Starter Kit Quarterly

Final Issue

Greetings Global Health Starter Kit friends and supporters,

It is with mixed emotions I share with you our final Starter Kit Quarterly issue. This issue not only marks the end of our Global Health Starter Kit (GHSK) blog series, it also concludes our Global Health Starter Kit project. 

The Global Health Starter Kit was purposefully named from the beginning, always intended to provide free tools to help others get “started” with developing or expanding global oral health education. We are deeply grateful the Starter Kit not only achieved but surpassed our goals for integrating competency-based materials into curricula and programs worldwide. Our videos achieved nearly 14,000 views and our webpages have over 12,000 unique pageviews. The project materials have been shared and taught in 35 countries across a variety of disciplines and organizations. Thanks to our exceptional team of authors, editors, and users, this undertaking far exceeded our expectations and has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. It is not merely a project, it has become a global community.

The community that has formed and the materials we have collectively created will continue in new ways, and I look forward to what the future holds for global oral health education. Though the GHSK project has reached its conclusion, the content will remain available on our website until the end of the summer,  so be sure to download any materials before then. Our YouTube videos will remain on the HSDM YouTube Channel indeterminately, though we will no longer be adding or updating videos. 

This occasion presents a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the history of the project and the collaborations that led to its success. Co-developed with the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) Global Oral Health Interest Group, we aimed to elevate global oral health education standards and equip the future generation of dental professionals with high-quality learning experiences, driven by the modern global health agenda and values. 

Global Health Starter Kit Project Timeline

• 2012: Formation of the first Global Oral Health Group formed within CUGH
• 2015: Publication of   Competency Matrix for Global Oral Health
• 2016: American Dental Education Association hosts global oral health workshop
• 2017: Dr. Thomas Hall Global Health Education and International College of Dentists support
• 2018: Launch of the competency-based Global Health Starter Kit
• 2019–2020: Pilot and assessment of the Global Health Starter Kit
• 2022: Updates and expansion of the Global Health Starter Kit; launch of  Starter Kit Quarterly
• 2023: Support from Harvard Center for African Studies; the introduction of new modules and content
• 2024: Conclusion of the Global Health Starter Kit 

I would be remiss not to acknowledge two renowned scholars and global health leaders who had a major influence on this project and who passed before its conclusion. Dr. John Greenspan was a highly accomplished scientist, academician, educator, and pioneer in HIV/AIDS research. His leadership, as one of the founding directors, was instrumental in the early and immediate success of the CUGH Global Oral Health working group. He remains one of the most supportive, encouraging, and influential mentors I’ve had the privilege of learning from in my global health career. Dr. Paul Farmer, physician, medical anthropologist, and health equity and social justice advocate, is known for insisting, “The essence of global health equity is the idea that something so precious as health might be viewed as a right.” In his book To Repair the World, he underscores the values of partnership, ethical community engagement, and addressing the root causes of health inequity. Drs. Farmer and Greenspan passed within just a year of one another. Like many of you, I nearly buckled under the weight of their absence as we carried our global health endeavors forward without their direct guidance and mentorship to which we were so accustomed. Their legacy lives on in the Global Health Starter Kit and its future direction, thanks to all of you.

I encourage you to join the many global oral health networks, if you have not already, to continue the work of this community and project.

Examples include:

• The CUGH Global Oral Health Working Group, under the direction of GHSK contributor Dr. Irene Adyatmaka 
• The American Dental Education Association’s Global Health Workgroup (ADEA GHW), and founding director Dr. Elizabeth Shick (elizabeth.shick@cuanschutz.edu)
• The Alliance for Oral Health Across Borders (AOHAB), and President Dr. Deborah Weisfuse
• The IADR Global Oral Health Inequalities Research Network, and President Dr. Kristina Wanyonyi Kay

Be sure to also explore a new online, open access course, designed to address global oral health challenges and opportunities. Created by the American Dental Association (ADA) and World Dental Federation (FDI), this course is designed for anyone who wants to learn more about the global burden of oral disease, including clinicians, medical providers, public health students and workers. Check out the website for more information.

How inspiring and thrilling to reflect on the ways global oral health education has grown and flourished since the start of this project. As the world reels from past and current events, I remain humbled and honored to be part of a group of scholars and professionals committed to global oral health through education, policy, research, and care. Borrowing from the 2015 Cinderella movie (another title I proudly carry is ‘mom’), I first wrote during the pandemic and still believe today in the power we yield when we combine our kindness and our courage. I see these qualities in all who are eliminating inequities and injustices to advance oral health.

Thank you for supporting the Global Health Starter Kit project, thank you for your work and actions, thank you for your kindness and courage.

Please keep in touch through our HSDM social media channels: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube.

Warmly,

Brittany Seymour
Global Health Starter Kit Senior Editor

Greetings Global Health Starter Kit friends and supporters,

I am delighted to share with you our Starter Kit Quarterly winter 2023 issue, the latest issue of our Global Health Starter Kit (GHSK) blog series designed to keep you updated on Starter Kit project developments and related global highlights. This issue consists of three components: Part I- Global highlights; Part II- Global Health Starter Kit updates; Part III- Global Health Starter Kit educator voices.

Part I- Global Highlights

It has been an active season for global oral health. This past November, in what’s been called a watershed moment for oral health, the World Health Organization (WHO) published the Global Oral Health Status Report. This report, utilizing data profiles for 194 countries, provides the “first-ever comprehensive picture of oral disease burden and highlights challenges and opportunities to accelerate progress towards universal health coverage (UHC) for oral health.”  Shortly thereafter this January, the WHO Global Oral Health Action Plan draft was updated to incorporate new stakeholder input and feedback. The targets and indicators laid out in the action plan provide measurable opportunities for achieving the General Assembly’s 2019 commitment to the prevention and control of NCDs by scaling up efforts that address oral health. Competency-based education and innovative workforce training are among the priority strategic objectives in the action plan. The excellent work of the CUGH Global Oral Health Working Group,  currently under GHSK contributor Dr. Irene Adyatmaka’s direction, has contributed to these global efforts since its founding in 2012. The working group published the first global oral health competency matrix in 2015, led by founding director Dr. John Greenspan and others. These competencies supported the Global Health Starter Kit and will continue to serve as a foundation for oral health workforce expansion and training worldwide

A more recently formed working group is also taking action to advance promising practices in global oral health education: the American Dental Education Association’s Global Health Workgroup (ADEA GHW). This collection of dental school faculty collaborates on ideas for strengthening best practices for global health activities in dental education, including didactics and Short-Term Experiences in Global Health (STEGHs). The ADEA GHW is composed of approximately 60 members from over 30 dental schools and welcomes any dental faculty working in global health in the U.S. and globally to join. If you would like to learn more about this group, please contact founding director Dr. Elizabeth Shick at elizabeth.shick@cuanschutz.edu. Stay tuned for exciting updates on their efforts in future issues.

Part II- Global Health Starter Kit Updates

We are delighted to announce our newest module has just been released! GHSK Module 6: Environmental Health, co-authored by Drs. Donna Hackley and Amod Pokhrel, introduces the concept of environmental health as it relates to oral health.  It encourages learners to think critically about the intersection of oral health with environmental health, climate change, concepts of One Health, climate justice, global climate initiatives that relate to oral health and oral healthcare delivery, and ways in which we can take action to minimize or mitigate our impact on the environment. It is a pioneering topic and we are grateful for their important contribution to the Starter Kit. We’ve included some behind-the-scenes photos with the authors of our two newest modules during video creation. Enjoy! 

Clockwise from upper left: GHSK contributors Donna Hackley (Module 6), Brittany Seymour, Bree Zhang (Module 7), and Tooka Zokaie (Module 7)

Part III- Global Health Starter Kit Educator Voices

Last October, the Alliance for Oral Health Across Borders (AOHAB) hosted a webinar about the Global Health Starter Kit. AOHAB “serves as a coordinating group that promotes, nurtures, and sponsors collaborations among oral health and health-related schools, companies, and organizations worldwide.”  Two global health educators, Dr. Tessa Waldhart of the Humble Smiles Foundation, and Dr. Callum Durward of the University of Puthisastra Faculty of Dentistry, described how they have been using the GHSK in their organizations, their challenges, and their successes with the toolkit. Following our Student Voices section in our fall issue, and inspired further by the AOHAB webinar success, this issue continues with Educator Voices.

Dr. Waldhart elaborates on her experience below:

At Humble Smile Foundation, which has offices in Sweden, Israel, Tanzania, South Africa, India and the U.S., we use the Global Health Starter Kit to prepare students and health professionals who wish to work with us in the underserved communities we serve. Upon completion of all the GSHK learning modules, we ask them to write an essay about their approach to setting up an oral health program in a low-income country. If they pass the test successfully, they receive a certificate earning them preferential candidacy for a Humble Smile fellowship. Working directly and closely with a variety of different communities globally has taught us how to go about figuring out the issues at play that contribute to their particular oral health distress. Often communities have a high expectation from us to provide the same “restorative” solutions that their upwardly mobile sister communities have in place. However, we have learnt that after they have observed the professional way in which we go through our workflow - all the way from a thoroughly investigative needs & assets assessment to continual monitoring & evaluation – they do accept our effort and value our “designer preventive interventions” approach. Most importantly, applying a comprehensive and evidence-based workflow results in increased local engagement and ownership of the project which are crucial for its sustainability over time.

Dr. Stephen Hsu Chin-Ying, National University of Singapore Faculty of Dentistry, describes his unique curricular approaches:

To break the yoke of the culture of compartmental and grade-driven rote learning common in our regional educational systems, our Community/Global Health Study (C/GHS) module adopts a knowledge-attitude- practice (K-A-P) 3-tier learning approach, flipped classroom, peer-learning through group projects, and other andragogical strategies. The well-structured Global Health Starter Kit was utilized as the core material to facilitate self-directed online learning for D2 students, and to build their foundational understanding of issues pertinent to global/community health. In April-May 2023, these students will be ready to apply what they’ve learned in C/GHS and GHSK to launch their group projects in local and international communities by partnering with friends/NGOs in Singapore, Indonesia, Iraq and Nigeria.

To our GHSK community, we remain honored and grateful for your continued support of and contributions to this project. If you are using our materials and your country is not currently colored in on our Global Health Starter Kit global user map, let us know so that we can add it!

Want to share your experience using the Global Health Starter Kit? Email us to be featured in a future issue of the Starter Kit Quarterly.

Check the GHSK page and HSDM social media channels for ongoing updates. And please share with your colleagues! LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube.

Warmly,

Brittany Seymour
Global Health Starter Kit Senior Editor
Global Health Discipline Director and Associate Professor
Harvard School of Dental Medicine

Starter Kit Quarterly Fall 2023 Issue

Greetings Global Health Starter Kit friends and supporters,

I am delighted to share our Starter Kit Quarterly fall 2023 issue, the latest issue of our Global Health Starter Kit (GHSK) blog series designed to keep you apprised of Starter Kit project developments and related global highlights. This issue consists of three components:

• Part I—Global Oral Health Scientific Highlights
• Part II—Global Health Starter Kit Educator update
• Part III—Global Health Starter Kit Author Update.

Part I- Global Oral Health Scientific Highlights

Scientific momentum continues for global oral health, following numerous milestones we have covered in previous Starter Kit Quarterly issues. Several journals have implemented and launched special issues on global oral health this year; the following are not meant to be exhaustive, they merely serve as interesting examples of continued developments underway.

The British Dental Journal Open’s collection outlines the prevalence, risk factors, and the oral health-related quality of life of oral health conditions from around the world. It aims to correlate oral health disorders with other health conditions. It explores the various factors that lead to oral disease in different socio-economic systems and access to dental healthcare. There is still time to submit! The submission status is still open, with a December 1, 2023 deadline.

Over the summer, Annals of Global Health released a special collection on Universal Health Coverage and Integrated Care. This collection includes oral health highlights in workforce innovation, care delivery, and systems change. It illustrates successful programs and policies that focus on holistic equitable care that effect sustainable change through stakeholder engagement.

Earlier this fall, the Journal of the California Dental Association accepted submissions for their first global oral health special issue. The collection will target a broad audience with various global health experiences and knowledge. This special issue aspires to reconsider altruistic yet potentially passé global outreach models and offers examples of community-driven alternatives for global engagement. The journal hopes to release the collection this April, so stay tuned!

Part II- Global Health Starter Kit Educator Update

Dr. Flora Smyth Zahra, from King’s College London, Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences has incorporated the Global Health Starter Kit within a new curriculum, across all years of the undergraduate dental, and dental therapy and hygiene programs. She quotes in a recent publication that Clinical Humanities & Wellbeing modules ‘challenge clinical students to think ethically and more critically about the wider issues surrounding values, cultures, sustainable health care, and their own clinical practice.’ She explains that the structure of the Starter Kit has enabled Global Health to run as a longitudinal theme through the years alongside, cross-disciplinary ways of knowing from the humanities, advocacy, service learning, sustainability, cultural humility, and cognitive flexibility.

Many of those competencies required of the 21st-century oral healthcare team are common to global health. They are necessary for transformative education, sustainable health, and culturally competent care. Her full publication goes into additional detail on this innovative longitudinal curriculum.

Part III- Global Health Starter Kit Author Update

The American Public Health Association annual meeting is next week in Atlanta, Ga., with the theme “Creating the Healthiest Nation: Overcoming Social and Ethical Challenges.” Bree Zhang, degree candidate at Columbia University College of Dental Medicine and co-author of Module 7  along with Tooka Zokaie, will be presenting a poster on her experience authoring the module. Part of the themed-related session: Oral Disease Knows No Borders, her poster is entitled, “COVID-19: Global Lessons for a Global Profession—Introducing a New Module into Harvard School of Dental Medicine’s Global Health Starter Kit.” If you will be in Atlanta, please stop by her presentation scheduled for Monday, November 13, 2023: 10:30–11:30 AM (ET). The APHA Oral Health Section also organized another theme-related session Overcoming Challenges in Global Oral Health. We are delighted to participate and learn from these important sessions in global oral health next week.

To our GHSK community, including this issue’s contributing educator and author, we remain honored and grateful for your continued support of and contributions to this project. If you are using our materials and your country is not currently colored in on our Global Health Starter Kit global user map, let us know so that we can add it!

Want to share your experience using the Global Health Starter Kit? Email us to be featured in a future issue of the Starter Kit Quarterly.

Check the GHSK page and HSDM social media channels for ongoing updates. And please share with your colleagues! LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

Warmly,

Brittany Seymour

Global Health Starter Kit Senior Editor

Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Associate Professor

Harvard School of Dental Medicine

Greetings Global Health Starter Kit friends and supporters,

I am delighted to share with you our Starter Kit Quarterly summer 2023 issue, the latest issue of our Global Health Starter Kit (GHSK) blog series designed to keep you apprised of Starter Kit project developments and related global highlights. This issue consists of two components: Part I- Global Health Starter Kit Updates, Part II- Global Oral Health Education Highlights.

Part I — Global Health Starter Kit Updates

We are pleased to issue the summer Quarterly just in time, before New England enters its beautiful fall season merely one week away. As senior editor and project director for the Global Health Starter Kit, I have a personal announcement that has contributed to the slight delay. More than fifteen years ago, I took a leap of faith while still in private practice in Colorado to follow my heart and pursue this unique professional path in global oral health. I have been so fortunate to craft a pioneering, dynamic career thanks to so many of you; the results have exceeded my every expectation. I am absolutely thrilled to share I have accepted a new role as Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs at Harvard School of Dental Medicine. I am beyond honored to help create exciting pathways and opportunities for supporting our colleagues in their careers. My vision for our profession has always been to champion one another as global citizens and healthcare leaders, prepared for equally diverse career pathways and responsive to the world’s rapidly evolving oral health landscape. I will continue to serve our profession and the world with gratitude and prudence, and I will maintain my global oral health work, including the Global Health Starter Kit. My transition may impact the timing of project initiatives and forthcoming developments, and we will keep you posted in future Starter Kit Quarterly issues.

Part II — Global Oral Health Education Highlights

This past July, the WHO Regional Office for Africa, in collaboration with Harvard School of Dental Medicine, launched its first course on Oral Health for Community Health Workers. The virtual launch event garnered international attendance and the online course has an estimated 3,000 enrolled participants thus far. Thank you for sharing this event across your networks and helping to make it a success. The novel training program is an exciting example of the WHO Global Strategy on Oral Health in action.

The Consortium of Universities of Global Health, a rapidly growing organization of over 170 academic institutions and other organizations from around the world, recently unveiled a new working group. The Global Health Educators Community (GHECo) includes professors and educators who teach global health courses, design curricula and experiential learning activities, and/or oversee degree programs. All are welcome to become an active member of GHECo and CUGH membership is not required.

The not-for-profit Borrow Foundation promotes the improvement of oral health, primarily in children, through the prevention of oral diseases and global in scope. The organization has recently announced a call for applications supporting projects related to this mission, including education, training, and capacity-building efforts. The deadline for grant applications is November 1.

On September 21, the United Nations General Assembly will convene its second high-level meeting on universal health coverage. The event offers an important opportunity to bring together stakeholders and leaders to advance the priority of universal access and health equity for all. The NYU College of Dentistry is hosting a WHO Global Oral Health Agenda ‘kick-off’ side session on September 20, ahead of the UN meeting. The side event will address global oral health challenges, innovations in oral health and UHC integration, and policy acceleration. The hybrid oral health event offers in-person and virtual options for attendance.

To our GHSK community, we remain honored and grateful for your continued support of and contributions to this project. If you are using our materials and your country is not currently colored in on our Global Health Starter Kit global user map, let us know so that we can add it!

Want to share your experience using the Global Health Starter Kit? Email us to be featured in a future issue of the Starter Kit Quarterly.

Check the GHSK page and HSDM social media channels for ongoing updates. And please share with your colleagues! LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube.

Warmly,

Brittany Seymour

Global Health Starter Kit Senior Editor

Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Associate Professor

Harvard School of Dental Medicine

Greetings Global Health Starter Kit friends and supporters,

I am delighted to share with you our Starter Kit Quarterly spring 2023 issue, the latest issue of our Global Health Starter Kit (GHSK) blog series designed to keep you apprised of Starter Kit project developments and related global highlights. This issue consists of three components: Part I- Global highlights; Part II- Global Health Starter Kit updates; Part III- Global Health Starter Kit volunteer voices.

Part I- Global Highlights

The historic momentum continues for global oral health. Much has happened since the 74^th World Health Assembly and the landmark resolution on oral health (see our previous Starter Kit Quarterly issues). This spring, we simultaneously celebrated the official adoption of the WHO Global Oral Health Action Plan along with the World Health Organization’s 75^th birthday. Fun Fact: The WHO constitution commenced on April 7, 1948, a date now observed annually as World Health Day. The draft oral health action plan was formally adopted on May 26 during 76th World Health Assembly. As a brief refresher, since the inception of the WHO in 1948, the WHA has convened the highest governing health body in the world. It consists of health ministers from World Health Organization member states and is held annually in Geneva, Switzerland. The global oral health action plan was adopted as part of the political declaration on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases. View the archived recorded session here: Agenda item 13.2 WHA 76- Committee A, Eleventh Committee A meeting May 26, 2023. The primary aims of the action plan embrace the inclusion of essential oral health care services in Universal Health Coverage along with a reduction in the global burden of oral diseases. It outlines six strategic, measurable target areas and 100 action items for achieving them by 2030.

Another event making spring headlines was the release of #SheShapes: The State of Women and Leadership in Global Health report, launched by the non-profit Women in Global Health. The report spotlighted a global inequality dubbed the XX Paradox. Namely, women make up 75% of the health workforce yet hold only 25% of senior health care leadership roles. The report goes on to explore this paradox using data across numerous countries and centered on low and middle income nations. Women are the primary target of most global health organizations in LMICs, yet these programs are comprised of leadership distribution inequalities. Community health workers, majority of whom are women, are specifically acknowledged for subsidizing health care often through under or unpaid labor, with few to no leadership development opportunities. Empowering women for leadership, starting in our communities, leverages their vast experience and expertise and strengthens health systems, quality of care, and economic development. Report recommendations highlight these necessary health and socioeconomic dividends.

Both the Women in Global Health report and the Global Oral Health Action Plan are embodied in an exciting upcoming event, and you are invited! The WHO Regional Office for Africa, in collaboration with the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, has recently finalized its first course on Oral Health for Community Health Workers. The course is designed to help meet the unmet demand for oral health services in the WHO African region. The curriculum will be hosted on OpenWHO, WHO’s interactive, web-based, knowledge-transfer platform offering open-access online courses, open to anyone anywhere. A live, virtual launch event is scheduled next month to introduce the course and consider its implementation as part of health system strengthening and regional oral health strategies.

Part II- Global Health Starter Kit Updates

The GHSK editorial team continues to grow our project reach and impact, and progress with the Global Health Starter Kit 2^nd Edition resumes with a newly scripted Module 2, forthcoming late summer. Module 2: Global Goals will be updated to include the many momentous global oral health policy and literature advances in recent years. In addition, we are particularly delighted to announce another project update. The International Association for Dental Research Venezuelan Division (IADR-DV) and Universidad Cayetano Heredia-Peru, under the coordination of Drs. Alejandra Garcia Quintana and Pamela R. Chacón-Uscamaita, are undertaking Spanish translation of the GHSK curriculum materials. Their motivation for this undertaking “is to ensure that the GHSK modules and resources are readily accessible to all Spanish speakers.” The Global Health Starter Kit project is largely volunteer-driven so it can remain a free, public good open to everyone; we welcome our newest volunteers to the team with immense gratitude for their vision for a Spanish version. Please enjoy a personalized message from our newest volunteer team members.

Part III- Global Health Starter Kit Volunteer Voices

Alejandra Garcia Quintana, Dentist, MPH

"Greetings to the Global Health Starter Kit community! In my journey of education and professional growth, I have developed a deep passion for Global Oral Health. I am an internationally trained dentist from Venezuela, and I recently completed my MPH from UTHealth Houston, specializing in Health Education and Behavioral Sciences. Currently, I hold the position of Vice President at the International Association for Dental Research Venezuelan Division and actively engage in Oral Health Promotion Research and Behavioral interventions for reducing the burden of Dental Caries with UTHealth and a Research Team from Venezuela and IADR-DV.

Latin American countries face significant challenges in improving their population's oral health. Factors such as limited access to dental care, cultural beliefs, and economic constraints weigh heavily on oral health outcomes. While Global Oral Health initiatives have shed light on the importance of comprehensive care, including promotion, prevention, and treatment, there remains a lack of accessible education on this subject for dental students and professionals in Latin American countries.

Fortunately, my search for resources led me to discover the Global Health Starter Kit (GHSK). I found it to be an invaluable tool for bridging the knowledge gap in this crucial field. As a result, I am excited to announce that I will be working on translating the GHSK into Spanish, catering specifically to the needs of Latin American dental students and professionals. This project is a major milestone that we will be developing in the upcoming months."

Pamela R. Chacón-Uscamaita, DDS, MSc(c)

"I am currently serving as a data manager for projects in the realm of global health. My professional background lies in dental medicine in Peru, and I am concurrently a Master's candidate in the field of Epidemiological Research at Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (UPCH). Upon completing my graduate studies, I was honored to be awarded the GloCal Health Fellowship 2020-21 at the University of California Global Health Institute (UCHI). At present, I am actively involved in projects at the Center for Primary Health Care Research and the Emerging Diseases and Climate Change Research Unit at UPCH, as well as the Duke Global Health Institute at Duke University.

During my fellowship training, I focused my efforts on a project investigating the barriers and facilitators of access to oral health care in a health center located in the Peruvian Amazon. Through this work, I sought to understand the broader concept of global health with a specific focus on oral health, and how I could effectively construct my project within this framework. During my undergraduate studies at a national university, the concept of "Global Oral Health" had not yet been introduced to me. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity provided to me by UPCH, a private university that champions international research, and the scholarship that allowed me to access the "Global Health Starter Kit" as a resource for my project. I quickly realized that this resource was a profound educational tool with the potential for application across various educational and research fields. It is already being utilized by numerous institutions in the USA. Motivated by the desire to reciprocate the training I received as a health professional, and with the aim of making this knowledge accessible to all Spanish speakers who may find English to be a barrier to career progression, I decided to become involved in this excellent initiative. I am confident that it will be of great value to many. Moreover, it is our hope that the translation process undertaken by our team can be replicated in other languages, thereby broadening the reach of global oral health knowledge worldwide."

To our GHSK community, we remain honored and grateful for your continued support of and contributions to this project. If you are using our materials and your country is not currently colored in on our Global Health Starter Kit global user map, let us know so that we can add it!

Want to share your experience using the Global Health Starter Kit? Email us to be featured in a future issue of the Starter Kit Quarterly.

Check the GHSK page and HSDM social media channels for ongoing updates. And please share with your colleagues! LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube.

Warmly,

Brittany Seymour

Global Health Starter Kit Senior Editor

Global Health Discipline Director and Associate Professor

Harvard School of Dental Medicine

Greetings Global Health Starter Kit friends and supporters,

I am delighted to share with you our Starter Kit Quarterly fall 2022 issue, the second issue of our new Global Health Starter Kit (GHSK) blog series designed to keep you updated on Starter Kit project developments and related global highlights. This issue consists of three components: Part I- Global highlights; Part II- Global Health Starter Kit updates; Part III- Global Health Starter Kit student voices.

Part I- Global Highlights
Since our inaugural summer Starter Kit Quarterly, exciting progress on the WHO Resolution on oral health continued with the release of a proposed draft global oral health action plan. This document was open for consultation from UN Member States and organizations, and non-State actors (nongovernmental organizations, private sector entities, philanthropic foundations, and academic institutions) through mid-September, 2022. The draft plan includes proposed actions for academia, governments, the private sector, and civil society. The Consortium of Universities for Global Health’s Global Oral Health Interest Group and Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM) collaboratively contributed to the web-based consultation process. In keeping with global oral health momentum, a new global health commentary series in the Journal of the American Dental Association launched this summer. Even closer to home, we were thrilled to see Harvard alumna, poet, and activist Amanda Gorman recite her original poem on climate and equity during SDG Moment during the 77th UN General Assembly.

 Part II- Global Health Starter Kit Updates
Speaking of climate and health equity, our forthcoming Global Health Starter Kit Module 6- Environment Health is under editorial review and is expected for release this winter. Module 6 author Dr. Donna Hackley recently returned from speaking on the topic at the World Oral Health Forum’s session on Sustainable Dentistry in Geneva. GHSK Module 7- COVID19: Global Lessons for a Global Profession went live last month, be sure to check it out! The Starter Kit project was published as a case example in the WHO Mobile Technologies for Oral Health: an Implementation Guide. We received a supportive grant from the Harvard University Center for African Studies to continue to grow our project reach and impact, and progress with our authors for the Global Health Starter Kit 2nd Edition updates continues. Our expanded editorial team has been essential for meeting these growing project needs. Please extend a warm welcome to our new assistant editors.

Becca Clem grew up in Bethesda, MD and graduated from Emory University in 2021 with a BS in Chemistry and a minor in Nutrition Science. She is currently a second year DMD student at Harvard School of Dental Medicine. Passionate about mentorship, nutrition, and preventive care, she cannot wait to explore the connections between oral and systemic health in dental school. Becca is a National Health Service Corps Scholar. Following graduation from dental school, she will provide oral health services in an underserved community with limited access to dental care. 

Dr. Nithya Ramesh, BDS, MPH is a dental public health resident at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. She completed her dental education in India and earned her Masters in Public Health from Brown University in 2017. Prior to her residency at HSDM, she worked at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice as a Senior Research Associate on grant funded projects related to implementation science and program evaluations. Dr. Ramesh has a strong interest in education implementation and global oral health research.

Deepak Suri is a second year DMD student at Harvard School of Dental Medicine. Since graduating from NYU with a BA in biology, his curiosity for global and public health has grown. The questions that interest him most are how to reduce barriers to accessing oral health care in underserved regions and how to expand access to quality surgical care for the treatment of cleft lip and palate. He joined the Global Health Starter Kit team to grow his understanding of global health and participate in bringing global and public health education into the dental curriculum.

Part III- Global Health Starter Kit Student Voices

We are delighted to feature GHSK student voices this fall. It is our true pleasure to share a personal reflection written by one of our own Global Health Starter Kit students and edited by another.

Reflection Author: Arsema Aklog
Secondary Author & Editor: Alyssa Panton, MBE

In my opinion, equitable global oral health requires not only sustainable access to dental care, but also a prolific investment in intersectional and preventative oral health measures that allow the general populace to live healthy, dignified, lives of quality. This working definition has been shaped by my lived experience and my participation in GHHP30: Global Oral Health, Healthy Teeth Health Societies at Harvard University under the tutelage of Dr. Brittany Seymour, DDS MPH and Alyssa Panton, MBE.

I am from Ethiopia, where the majority of the population does not have wide access to toothbrushes. Instead, people use small twigs from local trees as chewing sticks. Growing up in the United States, I believed that using such sticks to clean one’s teeth was ineffective. Paradoxically later in life, I stumbled upon an academic article that proved the efficacy of chewing sticks in relation to toothbrushes. The very first lecture in my college seminar on indigenous oral health practices and cultural competency in dental medicine was also enlightening; it inspired me to reflect upon my previous realization and understand the role of my lesson in the work of global oral health. Who am I to look down on a practice used daily by millions of people? Why should it take this reading of a contemporary peer-reviewed article for me to perceive legitimacy in my culture’s ancient practices? How can I share my lesson with others to inspire open-mindedness in global dentistry?

As I learned about demographic transitions and global trends in this class, I reflected upon my immigration to America. At first, I moved into a housing project in a densely populated city. I assumed that the global shift towards urbanization had an overwhelmingly positive impact on oral health access. However, I now realize that densely populated cities pose their own unique set of accessibility challenges. For example, my affordable housing complex in the U.S. was located within a food desert. In the food desert, processed, sugar-dense foods are more widely accessible and relatively inexpensive when compared to the wholesome and nutritious food items that positively support oral health. My educational growth thus far this semester has elicited two conclusions:

· To value oral health and dental medicine is to value its rich history, diverse perspectives, and all its unique practices.

· Urbanization should not be conflated with improved oral health.

Through my experience, I have learned that one’s perception cannot conflate reality; however, a group of diverse experiences can be a useful tool for solving challenges in real-time. Going forward, I believe that the future of global health will be transformed if we, the international dental community, work to craft intersectional solutions that acknowledge and incorporate voices from every global environment.

Arsema Aklog is a student at Harvard University, where she studies Sociology and Global Health and Health Policy. She is passionate about social determinants of health and equity in public policy. She is the author of this student reflection and is currently enrolled in Dr. Seymour’s Global Health Starter Kit undergraduate course at Harvard College titled Global Oral Health: Healthy Teeth, Healthy Societies.

While working towards her Master of Science in Bioethics (MBE) at Harvard Medical School’s Center for Bioethics, Alyssa completed Dr. Seymour’s Global Health Starter Kit advanced graduate course at Harvard School of Dental Medicine titled Global Oral Health: Interdisciplinary Approaches. Alyssa now works as a teaching assistant for the GHSK Harvard college course. She appreciates her endeavors as both a learner and teacher within the field of dental ethics and oral healthcare policy/delivery. Alyssa nurtures her intrinsic passion for teaching by working as an instructor and mentor to students, such as Arsema who is refining her personal reflection assignments and highlighting universal themes relevant to the dental community.

To our GHSK community, we are honored and grateful for your broad support of and contributions to this project. If you are using our materials and your country is not currently colored in on our Global Health Starter Kit global user map, let us know so that we can add it!

Want to share your experience using the Global Health Starter Kit? Email us to be featured in a future issue of the Starter Kit Quarterly.

Check the GHSK page and HSDM social media channels for ongoing updates. And please share with your colleagues! LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube.

Warmly,

Brittany Seymour
Global Health Starter Kit Senior Editor
Global Health Discipline Director and Associate Professor
Harvard School of Dental Medicine

Greetings Global Health Starter Kit friends and supporters,

I am delighted to welcome you to the first Starter Kit Quarterly, our new Global Health Starter Kit blog series to keep you updated on Starter Kit project developments and related global highlights. We recently surpassed the three-year anniversary of the official launch of the Global Health Starter Kit curriculum project. Since its launch, there have been many exciting developments in the global oral health domain, including a Lancet series and Commission on Oral Health, and the WHO Resolution on oral health and Global Strategy on Oral Health, adopted this May at the 75th World Health Assembly.

As of this summer, we have registered users in 30 countries worldwide who have identified as dentists, physicians, nurses, leaders of health nonprofit organizations, and students. Our videos have been viewed more than 7500 times altogether, averaging 200 views per month. The "For the Learner" videos are our most popular feature. This is a wonderful discovery since the original project was initially designed only for educators. We're so pleased we received matching funding from both the Consortium of Universities for Global Health and the International College of Dentists USA Section Foundation to develop both versions.

We recently completed an early user assessment and wrote about our findings here. In general, users are pleased with the quality and scope of the materials. Our most common request is that the materials be provided in other languages beyond English. (Reminder: our videos are closed captioned, click the video CC setting and select from dozens of language options.) We are working to respond to requests and pursue a strategic path forward to continue to grow the project. As such, we have two exciting updates:

First, we are rolling out the Global Health Starter Kit 2nd Edition this year! As part of this second edition, we have expanded our editorial team and we are updating our module materials with our authorship team (thank you authors and editors!). In addition, this second edition will include two new modules, so the GHSK will now consists of seven modules available in both teacher and learner versions:

• Module 6: Environmental Health, by Donna Hackley and Amod Pokhrel
• Module 7: COVID-19: Global Lessons for a Global Profession, by Bree Zhang and Tooka Zokaie

Please watch for announcements coming soon to register here to attend our free Module 7 launch webinar happening later this summer.

Second, we are delighted to announce a new faculty development continuing education series consisting of five hands-on workshops over the ‘22/’23 academic year. The workshop series will assist participants in tying their own teaching to current topics in global oral health, including the WHO oral health resolution and global oral health strategy, and their relevance to dental education and responsive workforce development. Participants will earn ADA CE credit and learn strategies for optimizing learner outcomes, creating engaging effective classroom and field-based experiences, and preparing their learners for incorporating modern global health concepts into their career pathways. (NOTE: this CE series has been postponed until further notice).

Check this page and HSDM social media channels for ongoing updates. And please share with your colleagues! LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

Warmly,

Brittany Seymour
Global Health Starter Kit Senior Editor
Global Health Discipline Director and Associate Professor
Harvard School of Dental Medicine