As a young woman and a dentist from India, now making my permanent home in America due to my marriage, I am pleased to have so much work ahead of me. My country, India, is projected to overtake China as the world's most populous country within a few decades, and the lack of dental care that is currently available to the vast majority of people is appalling. A great effort needs to be made to address this issue. Thus, while I aspire to be admitted to your distinguished program so that I might continue to make progress in my career here in America and practice dentistry in the USA for many decades to come, I also seek to ultimately contribute to caring for the underserved across the globe as part of various dental missions and clinics.
I have always had a keen interest in biology and human anatomy, in particular, consistently scoring near the top of my classes in these subjects, which inclined me towards the medical sciences. I date my passion for dentistry to my childhood, and the events surrounding the dental work done for my mother, which was initially quite painful. Nevertheless, the final result was that she had greater confidence and appeared happier than I had ever seen her before. Thus, I was drawn to dentistry because there were so many aspects to work on, from prevention to diagnosis and relief of pain—as well as improving personal appearance.
I attended "Bankey Bihari Dental College & Research Centre" established as a prestigious dental college in the National Capital Region of India. When I first participated in the human anatomy lab, using a corpse reaffirmed my interest in the human body and medical science. During my third and final year of dental school, I had already developed the keenest of interest in pedodontics. The more I began to study and learn about pedodontics, the more I became impressed with the vastness of the field and its importance, and the opportunity to enhance the positive attitude of patients for the rest of their lives. While studying child psychology and behavior management, I researched and presented a seminar on "Management of Physically and Mentally Handicapped Children." As a dental student, I worked in dental camps, which were organized in small villages in remote areas, which provided me an insight into the urgent need for oral health awareness.
Having completed my internship in 2011, I worked with Dr. XXXX, a qualified Senior Dental Surgeon, at XXXX Dental & Medicare Centre. She relied on me to attend to many of her patients, and thus I was given all kinds of cases, including restorations, extractions, root canal treatments, and dentures.
One of the highlights of my life so far was a lengthy visit back to India in February 2014, two months after my daughter was born. My commitment to dentistry and community service led me to volunteer at a charitable clinic run by a non-profit organization. Many of the people that I treated during my volunteer work at a charitable clinic or dental camps during college had learned to live with dental pain and were unaware that there was a solution to their problems, and that it was even possible for them to recover. I learned to tailor my conversational style and content appropriately so that it was easier for these patients to understand me, and the detailed explanations often could quell the anxiety of those who were nervous about a dental procedure. I still see the smiling faces in my mind, which drives me forward to the dental profession as it makes me feel that dentistry is indeed a gift of God that takes away someone's pain.
I spent over 150 invigorating hours shadowing Dr. XXXX at Healthy Smiles Dental Group in Fairfax, VA. Working with Dr. XXXX allowed me to become highly familiar with the day-to-day working of a dental clinic in the United States. I observed him dealing with everything from routine cases like restorations to highly complex ones like dental implants. I have learned much from his diagnostics and analytical approach to issues. I also observed the benefits of four-hand dentistry compared to the two-hand dentistry I was accustomed to in my previous experiences.
My long-term objective is to become an established dentist and open a patient-friendly dental clinic. Coming from a country of over a billion people who are divided into vastly different economic statuses, I have long learned the importance of caring for those with scarce resources and the difficulties or challenges entailed in doing so. I look forward to continuing to learn about these issues here in America as well, and working with organizations that offer affordable treatment for those who are unable to pay for private dental care. My involvement in community awareness projects is fundamental to how I envision my future.
I look forward to acquiring additional skills and knowledge in your program that will inspire and empower me for a lifetime, not only as a professional dentist in America but also as someone who seeks always to give part of her life to dental missions since dentistry is my vocation in the most total sense. Thank you or considering my application.
