I was born and raised in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and I am a dentist devoted to restorative dentistry. I have lived in Johannesburg, South Africa, for three years. I spent considerable time visiting America, the UK, Italy, France, Austria, Japan, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, and Jordan. Some of this trip was primarily for attending international conferences in restorative dentistry or a closely related area. I look forward to contributing to the diversity of your program as a Saudi Arab woman who is well-traveled and read, especially in global dentistry and the issues that we face as professionals in the Developing World. I am in my last year of a 3-year clinical residency program in Restorative Dentistry at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre.
I hope to earn an MS Degree in Restorative Dentistry in the USA. Earning a clinical degree at home has been preparing me for excellence in what I hope will be my master's degree program in Restorative Dentistry in the USA. I will graduate from my Residency Program at King Faisal Hospital on October 1, 2019.
Dentistry was a natural choice for me because several family members are dentists. So, I grew up with an awareness of dentistry's satisfaction and challenges. My special passion for restorative dentistry stems from the artistic flair and manual talent I inherited from my mother, a professional artist. I also regard this specialty as offering exceptionally high satisfaction levels by equipping dentists with life-enhancing improvements in appearance, confidence, and comfort.
By 2016 I had finished dental school in Saudi Arabia with a GPA of 4.84 out of 5. I was granted a merit-based scholarship from the Ministry of Higher Education for six years. After graduation, I continued to gain broad exposure to a wide range of specialties in dentistry. My internship was spent in four different hospitals, beginning with general practice, and including some essential restorative, prosthodontic, and endodontic treatments. I also worked in the Special Needs Department at King Saud Medical City, treating patients suffering from various developmental or mental health challenges, including autism. I became more adept at reassuring anxious patients when significant communication barriers existed in this position. Since completing my internship, I have been employed in a private practice providing a full range of treatments to various patients with an extensive range of conditions. I have supplemented my professional training by attending several international conferences and research days and completing courses requiring the expansive reading of numerous journal articles and papers – which I have enjoyed enormously. I am also the beneficiary of various awards and scholarships.
My principal research interests span dental materials, techniques, digital dentistry, workplace safety, and dentists' well-being, assisting dentists in performing at optimum levels of efficiency and comfort by reducing or eliminating occupational health hazards. In this area, I have one publication entitled: ‘Hearing Loss and Its Association with Occupational Noise Exposure among Saudi Dentists.’ I am an active member of an organization assisting children with cancer.
After completing your distinguished residency program in restorative dentistry, I will return to Saudi Arabia to work as a full-time restorative dentist at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and part-time as a restorative dentist at a private clinic providing state-of-the-art restorative care in Riyadh. Working part-time, I also look forward to being an active member of the Saudi Restorative Dentistry Society since contributing to advancing my profession in my country is especially important to my career trajectory.
I care for many medically compromised patients, providing clearance plans before significant surgeries. Once a week, I work at the emergency clinic, seeing walk-in patients suffering from dental pain/emergencies. I perform various treatments (restorations, endodontic pr, extractions, fixed dental restorations) for regular and compromised patients. This will help me hit the ground running in your program and excel.
MS Restorative Dentistry Personal Statement