UNMC Student Alliance for People of All Abilities (SAPA)
Lotte Sjulin, a third-year dental student, has started a chapter of UNMC Student Alliance for People of All Abilities (SAPA), a student group that works to raise awareness of the health care needs of people with disabilities and increase the quality of care for these individuals. They hold monthly meetings and events to educate students on working with individuals that have varying motor, emotional and cognitive abilities.
SAPA hosted a Drive-Thru Trunk or Treat event for children and young adults with special needs and their families at the UNMC College of Dentistry in Lincoln on Oct. 30. Local organizations that participated were:
- Autism Family Network;
- Down Syndrome Advocates in Action;
- Down Syndrome Association:
- Joshua Collingsworth Memorial Foundation:
- Nebraska Transition College; and
- Special Olympics Nebraska.
Lotte Sjulin, a third-year dental student and the event organizer, said, "All the volunteers helped create a magical, safe Halloween experience for the 178 children and young adults who attended. Everyone involved took away special Halloween memories."
Student National Dental Association (SNDA)
Second-year dental students Ian Fullinfaw and Shyamaly Premaraj started a local chapter of the Student National Dental Association (SNDA), a national organization with a longstanding goal to promote, aid and support the academic and social environment of minority students.
The immediate goals of the College of Dentistry's SNDA chapter are to:
- increase the representation of dental students from underserved and underrepresented communities through mentorship;
- build an inclusive, caring community at UNMC;
- build awareness of important social and racial issues; and
- increase outreach to underserved communities in Lincoln and Nebraska.
For their first project, in celebration of Black History Month, SNDA featured trailblazing minority leaders in dentistry on flyers around the college and posts on the college's social media channels.