published in the Journal of the Massachusetts Dental Society titled, “Hospital Based ED Visits with Dental Conditions among Geriatric Patients.”
“Congratulations to Mr. Michael Whitcomb,” said Dean Jeffrey W. Hutter. “The Pierre Fauchard Academy awards this scholarship to a dental student who demonstrates a tremendous commitment to excellence in scholarly and extracurricular pursuits, and Michael is certainly a deserving recipient.”