I hope to be accepted to your competitive DDS Program for International Dentists based on my intense drive, noble ideals, and determination to make a difference concerning access to oral health care in my country, Pakistan. I am especially concerned for poor women who cannot see a dentist due to religious and cultural prohibitions on contact between women and men. Still only 25 years old, I am mature for my age, and I look forward to many decades of service to the underserved in my home country. As a licensed and experienced dentist in Pakistan, I have heard about situations where women have been denied access to dental care by their families-even in the hospital where I worked since we attended to many of the underserved, people of the poorer classes, mainly from the countryside, because there was no female dentist available. The best answer to this situation is to spend a large part of my time in the future promoting the acceptance of more significant numbers of women to dental school. The strength and prestige of earning a DDS Degree in America would help me enormously to accomplish this central professional goal.
Oral hygiene, oral health awareness, and education are the foundational aspects of dental care, of which we are in the greatest need in Pakistan. Mothers should be helped to realize the immense importance of oral health care, especially for the long term and for their children. Women, men, and society in general also need to be educated that dental care is much more important than the gender of the dentist. Religious beliefs must be respected, especially in a conservative and fundamentalist Islamic culture like ours. This must inform the dentist who seeks to serve because it is essential to gain a patient's trust and make her comfortable with the procedure. I see that as my foremost responsibility. Since women are not provided with dental care because of a shortage of female dentists who live in rural areas, mobile dental clinics just for women seem like an innovative idea, especially for screenings. In addition to rural areas, there is also a great need for the outskirts of large cities where the rural poor have fled, searching for a better life, living in the most squalid and unhealthy conditions. Pakistan is teeming with the underserved for several reasons, the chief of which is poverty.
I have been flying back and forth between Pakistan and Boston for the past three years, preparing for advanced dentistry studies here in America. I am volunteering at a church on Newbury Street that runs a food pantry for homeless people, with special outreach to women. We find them on the street, tell them about our program, and provide them with the whole dining experience due to our volunteers, cooks, servers, dishwashers, etc. We also attend to these women's primary health concerns, helping them find assistance as needed. This program, aiming to provide psychological and social uplift and free food, is an excellent model or example of everything I love about the USA.
In addition to the USA, I have also spent extensive periods in the UK and China. I look forward to contributing to the diversity of your program as a Pakistani woman who is well-traveled and well-read. I am also eager to compare notes with fellow dentists worldwide, especially concerning helping the underserved. I am completing a 2-month International Dentist Preceptorship (March-April 2016) at XXXX University. I have also completed a one-week externship in Diagnostic Sciences at the XXXX School of Dental Medicine. I will conduct a one-week oral and maxillofacial surgery training at the University of Michigan during the last week of April. 2016. This will be followed by one-week externships in AEGD for the first week of May and Endodontics for the second week at the University of XXXX HCSA.
As I entered Logan International Airport in 2013, a whiff of frigid air bought the sweetest scent of freedom and growth. I felt like an electric current running through every nerve in my body. I feel empowered. My experience at XXU, although short, has put things in a clear perspective for me. The rich and diverse educational culture in dentistry at XU has helped broaden my intellectual horizons and capabilities. I now see how pushing the envelope beyond the comfort zone is the crux of human growth. My longing for professional excellence has been enhanced, particularly by learning new clinical techniques from Drs. XXXX and XXXX on Planning and Grafting in Complex Implants and Evaluation of Fixed and Removable Prosthetics. I was left in awe and ready to give my all to a DDS program here in America.
International Dentist Personal Statement Sample CAAPID
