The International University of Catalonia (UIC Barcelona) is running an initiative that combines academic training with clinical practice. Through its project Caring for Smiles, Changing Lives, the Faculty of Dentistry offers oral healthcare to people referred to it from social organisations, in addition to providing students with an educational experience where they can learn from real-life patient care. This programme provides dental care to people at risk of social exclusion, whilst also promoting healthy lifestyle habits through workshops and community initiatives. The objective is two-fold: to improve the lives of disadvantaged groups, and to train future dentistry professionals with a comprehensive, empathetic and devoted approach.

Since it was launched, Caring for Smiles, Changing Lives has seen the active participation of 420 final year Dentistry students and 80 professors, consolidating this as a unique training experience. This immersion in the social reality allows students not only to develop technical skills, but also to learn values such as empathy, responsibility and civic duty.