Inaugural Dr. Gerald W. Deas Scholar Receives American Medical Student Association Foundation Award
Encourages Minority Youngsters to Pursue Careers in Dentistry
) Leaders of the NYUCD Student Community Service Committee, all from the Class of 2008, clockwise, from bottom left: Marcus Johnson, President; Betsy Duell, Treasurer; Sheena Lambert, Secretary; Vu Le, Vice President; Victor Moisseev, cofounder and Class President. |
Mr. Marcus Johnson, '08, the first recipient of the Gerald W. Deas Scholarship, has received an initial grant from the American Medical Student Association Foundation to implement an outreach initiative that he designed to encourage underrepresented youngsters in New York City public schools to follow in his footsteps. "Although much effort has been put into encouraging minority youth to pursue careers in medicine, there has been less effort to stimulate interest in dentistry," observed Marcus, who is President of the NYUCD Student Community Service Committee, an outreach program he started during his freshman year with Victor Moisseev, president of the freshman class. Together with more than a dozen other NYUCD students, Marcus put together the award-winning grant proposal, entitled "Operation Dental Success," under the guidance of Dr. Gustavo D. Cruz, Director of Public Health and Health Promotion. Marcus says that the initiative honors the vision of the Deas Scholarship, and adds that "It's never too early to start talking to young people about their future." Operation Dental Success will kick off in fall 2005 with a presentation to grades six through 12 at the School of the Future on East 22nd Street that will feature motivational speeches by Marcus and other NYUCD minority students, oral hygiene demonstrations, and toothbrush and floss distribution. Marcus hopes to secure additional funding to enable him to implement the program at three other area schools -- the Simon Baruch School, the School for the Physical City, and the Community Preparatory High School. |
