November/December 2018 | Page 23

Awa rds & A chievement s Penn Dental Medicine Awarded $1 Million Scholarship Grant Penn Dental Medicine students with a passion for serving vulnerable patients will now have a new resource to support their interests and goals thanks to a $1 million scholarship grant from the Delta Dental Community Care Foundation, the philanthropic branch of Delta Dental of Pennsylvania. Delta Dental’s Oral Health Education grant will endow in perpetuity the awarding of two $25,000 scholarships each year to DMD students who desire to work in an underserved area after graduation and who have demonstrated a commitment to community outreach during their studies. The grant award was announced in August and the first application cycle will open this fall for interested candidates in the current third-year class. “While all of our students gain experience serving the underserved through our community-based service learning courses, we see a significant number of students with a great interest go above and beyond what’s required and develop extensive experience in the community,” said Dr. Joan Gluch, Division Chief of Community Oral Health, and co-director of the grant with Dr. Olivia Sheridan, Assistant Dean for Admissions. “What’s exciting about this scholarship is that it will provide the support that some students need to ultimately pursue this path after graduation. The need is great, because approximately 48 million people in the United States live in areas with dentist shortages.” The scholarships, which will not reduce a student’s scholarship package from other Penn Dental Medicine resources, are intended to lighten overall expenses and debt during the recipient’s fourth-year of study with the goal of clearing a path for a student to pursue a career in community-based dentistry. In addition to completing a minimum of 250 hours of community- based service and finishing all their DMD requirements on time in their fourth year, recipients must demonstrate employment in a medically underserved or health professions shortage area by October of their graduating year and commit to two years in that role after graduation. “We are thrilled with the generosity and vision of Delta Dental to help us widen the doors of possibility for those students committed to serving communities in need as they enter professional practice,” says Dr. Mark Wolff, Morton Amsterdam Dean of Penn Dental Medicine. This scholarship grant is a project of the Power of Penn Dental Medicine capital campaign, part of a University-wide initiative to raise support for scholarships, community outreach and access to care for vulnerable populations, research, and facilities. M U LT I G E N E R AT I O N A L D E N TA L FA M I L I E S Following our second printing of our Multigenerational Dental Families list that appeared in the September/October issue, we received a note from Dr. Anthony R. Harlacher of Montoursville about his family, of which he is the third of three generations of PDA members. Third District Anthony J. Harlacher, DDS (grandfather, deceased) – 1930 graduate of University of Maryland Dental School Anthony C. Harlacher, DMD (father) – 1966 graduate of University of Pennsylvania Anthony R. Harlacher DMD (son) – 1991 graduate of Unversity of Pennsylvania; was a member of Third District but moved to Lycoming County, now Sixth District N OVEM BER/DECEM BER 2018 | P EN N SYLVAN IA DEN TAL JOURNAL 21