On Friday, 22 May 2015, the Odontología Solidaria Foundation, represented by its president, Albert Cabestany, and the UIC Barcelona, represented by Lluís Giner, the dean of the Faculty of Dentistry, signed an agreement to work together on education and internship placements in order to familiarize future professionals in the sector with the social reality that Odontología Solidaria faces.
Thanks to this agreement, the foundation will increase the level of care patients receive and this will likely make it possible in the near future to decrease the long waitlists caused by the delicate socioeconomic situation that add to patients’ suffering. On a practical level, this collaboration with the UIC Barcelona will increase awareness of social dentistry and generate renewed support for the universal right to oral health throughout the university community, an indispensible sounding board for values and social engagement.
The agreement includes a commitment to comprehensive professional training. Students’ lessons will now include curricular and extracurricular internships at one of the foundation’s many centres. These internships will boast a strong ethos of solidarity and will be similar to volunteer work. The foundation’s centres have been in operation nationally and internationally for over 20 years.
The relationship between the student and Odontología Solidaria that develops at these internships will be overseen by a tutor from the foundation and another tutor from the UIC. Organization, supervision and control of the activities that arise from the agreement will be defined in accordance with the procedures laid out in the Faculty of Dentistry’s Internal Quality Assurance System.
