05 February 2026

---

Global partnerships drive program’s success, longevity

---

The spirit of service and engagement at Adams School of Dentistry extends far beyond our walls, reaching out across the globe, establishing our school as a reliable partner for the world’s oral health community. The ASOD Global Program is a prime example of how our service and engagement work is bigger than us, with the program expanding as interest, a service mind-set and the value of experience shape future oral health care providers and their desire to give back while building and strengthening strategic partnerships with the global oral health community.

Global outreach spans more than 40 years and more than 20 sites

ASOD Global Director Ron Strauss, DMD, PhD, said at the program’s inception in the 1980s, the focus was on providing basic dental preventive care, exams and restorative or surgical procedures to patients in Mexico and Honduras. As the program has evolved, so has its mission. 

“Our intention is to further cultural understanding and facilitate the transfer of contemporary clinical skills, as opposed to substituting local providers with visiting students and clinicians,” Strauss said.

 In 2024, 24 ASOD students traveled to five global sites. In 2025, 45 students completed projects in 10 countries. And as 2026 begins, 48 ASOD students will be going to 13 sites to learn side-by-side with host nation dental students in Brazil, Ghana, India, Japan, Malawi, Moldova, Nepal, Turkiye, Puerto Rico, Greece, Indonesia, Scandinavia and Poland.

A student perspective on global experiences

Students value the experiences they get through the global program, and some have even mentioned the global opportunities as part of the reason they wanted to come to Carolina. For others, it’s a more personal journey and hits closer to home. Richard Baddoo, DDS candidate ‘27, has a father born in Ghana, so experiencing the people and culture as part of an educational outreach experience was something special for him. 

“Their kindness and generosity left a lasting impression on me, and I am grateful to still be in touch with some of them today,” Baddoo said. “As a future health care practitioner, I am deeply passionate about giving back to both local and global communities, and I plan to continue participating in and organizing mission trips where I can do just that. This experience broadened my perspective and strengthened my cultural competency, which I believe will allow me to provide more compassionate, informed, and patient-centered care in my future practice.”

“My experience in Turkey was refreshing and eye-opening. Connecting with the orthodontic residents and hearing about their similar experiences demonstrates how small the world truly is. Across the world, students learn similar techniques and have the same dedication to their patients and the care they provide. I will continue to strive to be a caring professional that is committed to learning as much as I can and always keep an open mind about other cultures and life experiences that shape my patients,” said Seth Lachacz, DDS candidate ‘26.

ASOD, partners prioritize global care and outreach

New partner sites are added to expand the opportunities for students and the reach and depth of the global programming. Roxanne Chadderton, MDiv, DMin, a member of the ASOD Global team,  said the global exchanges pair with top dental universities around the world, and each site is selected based on strong institutional partnerships, meaningful opportunities for student learning, and exposure to diverse health systems, cultures and patient populations. 

“Our goal is to provide experiential learning grounded in cultural humility, ethical engagement, and reciprocal collaboration with our global partners. As student interest continues to grow, expanding our portfolio of sites has become essential to meeting demand,” she said. More sites also mean more opportunities for research and scholarly collaboration.

“Our network of partnerships around the world underpin our research and educational capacity and increases ASOD’s impact while elevating Carolina’s national and international research profile. A primary aim of ASOD-Global is to preserve and, where possible, strengthen Carolina’s ability to work with partners around the world to educate our students and to address the most pressing scholarly and clinical challenges of our time,” Strauss said.

A new perspective on service takes shape through ASOD Global

As more people express an interest, and as hosting opportunities have grown, more students are getting involved. The Global Health Student Association (GHSA) has developed a new ASOD Student Ambassador sector dedicated specifically to supporting visiting global dental students. 

“These student ambassadors play an important role in welcoming our guests, assisting with logistics and integration, and ensuring that we offer radical hospitality to our partners from abroad, further strengthening the mutual and relational nature of our exchanges,” Chadderton said.

And the program also strives to go beyond just a mission-based focus to truly partner with other institutions and learn methods and techniques that will enhance both clinical and practical education.

“As we fulfill Carolina’s mission of educating the next generation of leaders, we need to prepare those leaders to make thoughtful choices about globalization in the coming decades. In addition to integrating global content in our curriculum, we enhance programming at ASOD by highlighting the extensive global expertise within our school’s community and by bringing global thought leaders into a school-level conversation about globalization. We also draw on the strength of Carolina’s area studies programs to understand — and help our students understand — how other regions and countries grapple with global health challenges,” Strauss said. 

A global legacy of service and engagement

ASOD leads the way in this unique educational experience, and its amazing trajectory is just one aspect of how Carolina leaves a lasting legacy of service and engagement, growing from just two sites in the ‘80s, to more than 20 possibilities in 2027. Future sites could include Singapore, Nome, Alaska, Morocco, Egypt, Australia, Mexico City, France, Israel, England and Vietnam.

“I find myself reflecting on the extraordinary impact that global engagement has had on our dental students, our partners around the world, and on the UNC Adams School of Dentistry as a whole. Many dental students experience global oral health first-hand and have learned, served and grown. Their participation helped build the foundation for what ASOD-Global has become today,” Strauss said. 

“This service work has had a lasting impact on how I approach dentistry today and how I envision my future as an oral health care practitioner. It has strengthened my focus on prevention, adaptability, and meeting patients where they are. More importantly, it reaffirmed my commitment to serving underserved communities and staying involved in public health and global outreach throughout my career. These experiences reminded me that dentistry is not just about technical skill, but about empathy, access, and using our training to make a meaningful difference,” said Haley McDonough, DDS candidate ‘27.

Source: https://dentistry.unc.edu/