Dentistry learners achieve success in CLARION case competition

Two School of Dentistry students participated in, placed at and received top honor for the 2025 CLARION Local Case Competition.

Alex Petronio, DDS ’28, and teammate Kathleen Velez (Veterinary Medicine) won first place—earning a spot at the National Case Competition—and received a Health Equity Innovation Award. Andrea Li, DDS ’27, received third place with teammates Taiwo Aremu (Pharmacy) and Gurjot Singh (Public Health). Li also received a Best Presenter Award. 

The Clinician Administrator Relationship Improvement Organization, housed within the Center for Health Interprofessional Programs, creates interprofessional experiences for health professional students with experiential learning focused on systems-level changes and health care for all.

Held in person at the Health Sciences Education Center on February 22, 2025, the CLARION Local Interprofessional Case Competition included 27 learners across 10 teams. The competition invited learners to create a strategic plan on air quality to develop resilient health systems for a changing climate.

Petroni, made the decision to participate in the competition alongside a friend—thinking of it as an opportunity to break out of his comfort zone. “I really value interprofessionalism and see healthcare as a holistic endeavor, so I thought it would be a great opportunity to practice developing those connections with other health care professional students while also challenging myself in a new and exciting way,” he said.

That opportunity was exactly what he experienced working with Velez. “It was a great experience hearing her perspective on the issue and bouncing ideas off each other to come up with the best plan and presentation possible,” he said.

Petronio and Velez were tasked with the creation of a strategic plan for HealthPartners. Though the project came with challenges—including the limitations involved in creating a plan from the perspective of one company, and the team’s lack of prior experience in strategic planning—those challenges made the competition more meaningful.

“This project really forced us to think about the best way to present our material in a way that would emphasize the impact on the health of community members, while also balancing potential long-term financial considerations for the corporation,” he said.

Petronio found it “rewarding” to win, and to hear the judges’ positive comments. “To hear that our presentation was well-received made me feel like all of our hard work and sacrifices were not for naught,” he said.

But he’s even more proud of winning the Health Equity Innovation Award. “We really tried to find ways to help the populations that we determined to be most at-risk as a result of decreasing air quality, so it was nice to hear that our plan was innovative and had the potential to be successful,” he said. Using concepts learned in Dental Public Health and considering their real-world implications was thrilling for him.

Andrea Li, DDS ’27, saw the competition as an opportunity to learn more about other health care professions. “I’ve always seen our careers as pretty separate, but I was curious to see how different disciplines could come together toward a shared goal,” she said. “This competition gave me the chance to see the bigger picture of health care as a whole.”

Li enjoyed the way team members’ different personalities, skill sets and backgrounds came together to create an excellent proposal. They explored resources that a health care professional could use to face climate change and the ensuing public health issues. “Each of us brought different strengths to the table, which not only helped us build our case but also helped me learn more about health care,” she said. “I’m most proud of how we were able to collectively build off of each other’s strengths and support each other through difficulties.”

Finishing in third place was “inspiring” for Li. “It is meaningful to know that our ideas and efforts are acknowledged, and it reinforces the importance of interprofessional collaboration for tackling health care challenges.”

Both learners thoroughly enjoyed the experience—despite its challenges and the hard work it demanded.

“It was a good amount of work, and at times it was tough to balance schedules, but it was fun to think about these problems, propose possible solutions and find ways to solve problems and present them in a manner that I might not have considered,” he said.

Li agrees. “The case competition is a great way to step out of your field and collaborate with unique perspectives toward real-world solutions,” she said. “I personally grew a lot in my teamwork and communication skills, which has boosted my confidence and motivation to continue in the interprofessional exchange of perspectives.”

Photographs courtesy of Cannie Cui, DDS ’26.