Major: Public Policy and Biology, Minor: Chemistry | Destination: University of Indiana School of Dentistry
Why Did You Choose Dentistry?
I did not have a very conventional path to dentistry. In fact, since I was a kid, my career paths have changed over 30 times; sometimes I would tell people that I wanted to be an astronaut, other times an investigative journalist, ever so often I would say interior designer, teacher, or banker. My most prudent aspiration, however, was when I told people that I wanted to be an ice cream truck driver. In my head I thought, what could be better than driving around playing music, making kids happy, and eating ice cream all day?
But as I got older and became more serious about school, I stumbled upon the idea of pursuing healthcare, medicine to be more specific. After years of convincing myself that I wanted to become a doctor, it finally hit me that that was not entirely my pursuit, but just what was sold to me as the metric of success and stability. As time went on, however, my curiosity for other healthcare professions grew, and that's when I came across dentistry. I actually felt drawn to the field during the time I was volunteering, working, and shadowing -- something that I had never felt about another profession until then.
Dentistry drew me in; it was fascinating, it possessed my intrigue because not only was it science, but also a meticulously engineered art form. The idea of being able to work with my hands and understand the craft excited me even more; but the tipping factor for me was when I realized that I could change the quality of a person's life at a relatively faster rate than other professions. Say a patient comes in complaining of excruciating tooth pain, or needs restorations done, or has an undiagnosed oral health condition, or simply needs a reminder on how to be more mindful about their oral health, I would have several options. I could prescribe medications, perform surgery, run tests, or just have a conversation that could go a long way in providing help. I felt like the dental profession provided both immediate and long-term relief for patients that made a significant difference in their lives; it made me feel like I could be quite useful in my service to patients to resolve a lot of preventable issues.
What Did You Do to Get There?
I had already taken many of the STEM pre-requisite courses needed to pursue dentistry because I was on the pre-med track at Pomona; however, the main differences I noticed between medical and dental school applications was that dental schools emphasized the importance of demonstrating manual dexterity, as well as having prior work experience or exposure to the field. So in addition to didactic courses, I worked in a few corporate dental offices, volunteered at federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), and shadowed at private practices, all of which broadened my perspective of the field of dentistry.
I graduated with a degree in public policy analysis, biology, and a chemistry minor, so I made good use of my liberal arts education during my time at Pomona, and fortunately, I was able to use that foundation to devote my senior thesis to researching and analyzing the policy implications of dental care at a micro and macro level. During my research, I came across influential dentists, social workers, policy makers, and authors who were commenting on the profession of dentistry through various lenses: the commodity of dentistry, the industry of dentistry, dentistry as a well-seasoned player of the geo health landscape. All of it was incredibly eye opening in terms of expanding my knowledge and awareness of the field. The book Teeth by Mary Otto was particularly influential in not only giving me a synopsis of the history of dentistry as a profession, but also how it has evolved in the U.S. over time.
My path to dentistry combined a lot of theory, experience, and application, and I believe that having this amalgam of knowledge gave me the reassurance I needed to pursue this career.
I have had several students reach out to me regarding how they can prepare themselves to enter the field of dentistry, and I always say that it is a privilege to enter higher education for anyone, so if you want to pursue dentistry, or any career in healthcare for that matter, it is important to not only have the metrics (i.e. gpa, test scores, letters of recommendation, shadowing hours, prerequisite courses), but also have the character to enter and survive in a field that is quite stressful, and requires adaptation, collaboration, teamwork, and extensive problem solving.