Grant to help pay tuition for 10 dental students

Ten dental students at the East Carolina University School of Dental Medicine have received scholarships to help pay for their studies as part of a five-year federal grant of nearly $1.4 million.

The Health Resources and Services Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, awarded the grant to provide financial assistance for dental students from rural areas, disadvantaged backgrounds and underrepresented minorities who have financial need and who plan to practice general dentistry in underserved communities.

Students receiving scholarship grants are, from left to right, Barry Price, Micah Naylor, Meagan Maida, Lara Holland, Amanda Stroud, Jorge Arriagada, Kimberly Vinson, Joseph McDaniels, Kyle Given and Melanie Goforth-Moore. At right is Dr. Margaret Wilson.

Dr. Margaret Wilson, associate dean for student affairs at the dental school, led the grant application process. The school received $170,000 this year to support the 10 students. Next year, 10 more students will receive grants, raising the total to 20 students receiving aid.

Students receiving grants this year are Jorge Arriagada of Apex; Kyle Given of Roanoke Rapids; Melanie Goforth-Moore of Boiling Springs; Lara Holland of Charlotte; Meagan Maida of Coats; Joseph McDaniels of Mocksville; Micah Naylor of Marion; Barry Price of Winfall; Amanda Stroud of Happy Valley and Kimberly Vinson of Raleigh.

The ECU SODM is the first public dental school in the United States established in the past 40 years with an emphasis on serving the oral health care needs of rural America by focusing on the education of general dentists to provide dental care and health policy leadership in North Carolina communities that have limited health resources and few other dentists.