My first exposure to the dental field was when a neighbor developed oral cancer and subsequently died. The cancer had progressed from a small treatable lesion to a metastasized nightmare, the result of not appreciating the seriousness of his condition and his poor access to care. Witnessing this neighbor suffering needlessly motivated me to seek out a career in dentistry: it made me realize the connection between oral health and general health. In addition to this experience, I was fortunate to have parents that routinely brought me to the dentist. My dentist was a charismatic doctor that indulged my burgeoning interest in this field. Through his compassionate care for his patients and the professionalism he portrayed, I was motivated to pursue this fascinating and challenging profession.
Knowing that this was what I wanted to do, I enrolled in dental school in India. The program was focused on treating patients from underprivileged areas, where care was otherwise impossible to obtain. My first exposure to treating these populations was during dental school. With their needs being so great, it allowed me to expose myself to a variety of dental procedures I would not have otherwise experienced. I performed single visit root canal treatment with both hand files and rotary, direct and indirect veneering techniques, as well as …show more content…
At heart I am a dentist to the core - it’s who I am. I cannot imagine myself in any other profession. Through my experiences here, I am determined to continue my career as a dentist. While I respect the very hands-on approach that my Indian dental school provided, I am very much aware of the limitations of technology available and differing standards of patient care compared to that of the U.S. I came here because I knew that there was no better place to learn dentistry. Modern dental education was created here and it leads the world in the advancement of technologies and