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PORTLAND, Maine

UNE dental students awarded grant for film project

L-R: Riddhi Daftary, Jeffrey Finegold, Robert Marus, Barry Saltz and Jessfor Baugh
L-R: Riddhi Daftary, Jeffrey Finegold, Robert Marus, Barry Saltz and Jessfor Baugh

Third-year dental students Jessfor Baugh and Riddhi Daftary have received a UNE IPEC Mini-grant to produce their film “Compassionate Touch.”

The film focuses on five stages associated with anxious dental patients, as depicted through artwork, interprofessional interviews and scholarly sources. Baugh developed drawings, paintings and prints for the film with Alex Rheault, adjunct assistant lecturer in the Department of Creative and Fine Arts. Original music for the film was created by Baugh, Robert Marus, D.D.S., Cameron Grover '13, and dental student Chelsea Toussaint. Baugh and Daftary also collaborated with David Pier, D.M.D. and Michael Truscott, D.M.D., assistant clinical professors at the College of Dental Medicine, as well as several other faculty members. 

Co-director and screenwriter Daftary reflected on the collaboration, stating, “It’s invigorating to use the arts to promote health. We really want the project to have a lasting educational value.”

The project was made possible through a UNE IPEC Mini-grant with the support of the UNE Office of Research and Scholarship, Brian Dallaire, Pharm.D., and Deborah Dallaire.

“Compassionate Touch” is featured at the University of New England’s Portland Campus Art Gallery as part of the interdisciplinary exhibition, “Wonder,” on display through March 13, 2016. 

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.