I hope to be accepted to your distinguished DDS/DMD Program for international or foreign-Trained Dentists. Helping the underserved comes naturally to me due to being raised in Detroit, which has enormous poverty and prominent levels of oral disease.
I am that I finished dental school in Poland, which gave me an understanding of the Polish people and their issues. I finished dental school and graduated from the Medical University of Lodz with my DMD Degree in 2018. As a result of earning the degree, I was granted a temporary license to practice dentistry in Poland while I completed a 12-month Dental Foundation Training program (DFT) covering all significant facets of dentistry: endodontic, restorative, oral surgery, periodontics, and prosthodontics as well as pediatric dentistry and orthodontics. This training began last October 1st, 2018, and will continue through the end of September 2019.
I learned much about homelessness as a dental student since I chose to focus my volunteer efforts on this area. I often reflect upon the lessons learned by the polarized nature of access to dental care as represented by two extremes of dentistry that I experienced up close: first, homeless patients with rampant caries in the clinic in Lodz, and then not long after that shadowing a top aesthetic dentist in the USA, Dr. XXXX. I learned that I identify much more in terms of my ideas and sense of mission with caring for the homeless than I do with the aesthetic side of our profession.
After becoming licensed to practice dentistry in the USA and gaining additional experience, my long-term goal is to start a clinic in the neighborhood where I grew up, surrounded by Polish immigrants to the USA. Some do not seek oral health care due to language barriers since few Polish-speaking dentists are available. I think it will be a multilingual clinic with various languages heard and spoken occasionally, especially Spanish, the most critical language in assisting the underserved. While my Spanish needs a lot of practice, I am highly motivated to improve it. This provides me with much greater access and efficacy with many of the underserved, which I intend to make my central focus as my career progresses. I have traveled through much of Central America and the Caribbean; as I continue towards fluency in Spanish, which will be most helpful for my dental outreach.
I have worked hard to cultivate and take pride in my attention to detail. I have always been a team player and strive for improvement; I am not afraid to leave my comfort zone and always work hard to make the patient comfortable and satisfied. Very open-minded with a high tolerance for stress, I have also cultivated my soft skills in communication by traveling around much of the globe, feeding my natural, insatiable curiosity. I want to make my mark on life primarily by providing excellent dental care to those in great need and who cannot afford to pay for it. After earning my doctorate, I plan to work for a dentist in Detroit to hone my skills further. I see myself running a multilingual dental office. I am very fond of learning about other people's cultures - as suggested by my travel history - and I cannot imagine being any happier than when I can put a smile on the face of a suffering individual. I daydream with frequency about the clinic that I hope to start and operate in Detroit, going so far in my mind as to design and construct multiple operating rooms, each with specific ethnic/cultural motifs, one for European patients, another for Hispanics, a third celebrating African American history, etc.
While training in Poland and shadowing and summer training state-side, I have seen many poorly obturated canals, especially among older patients. I want to learn more about re-endo, especially as I expect to encounter these patients with relative frequency. Throughout my studies and DFT, I have been a PTSS (Polish Dental Students Association) member, participating in exciting volunteer opportunities supporting public health screenings. I have especially enjoyed setting up stands at various shopping malls and visiting schools to encourage people to take oral health seriously, providing oral exams with disposable mirrors/explorers, answering many questions, and debunking myths. This activity left an enormous impression on me because it demonstrates how motivated many people are to care for their oral health when provided with the opportunity and inspiration.
Thank you for considering my application.
LOR for Chairside Dental Assistant, Letter of Recommendation
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