Unspoken Smiles Fellowship

Unspoken Smiles Fellowship

“CULTIVATING THE NEXT GENERATION OF ORAL HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS”

Access, Quality, and Cost of professional dental care are severely lacking in many developing countries globally. In Haiti particularly, there are only 0.12 dentists per 10,000 people, where the most common dental treatment is the simple but extreme measure of tooth extraction. The majority of dentists practice in Port-au-Prince; very few end up in rural areas. Our Fellowship empowers young women between 18-35 to play a critical/key/vital role in oral disease prevention in their communities. Fellows learn basic dental assistant’s skills grounded in real-world experiences. In a dynamic learning environment with dedicated mentors from the Foundation’s networks, fellows will be exposed to a range of resources and the beginnings of a potentially lifelong career opportunity, while building public health solutions for generations to come. Over the course of a six months, with the support of mentors and coaches, Fellows attend a five-week-long condensed training program and externship, at the beginning and end of their year, and upon graduation, join a Lifelong Dental Community, where they connect with and support each other while continuing to advance the Unspoken Smiles Foundation global movement together.

 

OVERVIEW

Unspoken Smiles Fellowships include a full ecosystem of support for aspiring young women to help fellows build professional and technical skills in the dental field, serving as a bridge from poverty to sustainable employment. The program features:

  • Widespread oral health education: Unspoken Smiles trains young women to perform oral hygiene assessments and cleanings within the communities
  • Knowledge is power: More individuals armed with knowledge raises awareness of the importance of oral health within the communities
  • Positive economic impact: The young women are empowered and able to make a positive impact in the economic development of their families, communities and countries

As the Unspoken Smiles Fellowship Program grows, these young women will not just impact their individual families and communities, but their countries as well. Programs like this are the future of sustainable humanitarian efforts, arming developing countries with the proper training and guidance to take development into their own hands with proper training and guidance.

 

To date we have awarded........... Fellowships

 

A WORLD-CLASS CURRICULUM

Collaborating with dental experts in the top U.S. dental school from teachers to experienced clinicians, over the past year, we have created a distinctive, immersive dental curriculum which builds a skill-set, complementary to the cognitive and commercial education that our Fellows would typically acquire in dental assistant school.  Our career training curriculum is designed to provide Fellows with:

  • Education, training and experience needed to qualify for entry-level positions in this exciting field, and have them ready to work in less than a year.
  • Combine traditional classroom lectures with group projects and hands-on training in a simulated dental office setting.
  • Training in valuable clinical, radiographic and administrative procedures, and how to operate the clinic and diagnostic equipment found in most modern dental offices, including amalgamators, dental units and chairs, model trimmers, oral evacuation equipment, oxygen tanks, personal computers, ultrasonic units, and X-ray units.
  • Cavitron—An equipment lease of high-quality ultrasonic portable dental cleaning equipment to kick-start the development of mobile, community dental clinics
  • Strong advisory support—each Fellow is assigned an international mentor (Dentist, Dental Hygienist), providing dynamic, hands-on mentorship ranging from dental advice to personal and professional development
  • Access to resources—a diverse array of training, materials, and professional services are available to help Fellows navigate the challenges of this new field
  • Community—access to the Unspoken Smiles Foundation's network of advisers, socially-responsible supporters, and an action-oriented peer group
  • Externship where they will get to work for several weeks in an actual local dental office.

 

Representing the World’s Diversity

 

Although this is a new program, our Fellows will hail from every impoverished country and will have implemented original Field Projects around the world. Most of our Fellows will be women.

Why train women?

Societies prosper when women are educated. Educated women are healthier and can earn incomes that can lift their households out of poverty.

These benefits are transferred to their children, who are better educated and have better health care.

According to the United Nations Girls Education Initiative (UNGEI), educated women will have access to higher-paying jobs, which will impact their families’ finances as well as contribute to their national economy. They are also more likely to improve nutrition and seek medical care for themselves and their families, and participate in political and social decision-making.

Communities and countries will benefit from a more educated workforce, and increasing women's participation in the formal economy through skill building programs like our Fellowship Program leads to greater economic growth.

Not only is educating women essential to achieve higher levels of economic growth and development, it is also the right thing to do for humanity.

 

A LIFELONG COMMITMENT

The Unspoken Smiles Fellowship is not a one-month experience. It is a Lifelong commitment to becoming skilled in dentistry and advancing the Unspoken Smiles Foundation’s movement to create access to quality dental services in under-served communities for generations to come.

 

FELLOWS ADDRESS OUR MOST PRESSING GLOBAL CHALLENGES

Access to Healthcare – Women Empowerment – Decent work & Economic Development – Quality Education

FELLOWSHIP TIMELINE

A Selective & Supportive Process

June: Online applications/ Webinars, digital resources, and samples questions available in advance

August: Applications screened, career aptitude test reviewed by Unspoken Smiles team, announcement of up to 20 incoming fellows.

September: Beginning of five-week training

October: Graduation

October – December: Externship

 

 

Eligibility

 

In order to be eligible for an Unspoken Smiles Fellowship, the applicant must be:

  • Over 18 years’ old
  • Successfully pass the career aptitude test (https://www.whatcareerisrightforme.com/career-aptitude-test.php)
  • Able to commit the full 80-hour training and 50-hour externship.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Looking for more information?

  • Application Deadline is Monday, July 31ST at 11:00 PM (11:00) ET.
  • See our resource of Commonly Asked Questions About the Fellowship and Application.
  • Please note that we do not accept any phone inquiries regarding the Fellowship application.
  • If your questions are not answered on any of these pages, please email [email protected].

 

HOW TO APPLY

Click on the above link to access the 2017 Fellowship application and FAQs.  If you have any questions about the application process, please contact us at [email protected].

 

Meet our Fellows