Press Release

August 18, 2006
Contact: Kaylyn Kendall Dines
(973) 972-3000
dineskd@umdnj.edu

Dental Student Participates in UMDNJ’s First International Externship

NEWARK — Before starting his senior year at dental school in September, Jeffrey Lane will spend two weeks in Ireland participating in the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey’s first international clinical externship program in oral health.

On August 28th Mr. Lane, a 25 year-old resident of West Orange, will travel to Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, where he will observe techniques used in general dentistry, oral surgery, and orthodontics. During this experience, the fourth-year student at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Dental School will meet dental health professionals and patients as he gathers information about how clinicians provide oral health care in Ireland.

“The International College of Dentists in Ireland has made it possible for our student to serve as an ambassador representing New Jersey Dental School as he is immersed in the culture of another country,” said Dr. Arnold Rosenheck, assistant dean for hospital affairs and institutional development at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Dental School in Newark. “Jeffrey Lane’s proven academic and clinical performance has prepared him for this externship which will focus on patient management techniques. Ultimately, we hope this externship will enhance his educational experience and professional development.”

The externship program, which was coordinated within the Office of Student Affairs at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Dental School, is expected to give this student an educational opportunity that reaches men, women and children whose access to dental health care is limited. During his observation, Mr. Lane will compare the techniques used in Ireland with what he learned in dental school and at his father’s dental practice.

Now in his last year of dental school, Mr. Lane is considering a career in general dentistry like his father, Dr. William Lane, a graduate of the UMDNJ-New Jersey Dental School who has a practice in Haddonfield.

While Mr. Lane is the only dental student to travel abroad, 43 of his peers participated in externships in several states throughout the country including South Dakota, North Dakota, New York, California, and Pennsylvania.

In July 2007, two dental students from Trinity College in Ireland are expected to visit New Jersey for a similar externship experience.

UMDNJ is the nation’s largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,500 students attending the state's three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and a school of public health on five campuses. Annually, there are more than two million patient visits at UMDNJ facilities and faculty practices at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a statewide mental health and addiction services network.