Outside of a temporary pop-up clinic at a Cookeville, Tennessee high school, patients had been sleeping in cars and waiting upwards of 24-hours for medical, dental, and vision care. This level of need is pervasive in the areas of Appalachia visited by Stony Brook School of Dental Medicine in its 10 years of partnership with Remote Area Medical (RAM).

SBU team provides dental care in a high school gym in Tennessee.

“Many of these patients only see a dentist when a RAM event comes to town,” explained Dr. Scott Firestone, clinical assistant professor. “Some travel hundreds of miles, arriving in the middle of the night to get a ticket of admission.”

“I strongly believe that as health care providers, we have an obligation to help those less fortunate than us and to have dental students participate in these missions is of paramount importance,” said Dr. Gabriele Conte, clinical assistant professor. “Not only are they learning how to handle difficult extractions and operative procedures, but more importantly, they are helping their fellow Americans,” he said.

Stony Brook School of Dental Medicine students and faculty participate in two to three RAM events per year, typically in Virginia, West Virginia, and Tennessee.

Over 150 students have attended these outreach missions over the past decade, with the next mission scheduled for the fall of 2019.

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On April 12, 2019, nearly 30  middle-school students and their chaperones from Promise Christian Academy (PCA), a school based in Queens, NY, came to Stony Brook University to learn about robotics and to explore the campus.

Promise Christian Academy students making the electrical circuit under guidance from the Stony Brook Robotics Team.

Members from the Stony Brook Robotics Team (SBRT) presented to the students about their club and their role at the University.

After learning about the various fields of engineering and science that are required to effectively build a robot, the students participated in an interactive electrical engineering activity.

“I enjoyed making the circuit the most because I always wanted to create something. I will be in a robotics team in high school so that was a good introduction,” said eighth grader Karen Abigail.

The students then took a brief tour of the campus as they headed to East Side Dining. Following lunch, the group visited the Charles B. Wang Center to view the exhibit, “The Studio: Through a Surrealistic Lens.”

 Volunteers from the SBRT included Software Team Lead and President-elect Prangon Ghose, a sophomore studying Computer Engineering; Electrical Team Lead-elect Lily Li, a freshman studying Computer Engineering; Member Adama Gamby, a sophomore studying Electrical Engineering and Mathematics; and Member Dorothy Lee, a freshman studying Electrical Engineering.

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For three days in March, Stony Brook University had visits from the Bayport-Blue Point School District. Fourth-grade, fifth-grade, and high-school students each had separate visits to campus, totaling 82 students.

Students dissected various appliances to learn how they work in the Appliance Autopsy.

“This partnership has created opportunities for the students of Bayport-Blue Point to enhance the lessons they learn in the classroom,” said Bayport-Blue Point School District Superintendent Timothy P. Hearney. “Every time we can get our students onto a college campus, we offer them an opportunity to increase their knowledge of what they may want to do once they leave BBP. I cannot thank the University enough for everything they have offered to our students.”

The fourth-grade students participated in the “Genes in a Bottle”/Maker Day activity hosted by M. Ete Chan, Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. For this lab experience, students from the Biomedical Engineering Society assisted in helping the students isolate their own DNA.

Next, the students dissected coffee makers, laptops, and other various appliances to learn how they work in the Appliance Autopsy hosted by Mzia Tabukashvili, iCREATE Graduate Student Manager.

The fifth-grade students explored the Geology Lab learning about plants and terrain with Gilbert N. Hanson, Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Geosciences.

At the next stop, the students took a tour of the TV Studio on campus and learned how to identify fake news with a News Literacy Presentation by Erika Karp, Staff Assistant in the School of Journalism.

The high-school students played STEAM Jeopardy, a game created by Dr. Christine Veloso, Co-Director of the Science Technology Entry Program. Three teams competed in the interactive game where contestants tried to match the job description and activity with a job title. This helped them to connect to careers paths when studying STEAM subjects.

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