AEGD Residency Personal Statement

AEGD Residency Personal Statement

I hope to contribute to the diversity of your fast-paced AEGD residency program as a Spanish-speaking, Brazilian dentist with a distinguished track record of priority concern for the oral health care of the underserved. Some of my finest moments were spent treating villagers in remote areas of Brazil who had never seen a dentist in their lives, as part of public health care outreach efforts to bring dental care to many of the most inaccessible parts of our country. I made learning Spanish a top priority early on because I grew up daydreaming of being an international, south American dentist with a special passion for the care of the underserved in remote regions of our continent.

I relocated to the USA to enhance my career opportunities in dentistry in 2022 and have become certified as both a dental assistant and dental hygienist. I have actively sought out positions where a Spanish speaking dentist is needed. I feel called to respond to the great need for dental care among the underserved in the USA. It is with them that I feel most at home, wherever I am in the Americas. I am hopeful of being selected to your competitive program because of my extensive experience at and keen desire to serve the primarily Spanish-speaking underserved.

My life has long been career-centered and always will be, because dentistry is my calling as well as my profession, especially caring for the underserved, where I find my greatest joy and fulfillment, personally as well as professionally. I am dedicated to self-improvement, especially as a dentist, and. I seek to leverage my experiences to date in the optimization and maximization of my contribution to multilingual and culturally sensitive dental outreach in the USA. My enormous passion for dentistry and helping the underserved makes me enthusiastic, highly motivated, focused, and hopefully a competitive candidate for an AEGD program where there is a great need for Spanish speaking dentists.

I am tremendously grateful for the opportunities this country offers to me. I intend to continue fulfilling my dreams and devoting myself fully to lifelong learning in General Dentistry.

I have a profound admiration and respect for US history and culture. Since I relocated here, I have sought out ways to make a difference. My intense passion for dentistry fuels my ambitions, inspiring and enabling me to meet each new challenge successfully, both academically and in practice. I have now been in America for just over ten years, and I have made it my permanent home. 

After completing high school, I embarked on my studies at the Paulista University College of Dentistry in Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo, Brazil, and graduated in 2001. My initial two years as a dentist were dedicated to public health, providing essential services to underserved populations. Later, I relocated to Goiania, the capital of Goias, where I started my private dental practice while also working as an associate general dentist at a private dental clinic. In 2004, I enhanced my expertise completing an intensive course in dental implants at Goias Federal University. I enrolled in another, dental implant, residency at Sao Leopoldo Mandic College of Dentistry. From 2005 to 2007, I pored over articles in English, crafting a thesis titled “The Importance of Occlusion in Dental Implants.”

I arrived in NYC in 2010 and spent the first six months intensively improving my English so that I could practice dentistry with full fluency in this language. I took the Dental Assistant National Board Exam and became a Certified Dental Assistant.

After three years living in NYC, working as a dental assistant at a group practice, and managing my own work hours and finances, I became certified to practice as a dental hygienist. While participating in NYU's AAS evening programs, I worked full-time at a private clinic and attended evening classes. I graduated from the dental hygiene program in September 2018 and began working as an RDH after receiving my license. 

Thank you for considering me for your AEGD residency program.

AEGD Residency Personal Statement