Lasting Impressions | Summer 2017

40 © NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY Student Impressions Latoya Luke remembers being terrified on her first day of clinical work at the NSU College of Dental Medicine. “I didn’t know what I was doing or how to interact with patients,” said Luke, who will graduate with her D.M.D. degree in 2018. “That whole week, Hope Marshall showed me how to do data collection, mount patient photos, and do other tasks. I felt so much better after that. It’s good to have a partner who will show you everything.” That support is foundational to the CDM’s Women’s Dental Society, of which Marshall is past president and Luke is now president. “If it wasn’t for the Women’s Dental Society, I would never have met Hope, who is now my fourth-year partner,” Luke said. Marshall credited the organization for creating a group in which women in dentistry can feel welcome and seek mentoring from other students and faculty members. During her first year in dental school, Marshall missed a class due to ill- ness and didn’t know how to conduct a particular task. Another woman student, a past president of the Women’s Dental Society, offered assistance. “I felt so comfortable talking to her,” said Marshall, who will earn her D.M.D. degree in May 2017. “That’s what we’re trying to provide for other women.” Support, Networking Serve as Foundation of Women’s Dental Society BY CAROL BRZOZOWSKI Latoya Luke, left, is the current president of the CDM’s Women’s Dental Society, of which Hope Marshall, right, is past president.