Written by Hye Won Jung
Edited by Jiali Liu and Maggie Morgan
Translated by Hong (Ariel) Chan
The Tzu Chi Mid-Atlantic Region has recently resumed its free clinic consultations after putting them on pause during the pandemic. The medical team held the second dental assistant training on June 25, 2022, providing volunteers with the knowledge required to serve community members in need.
The course kicked off with a lecture from Master Cheng Yen followed by an introduction the Tzu Chi Medical’s philosophies from volunteer Jiquan Shi. The course content is based on the principle of operation on material objects. Anli Xiao, a second-year student at the School of Dentistry at Rutgers University-Newark, gave a lecture on the process of equipment and the importance of safety protection.
Experienced dental-disinfection volunteers demonstrated the sanitation process to ensure the health and safety of the public as well as dental volunteers. Dr. Mingyuan Han, a volunteer from Mid-Atlantic New Jersey TIMA Branch, went over the precautions for patients with heart disease and hypertension and reminded students to pay close attention to every patient’s medical history.
Liting Jian is a volunteer at the Tzu Chi Academy in New Jersey. She specially signed up for the training of medical volunteers and hoped to participate in free medical services. “It’s very useful to learn the proper nouns for dental appliances during the course,” she said.
Several members of the New Jersey Tzu Chi Youth Association (referred to as Tzu Shao) participated in the course. All of the trainees expressed their hope that, in the future, they could apply what they have learned and participate in free dentistry consultations. It’s a beautiful cycle to see people who are excited to pass on Tzu Chi’s spirit of love to those in need by satisfying their urgent medical needs.
Student Huiyuan Zheng said, “This course is lively and interesting. The most interesting thing is that we can practice on-site, which gives me a further understanding of dental medical equipment.” She hopes that through her learnings, she can ensure that free clinic patients will have a comfortable treatment experience with more ease.
Another student, Laihua Chen, shared: “It is not easy to do free medical consultation in the United States. Now that there is an opportunity, we must make good use of it.”
At present, the COVID pandemic is slowing down. I hope we can step up our pace to promote community activities and take care of people in need in the community.
The medical volunteer training at Tzu Chi Mid-Atlantic Region was once again successful. Trainees and volunteers on stage stood up to express their gratitude. It was rewarding to see that the training event had attracted volunteers and Tzu Shao of different ages to participate. The goal of the training always remains the same: bring warm care to patients, heal those in need, and let as many people as possible receive assistance. Through love and compassion, knowledge and understanding, empathy and action – we can continue to change the world.
