A day behind a booth turned into an exercise in reflecting on life. Three School of Dentistry students (and SHINE board members) hosted a booth at the October Homeless Connect Edmonton event.
Standing at their booth across from the dental services at the Shaw Centre, DH student Megan Sedlacek's dreams for the future shifted. She found herself realizing that she isn't satisfied with simply giving information to people who can't access care. She wants to find ways to treat those who can't afford it.
"We can do more!" she says, with conviction in her voice. "The need is there, and the experience made me think differently about what I want to do in my own practice." She won't be stopping her outreach efforts after she graduates this coming year, and plans to find a way to incorporate this into her future clinical practice.
The booth served to promote the SHINE clinic to both their clientele and to introduce the clinic to other practitioners in attendance. Megan was surprised to learn how few service providers knew SHINE existed.
As a student volunteer with SHINE, Megan has a lot of good memories from the clinic. For example, there is a big family gradually making their way through the clinic, a few children at a time. With 22 kids, the father brings in a few kids every weekend. "We still haven't been able to see him or his wife but hopefully we will soon. He has even translated for other patients before. He is such a wonderful person and is so grateful for SHINE."
Megan Sedlacek (DH 2020), Maham Masoud (DH 2020), and Nikki Gee (DDS 2022) are all on the board of SHINE.
Homeless Connect is held twice a year at the Shaw Centre. It provides 70+ services for individuals experiencing homelessness in the Edmonton area and is run by volunteers. By operating the booth, Megan, Maham, and Nikki helped to increase awareness in the homeless community and with other providers in attendance about our SHINE clinic as well as the reduced-cost services offered at the School of Dentistry clinics.
"The experience has been hard to let go of. I think Shine is something everyone should know about."
Megan Sedlacek and SHINE were featured on Global Edmonton November 3.