The 2012 Iowa Mission of Mercy was held October 5-6 at the River Center in Davenport, Iowa. In these two days, volunteers from the University of Iowa Colleges of Dentistry and Pharmacy, among others, served a total of 1,389 patients contributed and $923,373 in donated care.

The Iowa Mission of Mercy was started in 2009 by the Iowa Dental Association to provide free dental care for any child or adult, regardless of income. One event is held each year, in a different location throughout the state. To date, clinics have been held in Waterloo, Newton, Cedar Rapids, and Davenport. Pharmacists are on hand to counsel on specific medications from the clinic formulary, communicate with patients and healthcare providers, and to call patients’ prescriptions into the local pharmacy.

Supervising pharmacist Ashley Copes commended the pharmacy students by saying, “They were very willing and excited to be providing care. The students counseled hundreds of patients each day…and stayed until the last patient of the day was assisted, which was well after the event was scheduled to end.”