Page 22 - Dentistry Magazine 2021

22 DENTISTRY 2021 UMN PASS
“Mr. Rice Guy”
Navy Service Health Advocate Finding Her Fit Two Generations Collaboration
STUDENT LIFE
Get to know current students, and see how they are making an impact in and outside the clinics.
PASS
IT ON
Three women working to translate their dental degrees into United States licensure are taking every opportunity to learn while they’re in school—and they’re giving back along the way.
EVI ADDOH
E viAddoh,PoornimaVasireddyand Majd Qamhiyeh are all students
in UMN PASS, or the University of Minnesota’s Program for Advanced Standing Students. PASS is a 29-month program designed for graduates of dental schools outside the United States and Canada who have moved to the United States and want to practice dentistry within the US.
Addoh moved from Nigeria in 2017, Vasireddy from India in 2014, and Qamhiyeh from Saudi Arabia in 2017. Though the three women are
POORNIMA VASIREDDY
unitedintheirinterestindentistry and their passion for teaching and learning, they come from varied backgrounds and bring those experiences with them to their studies and their time at the School of Dentistry.
For Vasireddy and Qamhiyeh, the non-clinical classroom experiences are not unlike their first pass through school. “A large part of
the didactic curriculum feels like a revision of classes I took the first time around,” explained Qamhiyeh. On the other hand, the more
MAJD QAMHIYEH
hands-onclinicalexperiencesare new, and they’re embracing the new style of learning. Vasireddy enjoys the variety of perspectives she receives in clinical experiences. “I feel like I learn something new every day,” she explained. “We have a lot of faculty from different countries who have gone through residency and licensure here, so they teach us what they learn, too.”
Addoh sees the program as “like having several months of continuing education: the enhancement of
my skills and knowledge, and an
Student life