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N.C.’s Personal Statement
Applied to 1 school, Attending 1 school

“My interest in the medical field blossomed while working as an engineer for Dr. [example]. I researched and developed medical devices from his ideas. Before attending college, I had considered entering the medical profession, but as an impatient teenager I did not want to commit to the years of education required to achieve this. While working as an engineer, I realized that I wanted more control and understanding of the medical aspects and ideas behind the projects. I also realized that I wanted more from my career than being an engineer and that I was drawn again to practicing in the medical field. I explored my options to attain these goals, and used [example] Laboratories’ credo of “fear and pain management through innovation” to guide my thought process. During this process, I considered different medical fields and was drawn to dentistry. While talking with family and friends, I discovered that one medical field they commonly fear is dentistry. A 2003 ADA study confirmed this anecdotal conclusion: more than 21% of Americans reported that they avoid routine dental care for “fear of pain.” The prospect of being a dentist intrigued me and after much thought I developed the following long term goals: to practice dentistry for a number of years, and to use a combination of engineering and dentistry to develop technological innovations in the field of dentistry that help alleviate patient pain and fear.
Once I decided to pursue dentistry, I completely devoted myself to it. I resigned from my job in June of 2005, after completing my commitments to the current project, moved to [example], and started working on the dental school prerequisites less than one week later.
This is the perfect time for me to attend dental school. I am happy with my family’s situation in [example], and I have the full support of my wife and our parents to help with raising our two sons. Working as an engineer for five years, and my wife being a fulltime teacher, gives us the ability to accomplish this with limited financial concerns.
So far, biology classes have proven more interesting than any of my engineering classes ever did. I have surely driven my wife, as well as my registered nurse mother-in-law, crazy talking about what I have learned in school. Shadowing Dr. [example], DDS, allowed me to see the day to day activities of a successful dental practice, and I enjoyed every minute of it. While volunteering at [example] I also realized I have a compassionate side, and I can see myself volunteering my services as a licensed dentist. All of these preparations for dental school confirm to me that I have made the correct decision.”