Personal Essay: My Future Role As A Dentistry

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It was August 2001, the first time I stepped foot into a school in the United States. The year before I was in my native country of South Korea, which has a much different culture than that of the United States. In retrospect, it was during this time of transition that provided a foray into my discovery of dentistry. Not many months after my family and I moved to the U.S., I met a dentist who allowed me to shadow and perform basic dental duties such as replacing the rubber bands on patients ' braces, which he insisted would help my dexterity. Performing these tasks reminded me of my favorite childhood hobbies such as building miniature cars and robots. This experience gave me the opportunity to develop my dexterity with tools and sparked my …show more content…

I participated in a mission trip to Mongolia after my first year of undergraduate studies. One of my mission team members was a dentist and provided free dental extractions to people in the town we stayed. I volunteered to help clean dental equipment and assist the team member while she performed tooth extractions. Although the work was arduous, the relief of having diseased teeth removed was clearly visible on the faces of those who received the procedures. I was very sad to find out the people chose to get rid of their teeth rather than receiving a simple restoration procedure because they could not afford to see a dentist. The trip to Mongolia reassured me of my passion for dentistry. Moreover, my respect for the dentist 's willingness to utilize her ability to serve others ignited the desire within me to serve those in underserved …show more content…

Having grown up in an ethnically homogeneous nation, I was not accustomed to interacting with people with different color and culture. Serving people from diverse backgrounds, however, helped me to understand and to embrace their differences better. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to work closely with people from a different culture than my own because as a future dentist, it is crucial for me to develop empathy toward my patients in order for me to treat them with

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