Kenosha – a visit to celebrate the first anniversary of the new building housing the Kenosha Community Health Center Dental Clinic….and to visit the eight dentists that our program recruited for the clinic!  Here is a photo of 7 of  the very talented group – the new face of public health dentistry today!  And here are photos of the impressive clinic.  The administrators worked hard to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere with jewel tones on the walls and lots of art.  The clinic is a  busy, beautiful new center of  pride in the city of Kenosha!

New dentists at Kenosha CHC - our placements!

Kenosha CHC celebration of the new dental clinic

Clinic CEO Jack Waters addresses the crowd

Clinic board members

Happy staff!

Tom Petri of WHPCA with the Kenosha dental director

Andrew Maples, DMD, Marsha Siik, Tom Jazweicki, DDS

Minneapolis – a visit to the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry to participate in their annual Student Dental Society vendor fair – a time to tell 4th year students about immediate openings in Wisconsin that need their skills, and a time to educate the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd years about the interview process, when to start looking, the state and federal loan programs.  We spoke with many students – and are always energized by them!

Milwaukee – next week brings a visit to Marquette School of Dentistry for their annual  Student Dental Society vendor fair!  Looking forward to talking with the students about opportunities all over the state of Wisconsin.

It’s been a busy summer!  We’ve wrapped up the 2008-2009 recruiting year and are happy to announce that we achieved 19 dentist placements in the state of Wisconsin for the year.  We found dentists for the communities of Kenosha, Ashland, Cashton, Superior, Neillsville, and Madison.  Here are photos of Scenic Bluffs CHC in Cashton – a great, thriving, busy clinic that serves the Amish community as well as 3 counties surrounding Cashton.

We’re proud to help bring more dentists to work in areas of the state that need more dentists.  And since the problem of access to dental care is so great we will keep moving forward!

Dentists – email Marsha Siik at siik@wisc.edu for information about openings in the state, in both rural and urban areas.

Clinic managers and practice owners – email Marsha Siik at siik@wisc.edu for help with finding an associate for your practice.

Amish residents near Cashton

Downtown Cashton

The Dentist Placement Program is in the Wisconsin Office of Rural Heath, which is part of the UW School of Medicine and Public Health.  We have several programs that focus on rural, including WARM -The Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine.

WARM is dedicated to improving the supply of physicians in rural Wisconsin and improving the health of rural Wisconsin communities.  WARM holds an annual forum each summer to introduce the new WARM students.  It is always inspiring to meet them and learn about their interests in rural health.  For more information on WARM contact Alison Klein, at UW School of Medicine and Public Health. alklein2@wisc.edu.

We offer sincere congratulations to graduating dentists this year  -  you have worked hard and we are grateful that many of you are choosing to bring your skills to the Community Health Centers in Wisconsin.  This year we have worked with 2009 graduates from Marquette, Minnesota, Iowa, and the new dental school in Arizona.  It’s been fun to work with you through this process, as you choose your first professional position.  4 new grads are starting work at the new CHC in Neillsville that opens in August, and 7 are joining the expanded CHC in Kenosha.  Our program’s placements for the academic year number 19 at this date.

On a personal note, my daughter, Cara, graduated from Columbia U with an MFA, so here are some photos of her with a proud mom.  Again congrats to all 2009 grads!

May 11 was a day of celebration in Neillsville, WI!  Ground was broken for a much needed new dental clinic that will see patients regardless of insurance coverage.   Here are photos of the celebration.  The clinic, part of the Family Health Center of Marshfield, will be open to patients on or near August 3rd.

Groundbreaking celebration tent

The crane is ready

Greg Nycz, Terry Kleutsch, city and state officials break ground!

April showers have finally brought May flowers to Wisconsin after a very very rainy month.  As May begins, most graduating dentists have focused their job searches, completed their site visits, signed contracts and are looking forward to graduation and a short break before starting their new careers.

This year we worked with Marshfield Clinic to place four dentists who will start at the new community health center dental clinic in Neillsville when it opens in late August.   Two are 09 graduates from Marquette and two are 09 graduates of U. of Minnesota.  This clinic is yet another step towards filling the gap in dental coverage in north central Wisconsin.

We also worked with Kenosha Community Health Center, Inc., to find seven dentists for their newly remodeled and expanded clinic in Kenosha.  The dentists are very impressed with the new facility and what it offers the community in terms of additional service.  Six of the dentists are new Marquette grads.

In the west of the state, a University of Iowa dentistry grad is getting ready to start work at Scenic Bluffs Community Health Center in Cashton.  To the north, a Marquette dentistry grad is planning to move north to work at Lake Superior Community Health Center at their Superior site.

Pasque flowers signal spring's arrival - finally!

Reba Rice, Ex Dir and Tina Dahlke, DDS at The Lakes CHC Dental Center in Ashland, WI

Lake Superior Community Health Center

Route 13 along Lake Superior

Lake Superior in Bayfield County

Reba Rice, Dir, Tina Dahlke, DDS at The Lakes CHC dental center

Dental staff at lunch

Remodeling crew was busy!

New equipment

First of 4 future operatories

Lake Superior Community Health Center in Superior, WI

Though spring is officially here, our Wisconsin weather is a mix of snow and rain, with snow drops and crocuses bravely trying to bloom through the snow! It was raining, but there were patches of snow in the woods when I drove from Superior to Ashland last week to visit two Community Health Centers.  My first rainy stop was in Superior at Lake Superior Community Health Center where I had a quick tour and meeting with Dr. Eric Elmquist.  The clinic was busy with all areas filled with patients.

Next stop was the new clinic in Ashland, which is the dental site for the Lakes Community Health Center in Iron River.  The dental clinic on Main Street in Ashland is a very welcome addition to the area – many partners in Bayfield County worked to open the clinic quickly.  Remodeling is still underway but the staff is energized, and the clinic is open and seeing patients. Tina Dahlke, DDS, moved from rural Alaska to be the start-up dentist, and the staff was recruited from Ashland, Eau Claire, and Minnesota. Tina is originally from Wisconsin, and was happy to return, especially to a location near Lake Superior. Reba Rice is Executive Director of both clinic locations in Iron River and Ashland. Here are some rainy photos of my trip!

We’ve also learned of 2 more placements for our program, both at the Kenosha CHC, making 12 placements for this fiscal year.  Dentists continue to contact us about clinic openings, both 2009 grads and in-practice dentists seeking part time work.

Though spring is still weeks away, we are cheered to learn that we have recruited 10 more dentists to work at community health centers in Wisconsin.  Our non profit program, at WORH, works to find dentists for the clinics in Wisconsin who take all patients, regardless of health insurance.  The 10 dentists are joining clinics in  Ashland, Cashton, Kenosha, Madison, and Neillsville.  Four are joining the new Neillsville clinic which opens this summer.  Two of the dentists will graduate from the University of Minnesota program this spring, while four of them will be new grads of Wisconsin’s own Marquette program.  The others are grads of dental schools in Iowa, Illinois, Boston, and New York.   We have now recruited 41 dentists since the start of our new program; however, the need is so great that we currently have full time openings at 10 clinics.  Dentists may contact us at siik@wisc.edu for information!

The recruitment year is in high gear during the winter months – dentists who will graduate in spring of ’09 are conducting site visits all over the state. They seek to check out clinics and practices, as well as future communities. It’s a large decision to choose a new, unknown town as a home for your new career and your family, and the Office of Rural Health is here to help dentists consider those decisions as well as to help clinics show their best face in the recruitment process. We invite clinics and dentists to contact us about any aspect of the recruitment and placement process. Wishing everyone a Happy New Year in 2009!

Job fair at Marquette School of Dentistry

Dentistry students at U of Minn

Yes, December is here  – and site visits are going on all over the state of Wisconsin.  Eager 09 dentistry grads are actively interviewing for jobs that will start in summer of 09.  It is wise to complete site visits early to have the first choice of practice opportunities!

To talk about any aspect of job hunting or hiring, feel free to contact our program.