Press Release

August 24, 2006
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Contact: Kaylyn Kendall Dines
(973) 972-3000
dineskd@umdnj.edu

UMDNJ Holds White Coat Ceremony, Largest Class of Incoming Dental Students

NEWARK—The New Jersey Dental School at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey held a White Coat Ceremony yesterday for the largest class in the school's 50-year history.

Almost 100 individuals officially became dental students at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Dental School yesterday during the 6th Annual White Coat Ceremony that was held to welcome the 50th class and the largest class to begin their dental education at the school since the first class was accepted in 1956.

The ceremony marked the beginning of the educational journey that the Class of 2010 will take towards becoming dentists. The ceremony was held to formally introduce the first-year students to the profession of dentistry, emphasize the humanistic aspects of dentistry and stress the importance of maintaining high ethical standards. By reciting a professional oath in unison, the students pledged to maintain integrity while providing the highest quality of dental health care.

Family members and friends watched as administrator s and faculty used white coats to cloak the students as a symbolic action that represents their entrance into dental health education. The Class of 2010 at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Dental School is comprised of 96 first-year dental students. Of that number, 83 are New Jersey residents and 13 are out-of-state residents.

"It is important for us to remember that dentistry is not about teeth. It is about being a physician, identifying and treating disease. It is about being a surgeon, removing diseased tissue and restoring an individual back to health," said Dr. Cecile Feldman, dean of the UMDNJ-New Jersey Dental School. "It is about being a psychologist, working with people to improve their self-esteem and expanding their opportunities in life and it is about being a sociologist, understanding the social and cultural role of dentistry and oral health."

"It is not enough to be technically competent in diagnosing and treating oral disease, but you must also be compassionate, care for your fellow human beings and be sensitive to their emotional and psychological well-being. I also hope that you remember this day as the beginning of a never-ending journey to acquire new knowledge and a day in which you committed yourself to life-long career of helping others," she added.

More than 80 students in the Class of 2010 at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Dental School are New Jersey residents. They are:

ATLANTIC
Victoria Welsh (Mays Landing)

BERGEN
Angela Bae (Cliffside Park)
Ashley Bancroft (Englewood Cliffs)
Rachel Berley (Teaneck)
Cindy Chang (Closter)
Tiffany Chin (Closter)
Sivan Finkel (Tenafly)
Steven Friedman (Teaneck)
Jessica Gorelik (Wyckoff)
Robert Lampert (Teaneck)
Celine Lee (North Arlington)
Judah Malka (Englewood)
Yana Murkis (Fair Lawn)
Ashish Parameswaran (Hillsdale)
Carol Soufanati (Belleville)
Leonard Wan (Englewood Cliffs)
Ethan Wiener (Teaneck)
Radha Yamarthy (North Arlington)

ESSEX
Anthony Do (Newark)
Scott Doran (Newark)
Demetrius Filoukatjis (Verona)
Ryan Galligan (Newark)
John Hong (Newark)
Natasha Jean-Charles (Newark)
Sohyoun Jun (Newark)
Seullki Kim (Newark)
Dennis Lee (Newark)
Jennifer Marin (Newark)
Benjamin Pomeranc (West Orange)
Baseemah Robinson (Irvington)
Bhupinder Samra (Newark)
Kathleen Van Vorst (Newark)

GLOUCESTER
Christina Ruggiero (Sewell)

HUDSON
Lyudmila Bass (Jersey City)
Frank Bottino (Jersey City)
Roshani Patel (Bayonne)
Vineisha Singh (Jersey City)
Saima Syed (Jersey City)
Olivia Yanni (Jersey City)

MONMOUTH
Maxwell Boatey (Manalapan)
Rocco DiAntonio (Holmdel)
Andrea Dinowitz (Morganville)
Matthew Fischer (Englishtown)
Sharon Im (Holmdel)
Ryan Scally (Lake Hopatcong)

MERCER
Timothy Chang (Montville)
Dena Constandelis (Towaco)
Martha Dougherty (Landing)
Elisa Marantz (Succasunna)
Sirin Ocharoen (Morristown)
Shreyasi Vaghela (Lake Hiawatha)

MIDDLESEX
Sonali Amin (Edison)
Abhishek Chandra (Edison)
Abraham Chen (Palisades Park)
Theresa Hoang (Edison)
Sita Kulkarni (North Brunswick)
Monica Mossad (East Brunswick)
Jee Park (Edison)
Chirag Patel (Piscataway)
Minal Patel (Jamesburg)
Niyati Patel (North Brunswick)
Nicole Richards (Piscataway)
Thomas Sniscak (South Plainfield)

OCEAN
John Hirce (Lavallette)

PASSAIC
Matthew Chin (Haledon)
Kristen Dolberry (Wayne)
Heather Kobos (Westfield)
Daniel Peikes (Passaic)
Harsh Shah (Passaic)
Michael Slomnicki (Passaic)
Alan Valderrama (Clifton)

SOMERSET
Bogdan Levitsky (Manville)
Pedro Parente (Hillsborough)

SUSSEX
Jessica Wollenberg (Byram Township)

UNION
Craig Berry (Elizabeth)
Nesrine Bestandji (Clark)
Hinna Chaudhry (Union)
Christina Diaz (Springfield)
Thomas Dipaolo (Linden)
Benjamin Gardea (Elizabeth)
Jacqueline Mikhly (Elizabeth)
Jeffrey Urban (Roselle)

UMDNJ is the nation's largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,500 students attending the state's three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and a school of public health on five campuses. Annually, there are more than two million patient visits at UMDNJ facilities and faculty practices at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a statewide mental health and addiction services network.