From the Field: Bringing Oral Healthcare to Tanzania
An alumna gathers data for her dissertation overseas.
“It takes four days to travel to the Wanji Tribe of the Southern Highlands in Tanzania. They live at the top of a mountain. I’ve visited every few years since 2002 as part of my church group. My dissertation focused on their oral healthcare. For the control group, I only distributed toothbrushes and toothpaste. The test group was also taught oral hygiene care. The results were amazing. Students in the test group increased their brushing frequency, had fewer problems eating, and felt they could socialize and smile more. Walden’s mission to effect positive social change was intimidating at first, but that’s what my work is all about. You want your research to be meaningful, to impact people. I’m proud to say mine has.”
— Dr. Catherine Milejczak ’11, MS and PhD in public health graduate, a 2011 Scholar of Change, and dental program director at Midlands Technical College in Columbia, S.C.
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