Global Health Nexus, Millennium Issue

NYU Dentistry Welcomes 40 Operation Link-Up Students

A group of 40 high school students from Paterson, New Jersey, visited NYU Dentistry last spring to learn about careers in dentistry from other young people already immersed in the dental education process. The group was sponsored by Operation Link-Up, a charitable corporation whose mission is to help students "pull themselves up by their bootstraps" by gaining an education and becoming economically self-sufficient.

The visit was part of a larger NYU Dentistry program to reach out to young people, especially from underrepresented minorities, and expose them to career opportunities that they may not have considered. Throughout the day, the visiting students met with D.D.S., hygiene, and dental assisting students and faculty. NYU Dentistry plans to host such career opportunity days targeted to nontraditional students on an ongoing basis.