Dr. Arash Hakhamian was accepted to USC School of Dentistry which is recognized as one of the worlds best dental schools and which boasts some of the best Professors and clinicians in the field of Dentistry. Known for their excellence in clinical dentistry and hand skills, Dr. Arash contributes his success as a restorative dentist to the incredible education he recieved at this school. In addition to Dr. Arash, his brother and his sister both also followed in his footsteps and attended USC Dental School where they graduated with honors as well.
St. John’s Well Child and Family Center Magnolia Place
While at USC Dental School, Dr. Arash participated in multiple programs that helped him garner the well rounded clinical skills he posseses today. In fact, he was chosen as one of only a few students to work in private practice clinical settings in St. Johns Magnolia Center where he treated patients under minimal supervision and for low to no cost to the patients. ” Unlike the dental school where a professor has to check every single step in the students performance, I was given my own chair and was allowed to numerous patients often 5 times as much per day as would be allowed to normal dental students.”
Founded more than 40 years ago, St. John’s has grown from a small, voluntary pediatric clinic to a significant safety net provider in Los Angeles County, serving uninsured, underserved and economically disadvantaged communities.
https://dentistry.usc.edu/community-programs/clinics/
The USC Special Patients Clinic
The Special Patients Clinic provides dental services to the developmentally disabled, elderly and infirm. According to Dr. Janet Lent who was one of the lead dentists in the USC Special Patients Department, Dr. Arash was also the only dental student in the history of the department to unanimously be voted by all the professors and staff to receive the single Honors designation awarded by that department for his graduating class. ” Receiving the honors designation in the USC Special Patients clinic was one of my greatest
https://dentistry.usc.edu/patient-care/services/special-patients/
The USC Mobile Clinic
Dr. Arash also participated in the USC Mobile Dental Clinic where he traveled to various sites in mobile dental units and provided comprehensive dental treatment to at risk groups in low income neighborhoods lacking access to dentists. He gained invaluable insight into how to set up and carry out a mobile dental service to help provide dental services outside of the dental office. In remote or underserved areas where dental services are unavailable, the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC has provided dental care through its pioneering work in mobile dentistry. The Mobile Clinic has served more than 80,000 children in need. Each year, the program holds approximately 10 clinics, providing care in both rural and urban areas in Southern and Central California. The program now boasts five vehicles, including a sterilization van and modern, portable dental equipment.
https://dentistry.usc.edu/community-programs/mobile-clinics/
USC/QueensCare Mobile Dental Program
According to the Los Angeles Unified School District, dental pain is the number one reason given for children missing school, and more than 50,000 children report to school nurses complaining of tooth ache annually. Dr. Arash participated in the Queens Care Mobile dental program and received extensive training on how to manage patients in a mobile dental clinic setting while providing the same quality of dental care that one would receive in a dental office. This program was so successful in providing comprehensive dental care to low-income children in grades 2-5 in Hollywood-area elementary schools that an additional program needed to be formed to scale this based on tremendous need.
By bringing the mobile dentistry directly onto school grounds or the location where the patients are present, this experience inspired Dr. Arash to form his own company with a group of investors that will launch in 2019 and provide comprehensive dental care and oral health education to thousands of patients of all backgrounds across the United States.
https://dentistry.usc.edu/community-programs/mobile-clinics/
Hollenbeck Palms
An often overlooked and chronically underserved segment of American society is the elderly. Dr. Arash Hakhamian was also a participant in providing mobile and off site dental services to this community gaining tremendous experience working with the elderly population in a Currently, there are 3.3 million Americans over the age of 65 and it is estimated that by 2030 more than 20 percent of the population will be elderly and will require mobile dental services to treat their needs.
This service-learning experience, coupled with additional clinic rotations carried out by Dr. Arash Hakhamian more than prepared him to serve the next generation elderly patients to address this growing population.
https://dentistry.usc.edu/community-programs/clinics/
USC Dental Clinic at Union Rescue Mission
Based on his extensive research at UCLA and his position as the principle investigator of an IRB approved research with homeless Dr. Arash has a special place in his heart for working with the homeless community. It was for this reason and his intense passion for helping the homeless that Dr. Arash participated actively in the Union Rescue Mission Dental Clinic in Skidrow downtown Los Angeles.
More than 1,100 patients are treated annually by dental and dental hygiene students alone providing emergency care to all with comprehensive care provided to participants referred from substance abuse recovery and job training programs. It includes endodontic care (root canals) to save teeth when possible. Additionally, almost one of four patients received partial or full dentures, a service not provided in any other “safety-net” dental clinic.
In the past decade, we have provided community education and oral health care kits to nearly 200,000 individuals. We’ve provided direct treatment to more than 10,000 patients, improving their health, enhancing their lives and increasing their employability, in a project nickamed “Hired, Not Homeless.” Dr. Arash further garnered his sense of communal responsiblity and enhanced the experiences involved in the positive aspects of service-learning, community practice and professional philanthropy which has led him to create many of his programs now as a dental professional and community activist.
“What an amazing experience working with my mentor Dr. Santosh Sundaresan, Section Chair of the USC Community Health Programs, where I was able to do what I love, help people in need. I don’t think many people understand the amount of battered women and children in these communities who are truly down on their luck and that need and deserve the same access to basic dental services as others in the general population.”