About Me

When told to choose between science and the arts, I pursued both.  I graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pittsburgh with a bachelor's degree in English Writing Poetry and minors in Chinese and Chemistry. I was also inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, an honor society that celebrates excellence in the liberal arts and sciences. Following graduation, I decided to pursue dentistry--a specialty that fosters both my creativity and intellectual curiosity. 

I chose to continue my education at the University of Pacific Arthur A Dugoni School of Dentistry because of its humanistic approach to patient care that emphasizes a "Head, Heart, and Hands” philosophy. During my first year didactic courses, I was introduced to the concept of social determinants of health (SDOH) and my future role as not only a dentist but also as an interprofessional health care provider. These lessons broadened my understanding of dentistry's role in a patient's overall well-being and has inspired me to provide holistic care to my patients; however, after starting to treat patients in the clinic, I noticed that our understanding of SDOH wasn't being implemented into our clinical practice. In order to bridge this gap in our curriculum, I reached out to Professor Christine Miller who had given lectures on community dentistry and SDOH. Under her mentorship, I designed a proposal for a personalized instructional program project aimed at creating guidelines for addressing SDOH in our main dental clinic. 

This project is my attempt at creating pilot guidelines for our pre-doctoral dental clinic in order to better serve our patients and the community. 

Mentor