Inspired

Epifania “Epi” Juarez has been with the USC Mobile Dental Clinic for nearly 19 years. Today, she is the lead mobile clinic coordinator — a big job that has her doing everything from setting up contracts and logistics for each mobile clinic event to lifting heavy boxes and cleaning the bottom of dental chairs. “She is the epitome of what

Dr. Charlie Goldstein talked about in service, selflessness, compassion and heart,” says

USC Mobile Clinic Director Sunny Fereshteh

DDS ’09. We asked Epi what inspires her about her work with the USC Mobile Clinic:

I like working here. And, yes, mobile clinic is hard work and long hours, and, at times, takes place in extreme temperatures, but that’s how mobile clinic is. We operate in the open and so that exposes us to any type of climate shifts. The only weather condition we haven’t seen is snow falling.

Although, for the Mobile Clinic crew, inclement weather conditions are not something that impedes or stops our work, we just go with it regardless.

Is the work here challenging? Absolutely! But life itself is challenging for everyone. The patients we see know it best; let’s keep in mind that these are the patients who often have no voice. They are the ones who have been rejected elsewhere — either because they lack the ability to pay for dental treatment or because of the scarcity of services for DentiCal recipients. At every clinic event, we get a taste of the reality of what life is like out there. People tell us their stories; we know their struggles.

We have mothers who ventured to the United States from afar desperate to find medical services for their children with severe or terminal health illnesses, some with extreme physical disabilities. Others got here migrating in search for a better life — some of whom are alone, young and

PHOTO BY CHRIS SHINN

inexperienced; others are single teenaged parents with a small kid. Some have made it here through the now sadly famous caravans. Mobile clinic is an oasis of hope, and we are willing and able to do it.

The clinic’s purpose brings us deeper and closer to these patient populations, aligning us with their needs and suffering. Besides the work done in the dental chair to alleviate pain and improve oral health, these patients have the need to smile, to know that someone understands their language and comprehends their ways. Gaining their trust takes a combination of compassion, genuine interest for their well-being and an honest interest in them as human beings.

This is what USC Mobile Clinic is all about. This is why I love my job, and this is why staff and faculty, past and present, have orchestrated the metaphorical song that is mobile clinic for so many years and counting.

University of Southern California 925 W. 34th Street DEN 202 Los Angeles, CA 90089 dentistry.usc.edu

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID

University of Southern California

HAVE TIME TO SHAPE BRIGHT MINDS?

1 2 3

The Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry is looking for volunteer faculty members to help shape future generations of dental professionals.

Interested? Follow the steps below:

Visit Ostrow’s employment page at dentistry.usc.edu/about/employment

Identify a discipline of interest among our six dental divisions

Provide us a cover letter, curriculum vitae and three reference letters

Questions? Contact Director of Faculty Affairs Kelley Randle at (213) 821-5588 or randle@usc.edu.