Two DDS learners gained insight and experience thanks to their participation in an international exchange program.
Instituted by Karin Quick, DDS, PhD, director of the Division of Dental Public Health and director of global programs, the Heidelberg exchange is a virtual, year-long program with an optional in-person travel component.
Students from Heidelberg traveled to Minnesota in March. “After spending months connecting through zoom calls and discussing healthcare in each other’s countries, German dental students came to visit us,” recalled Isaac Tadé, DDS ’25, who participated in the program this year. “Through their stay, relationships between students from both countries strengthened immensely, and we quickly became good friends.”
Those bonds of friendship—and personal experiences of multiculturalism—inspired Tadé and Preet Kanwal Dhaliwal, DDS ’24, to see Heidelberg firsthand.
Tadé and Dhaliwal traveled to Heidelberg for a week at the end of May. They lived with host students, attended classes at Heidelberg University, rotated through comprehensive care clinics and witnessed advanced oral and maxillofacial surgeries.
“Our days were filled with hands-on learning and observation until day’s end,” reflected Dhaliwal. “The opportunity to closely witness advanced maxillofacial surgeries was both awe-inspiring and educational.”
