I was the only student in my dental school class at the University of Illinois (2003-2013) who also earned a Ph.D., at the same time, in Oral Sciences. This speaks to the centrality of research in my professional life. Thus, I would be especially thrilled to be selected to complete a residency program in Pediatric Dentistry that is strong in research and where my skills and talents would benefit the team. For the past two years, I have treated pediatric patients exclusively. For the five years before that, children and adolescents increasingly represented most of the patients I was treating. My heart and mind became increasingly passionate over the years about everything related to and focused on Pediatric Dentistry. Growing up in the Republic of Georgia until age 12, when we immigrated permanently to the USA, pediatric dentistry had already formed an essential part of my early life. My grandmother was a pediatric dentist, which has enormously impacted my life, especially my professional trajectory. Other close family members are pediatricians, now running in my family for three generations.
I grew up listening to conversations about treatments, outcomes, how to talk to parents, how to handle diverse types of parents, and how we always must be available to help those who need us, for free if necessary. In addition to English, I am fully fluent in Russian and French. And I also speak Italian because my husband is Italian. I look forward to practicing dentistry in all four languages as the opportunity arises. However, I am rapidly approaching fluency in dental Spanish, which excites me since so many of the underserved children in the Chicago area speak only Spanish. Alongside the challenges inherent in Pediatric Dentistry, if the dentist and the child speak the same language, this goes a long way to make the entire treatment process from beginning to end both more effective and more joyful for patients and dentists alike. I have spent the past two years as an Associate Dentist at a Pediatric Dental Clinic, where I have had the opportunity to put my Spanish to beneficial use. Many of my patients have special needs: autistic, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, etc. I do pulp therapy, stainless steel crowns, NuSmile crowns, extractions including wisdom teeth, and space maintenance, and I specialize in dental trauma and patients with behavioral problems.
I hope to complete a residency program in Pediatric Dentistry to bring myself up to innovative performance and level of expertise to make my most exemplary contribution to Pediatric Dentistry in the future, especially in terms of innovation in research and development. I seek the most advanced level of expertise possible in conservative dentistry for children and the best and latest techniques in pediatric dentistry. I hope to teach Pediatric Dentistry. Most of my patients receive public assistance, and these people have become my life. I want to do all I can to positively impact public health policy in promoting preventive and conservative dentistry for children and adolescents from families of scant resources. I hope to increasingly focus my professional life on research geared increasingly to the public health aspects of our field. I look forward to decades focusing on innovation to contribute to structural change in policy, resources, and infrastructure. Since teaching and research go together in the academic world, I see an excellent opportunity for innovative research at the intersection of conservative and pediatric dental initiatives in Public Oral Health.
Thank you for considering my application for advanced training in Pediatric Dentistry.
Pediatric Dentistry Residency Personal Statement Sample