Dentistry brings together the parts of science I love the most: precise, hands-on work and patients you get to know over years.
I’ve always liked careful, detailed work, whether it’s a LEGO build or a batch of pastries. Biology gave me the reasons behind how the body works. Shadowing in dental offices showed me where those two things meet.
At Manhattan Bridge Orthodontics, I sat in on new-patient consultations, braces removals, and the placement of temporary anchorage devices. Orthodontics plays out over months and years of small adjustments, and I saw how much the doctors’ relationships with their patients mattered along the way. At Canal Street Dental, I watched Dr. Chan perform a root canal and saw how a single procedure could take a patient from real pain to relief.
My medical internship at Integrative Pain Management of New York broadened that picture. I observed surgeries and IV infusion therapy and helped patients recover afterward by checking their blood pressure and heart rate. I came away sure that I want to work directly with patients, and drawn to the continuity of care that dentistry offers.
Research has shaped how I think about care too. Working on a paper about intravenous iron therapy for anemia of chronic disease showed me how evidence gets built and why it matters when deciding on treatment.
Volunteering with God’s Love We Deliver reminded me that health depends on access: to food, to information, and to care. Oral health is tied to nutrition and to overall health, and not everyone can easily get to a dentist. I want to build a practice where people from every background feel welcome and get excellent care.
