Growing up in a family of five physicians, I was taught to strive for excellence in everything I did. When I was about ten, my younger brother had serious tooth pain one day, and my mother and I took him to the dentist. As I looked around the dentistry room, like any curious child would, I saw all the dental equipment around me and was impressed by how much I enjoyed seeing this high technology and marveled at the importance of its use. I have always loved the artistic side of everything, and seeing how the dentist would work on my brother’s teeth amused me and left me hungry to learn more about dentistry. This motivated me to strive and excel in the area that would be six years of constant studying and dedication after completing high school and taking Iran's national university entrance examination, competing with almost 500,000 other applicants. By placing among the top 0.1%, I was accepted into one of the high-ranked dental schools in my country, Ahvaz University of Medical Sciences.
My exceptional passion for dentistry and hard studying enabled me to achieve the first rank on the Basic Medical Exam at the end of the second year of nationwide dentistry programs. I graduated from dental school with honors, first in my class, and a GPA of 3.84.
I then started working at the Health Center of XXXX, a small and underdeveloped city in the southern part of the country. In my free time, I helped the underserved people of this city and the surrounding rural area as a volunteer dentist. Providing various oral health treatments with minimum equipment made me stronger, more confident, and more experienced in working under challenging situations. This experience was most difficult, and it served to advance my personal and career development while providing critical assistance to those who came to me for treatment.
Along with increasing clinical experience, I realized that I love to work with children. This motivated me to become a Pediatric Dentist and be able to help children feel better and rid them of their dental pains. I spent one year again studying for another exam that led to me being accepted into the Pediatric Dentistry residency program at XXXX University of Medical Sciences in hopes that I could go back and work for the children in my area.
In addition to my time as a clinic dentist, I taught dentistry at XXXX University of Medical Sciences as an assistant professor. I provided immediate and constructive feedback to students individually and as a group, teaching them how to assess patients effectively and handle dental emergencies. Analyzing the effectiveness of our efforts in clinical settings, we always strove to improve our program outcomes, and this was an integral part of the instruction that I was providing as well as what I was learning from my mentors – constantly collaborating with other instructors to implement best practices for the enhancement of student learning.
Working as a Dentist, treating more than seven thousand dental patients, has been the best period of my professional life – free and fulfilled, which was interrupted by making America my new home. I have no regrets since America is vastly superior to where I came from regarding long-term, sustainable opportunities. Once I earn my doctoral degree here in America, I look forward to continuing to give my all to a residency position in Pediatric Dentistry.
To maintain my involvement in dentistry as I transitioned to the U.S., I volunteered as a Dental Assistant at XXXX Family Dental in XXXX, Georgia.
As my career progresses here in the USA, I hope to assist the underserved increasingly. My heart has always gone out to those patients who suffer throughout their lives due to not having had access to adequate dental care during their formative years.
Friends and colleagues have told me for years that my personable nature makes me a natural for the specialty I have chosen to cultivate, helping dental patients feel comfortable. A lifetime of striving to improve my hand-eye coordination has rendered my hands most deft and capable. I could not be more committed to studying the long-term effects of procedures on oral health. Efficient in using dental equipment and systems, my practiced manual talent matches my focused observational and analytical skills in Dentistry.
I hope to be chosen based on my great passion for dentistry and the fact that I am extremely hard working with a positive attitude and someone who is most dedicated to her field.
Throughout my practice. As a dentist, I continued to read widely in the literature, weekly if not daily, to stay abreast of developments in my field. I look forward to continuing to do so for the rest of my professional life.
Thank you for considering my application.
Iranian International Dentist Pediatric Experience