this doc rocks!

Dr. P. defending the school's good name (with traditional Nicaraguan machete)

Forgive me, but I can't help bragging a bit about my Wonderful Guy. For several years now, he has been going on trips to some of the poorest communities in the world to volunteer his services, often bringing along his students from the Tufts School of Dental Medicine. 

In February, he went with three of his star dental students and a team from the Tufts Medical School to work in a temporary clinic in the remote village of Tadazna, Nicaragua. Since there is no electricity or running water, they cannot do most of the typical dental procedures we are accustomed to. Their work over 12 days in the village amounted to hundreds of extractions, and preventive care like exams and fluoride treatments.

As he said in this brief news item, the goal of these trips is "to immerse ourselves in both the community and culture to get a true feeling for what these people are living with on a day-to-day basis.There is nothing like 22 people all sleeping on simple bunk beds in one room and eating rice and beans at every meal to get you into the swing of things."

This year, apparently, it rained a lot, so they had the added fun of working in icky, sticky mud. (Don't feel too bad for them, though--afterwards, they got a couple of days of R&R at San Juan del Sur, a famous surfing spot.)

He is also on the board of an organization called HelpMercy which is working in Macha, Zambia. And he continues to look for new opportunities to contribute in the field of international public health.

The Tufts Dental Team: Nate Clem, Liz Turner, Brock Olsen, Dr. D. P.

This weekend I'm going with him to the Annual Spring Gala Fundraiser for Bridges to Community, the organization that partners with Tufts for their Nicaragua trips. The following weekend I'm joining him for the graduation awards dinner at the dental school. I'm looking forward to meeting the people he's been doing this wonderful work with, people I have heard so many stories about.