A dentist from India who has been making her home in California for the past two years, I have been preparing since my arrival for a total return to my career in dentistry here in America. I hope to be selected for your distinguished Residency Program in Orthodontics based on my passion and proven record of accomplishment in my chosen field. The most vital aspect of my application is that I have already completed a residency program and a master's degree in Orthodontics back home in India. This experience will enable me to hit the ground running and distinguish myself in your residency program in the USA.
I see my professional education and preparation in dentistry as a lifelong enterprise, and I could not be more pleased with Orthodontics as my area of particular interest. Completing your MS Program in Orthodontics here in America will be the crowning achievement of my life. It will propel me to the total contribution I can make to my profession and community.
I am confident that my real potential lies in furthering my chosen profession and, in this way, enhancing my ability to contribute to society. Throughout my career, I have maintained continuity in practice and research by always staying fully engaged with various research projects. I admire beauty greatly and see it reflected in the smile that shows self-confidence; I could not imagine finding a better way to enhance self-esteem.
In India, few can afford even the most common forms of orthodontic treatment. This lack of resources leaves the smile of so many simply unattended. During the second year of my residency service in Orthodontics, I saw two young women who were siblings, both with extreme malocclusion requiring corrective orthodontic treatment and orthognathic surgery. These girls' faces will always be with me, inspiring me to propel forward and give my all to Orthodontics daily. They helped me realize the extent of suffering involved with even relatively minor disfigurations of the face and mouth. With these two sisters, I felt helpless, but I vowed to advance my clinical skill and succeed at attending to these complex cases.
My long-term goal is to help people in underserved areas, especially children without access to oral care. I see a long professional lifetime, laboring to support nonprofit organizations that provide primary and preventive health care services to the underserved. I am currently employed as a Dental Assistant for a non-profit called Kids Community Dental Clinic, and I have been here for more than one year. I assist the orthodontist and pedodontist as well as the general dentist. I have also taken an active role in oral health education initiatives targeted at underserved areas of our community.
An innate interest in biology, already my passion in elementary school, propelled me to the top of my class regarding scientific experiments, human models, and efforts to decipher their functional aspects. Thus, my fascination with redefining lives for the better through orthodontics is founded on a lifetime of dedication to the quest to understand and transform biology.
I have faced many challenges, always learning from my failures. Unsuccessful outcomes always raised a challenge that I accepted and became some of the key motivators to work even harder to achieve my targeted goals in dentistry. Presentation of well-researched technical papers at various seminars/forums helped polish my interpersonal and communication skills. Taking up social/ organizational work on many occasions further fired my desire to make consistent and essential contributions to my society.
Orthodontics was a life-changing experience; the presentations, journal clubs, clinical practice, lab work, camps, case discussions, thesis, and research were an intense professional journey that enhanced my confidence and helped me further cultivate the virtues of patience and dedication, and discipline. Moving on from simple cases to incredibly challenging, multidisciplinary issues provided me with essential insights into various treatment approaches and enhanced my clinical dimensions of performance and efficiency. I completed my master's with a thesis on ‘Facial Attractiveness,’ seeking to establish a relationship of parameters responsible for imparting attractiveness through objective and subjective methods. Part of my thesis was later presented at the Annual Conference of the Indian Orthodontic Society, and another part was published in the Archives of Plastic Surgery.
I delight in how Southern California, my home for the past two years, is such a melting pot of diverse cultures and languages. As a multilingual woman of color, I am thankful that it is easy for me to gain the trust of my patients from all backgrounds, especially children of minority groups from marginalized backgrounds.
I thank you for considering my application to your program.
Orthodontics Residency Indian Woman Dentist