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JOURNEY TO CHINA
Grab your swimsuit, rub on some
suntan lotion and get ready to party, it’s spring break 2002
in…China? Ok, maybe not. But that didn’t stop a contingent
of faculty, students and friends of the School of Dentistry
from having a great time there this past March. The group
traveled to the world’s most populous nation to present
research, give lectures and forge new relationships with
dental schools throughout the country.
Making the trip were D.D.S.
students Mike Allen, Ali Manoucheri, Jennifer Wong, Vivian
Maung, Mohammed Panapour and Monica Madan; faculty members
Alvin Rosenblum, Alex Chung and Harris Done; former part- time
faculty member Paul Chang and Xinyi Yu, vice-president of
Den-Mat, a dental materials manufacturer.
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[China Photos]
The dental students, who
represent the majority of this year’s student research day
winners, used their cash awards to finance the trip. Fresh
from presenting at the IADR General Session and Exhibition in
San Diego this past March, they were excited to exhibit their
work internationally. “I felt extremely blessed and honored
to be able to go to Beijing, Xian and Shanghai to present my
research. It was extremely thrilling and gratifying,” said
Wong.
The group visited dental
schools in Beijing, Xian and Shanghai. In addition to the
student research presentations, Rosenblum gave a problem based
learning lecture, Chung discussed esthetic considerations in
prosthodontics, and Yu demonstrated the advantages of new
porcelain veneer dental materials.
The Chinese students were eager
to hear from their American counterparts, but their reaction
to the lectures was mixed. “They were more interested in our
lifestyle, what we did for fun, than our research,” said
Maung.
Allen agreed with Maung’s
observation, but did note one exception. “There were just a
ton of questions in Xian. They were very interested in what we
were doing in our research and with the PBL program,” he
said. The school in Xian is currently implementing aspects of
the PBL pedagogy.
At all of the schools visited,
their hosts went out of their way to make the USC travelers
feel welcome. They were given gifts at each stop. “Everywhere
we went we were treated like honored guests,” said Rosenblum.
The group managed to do quite a
lot of sightseeing during their trip as well. They visited the
Forbidden City in Beijing, walked the Great Wall and saw the
Terra-Cotta Warriors in Xian.
Part-time faculty member Done,
who visited China in 2001, arranged the trip. Chang, who
regularly conducts business in China, was instrumental in
making the appropriate contacts. Aside from USC, only Harvard
and Columbia University have established relationships with
Chinese dental schools.
Plans are currently in the
works for a 2003 trip to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea.
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