I hope to have the profound privilege of enjoying the fullest of participation in advanced training in Orthodontics available at one of the world’s most distinguished institutions, the Residency Program in Orthodontics at the University of XXXX. An Indian dentist, my family immigrated to New Zealand when I was ten with and New Zealand shaped my identity as much as India. I became a high achiever because of the advanced nature of education in New Zealand and completed my BSc in Physiology at the University of Auckland in 2008.
I decided to go to dental school in India for a variety of reasons and I am pleased that I did primarily because I was able to enhance my multicultural and multilingual identity and to better understand challenges facing dentistry in the Developing World. I now live in XXXX where I have been enjoying to the extreme every aspect of my Advanced Education in General Dentistry Residency at the University of XXXX 2016-2018. Already a board-certified Orthodontist, I hope to be selected to continue at the U of XXXX through the completion of an Orthodontics program beginning next year, to prepare myself for a lifetime specialization in this area. My family moved to Australia while I was in dental school and I lived there for two years following my graduation, staying engaged in dentistry as a volunteer and an assistant continuing to learn as much as possible.
In addition to my duties at the University of XXXX, I also serve once a week in a nearby community clinic which has helped me to appreciate more fully the great need that exists even in the USA for access to dental care. My central goals for the future include constant and intensive community engagement and service to the underserved, while I give myself full time to Orthodontics. I look forward to spending decades as a partner in a multi-specialty group practice and providing consultations in Orthodontics to a variety of members of the professional dentistry community. I also have the hope of teaching at some point in my career, passing on the torch to new generations of oral health professionals on the forefront of advancement in our profession.
My passion for learning about Orthodontics is long standing. In dental school, I was able to gain much more exposure to Orthodontics than the typical dental students. I have bonded brackets, made removable retainers, placed fixed retainers, activated appliances, and I am ready to hit the ground running for long hours at U of X Orthodontics.
I earned a research degree in human physiology that will also help me to excel for a lifetime of professional research. Having lived, worked, learned, and advanced professionally in four different countries over the past 8 years, I hope to bring a unique perspective to your program in discussions of global dentistry and I look forward very much to making new friends from all over the world in Orthodontics. I enjoy people enormously and connect with them effortlessly, patients as well as colleagues.
My hard working yet very modest family origins resulted in my having the humble experience of working in menial jobs for some time prior to becoming a dental professional. I have worked in sales, IT help, telephone marketing as well as food service and in a warehouse. I am thankful for these experiences as far as they helped to teach me the value of humility, and made me more approachable, open, especially to humble people. And I look forward to a lifetime of developing a professional priority on humble people, the underserved, especially with respect to my volunteer efforts. I place a high priority on the value of a work/study/life balance and will always strive to refine still further the synchronicity that undergirds the achievement of wonderful things as a dentist. I de-stress as a body builder and a martial artist which I find re-charges me very effectively for the next day giving my all to dentistry.
I was awarded a scholarship right out of high school to attend a young leader's program where we traveled together in New Zealand, I placed in the top 1% among both Australian and New Zealand students in science and I ranking number 2 in my school in advanced Chemistry. I made the top 10% in Geography.
I have torn apart computers and used the parts to build new ones that I design myself -since childhood. Occasionally, I indulge myself with a high-tech spy thriller since sci-fi is high on my list of favorite diversions. Most of all, however, my free time is spent reading widely in a host of areas that are relevant on some level to Orthodontics, such as predictable and rapid methods of bone healing and their implications for several areas in medicine as well as dentistry.
I was heavily engaged all through dental school as a team member providing free dental services to 1000’s of patients. My highest moments of all in Connecticut have been serving at the community center one day a week for the past year, helping to provide heavily subsidized dental care.
I thank you for considering my application to Orthodontics at the University of XXXX.
Orthodontics Residency Personal Statement