The 232-HELP Donated Dental Program is offering a paid internship to a UL Lafayette pre-dental hygiene student.
The program, which began in 1988, provides free dental treatment to patients who are elderly, disabled or have medical conditions.
Dentists and their staff members volunteer time and services to patients from 10 parishes. Patients must be approved for the program based on certain age, income or medical requirements.
Dentists provide treatment from their own offices, said Rae Logan, the program’s executive director.
The intern will discuss oral health and hygiene issues with patients and gain procedural experience in development of the patient record.
The position will be a paid internship based on the number of hours worked. It is being overseen by 232-HELP and the College of Nursing and Allied Health Professions at UL Lafayette. A $500 scholarship will be awarded upon successful completion of the internship.
The internship will be for an entire academic year, following a pilot program that was conducted this semester.
Kabrini Rochel, a sophomore pre-dental hygiene student at UL Lafayette, was selected to take part in a pilot program.
“I love that I get to interact with my clients who need dental work. It gives me satisfaction when I talk to clients who are happy because of what I’m doing. And this experience will help me when applying to dental school,” Rochel said.
Internship requirements include: a commitment of at least 10 hours per week for two semesters; being a pre-dental hygiene student at UL Lafayette in good academic standing who has a GPA of 2.8 or higher.
Applications are now being accepted, although a deadline has yet to be set, Logan said.
Applicants must be able to speak English, have good communication skills and be detail oriented.
Since 1999, volunteer dentists have donated more than 5,850 hours of treatment, valued at more than $193 million, through the 232-HELP Donated Dental Program.
For more information or to apply, contact Amanda Menard at UL Lafayette at (337) 482-5604, ext. 6 or by email at all4401@louisiana.edu.