Page 15 - SCIE Ambassador Program Strategic Brief

Dalilah Romero
What has your experience been here at VCU?
Attending grad school made me more aware of my ethnicity and gender. In some ways it allowed me to
re‐connect with my cultural background; however, it made me aware of the lack of knowledge of
Hispanic patients and [that] ultimately leads to poor patient management for Hispanics. There are also
some sexist attitudes still existing in the medical field.

What would you like your experience to be here at VCU?
I think it would be beneficial to have an in‐class lecture/training session on cultural competency for
faculty & students. The School of Dentistry had cultural competency training online for students this
year, unfortunately since it was online many students clicked through the modules without reading the
content.
Rebaz Waise

What has your experience been here at VCU?
VCU is a very good school and the community is very accepting of each other. There is a lot of
opportunities here both academically and socially. We have the luxury to experience the city life without
having to pay the high cost of living like in other major cities. There is also some education about
cultures, specifically with regards to being culturally sensitive in the curriculum. However, this training
comes more from online coursework and lacks real world experience.

What would you like your experience to be here at VCU?
I have spent most of my life being surrounded by a diverse group of people especially in school. I think
this has had a big impact on who I am today. I think racism continues to be a big problem in our society
and it is important that we all get to experience meeting different people. There is a lot of diversity in
the school but with one obvious exception and that being the number of black students and faculty is
pretty low. I think the school should put more resources in recruiting students and faculty from the black
community. If we are to be super picky, then we also notice that the diversity in the student population
comes from a few select groups. For example, a lot more out‐of‐state students come from one particular
state. Another example is that the international students appear to come from one particular country.
Overall, with the exception of lacking in black students and faculty, VCU has done a great job in
diversifying the student population and I am hopeful for the progress that it will continue to make.
Diversity will help us enrich our experiences and make us better people.

Bryant Wooten

What has your experience been here at VCU?
My experience at VCU School of Dentistry thus far has been great. At such a stressful and important
time in my education, it's comforting to know that there are numerous resources available to help me
succeed. The majority of faculty members have an open door policy to help enhance your education and
have been overly accommodating to the students' needs.

What would you like your experience to be here at VCU?
It's difficult to answer how "I would like my experience to be here at VCU" as I am a relatively go‐with‐
the‐flow kind of person and seem to find content in what is. However, something to enhance my
experience even more would be to have the opportunity to change the curriculum of the dental school
to accommodate the recent advancements seen in dentistry.

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