personal statement for dental school

When I look back on the journey of my own becoming, I realize that I spent my days wisely, and went through some experiences that helped me to understand what I am able to implement and taught me that I have to make an efforts to achieve the goals. This seems true when I think of my decisions that have been good so far when compared to my peers. Being a dentist was one of the most important decisions in my life. Although a lot of my colleagues found the way of being a dentist too hard and extended but in the same time, I believe that when you like something you will be professional with it. In dentistry, I found a great combination between art and science the two keenly interested subjects to me. While the earliest impression of dentistry came from my uncle how was one of the most professional dentists in Iraq. Regardless of the horrible disaster situations I faced because of the unstable security situation of my country Iraq, future is what matters in fact. I hope your kind patience will allow me to elaborate the sequence of events that led me to this moment when I’m writing to you:

My primary school was one of the normal schools in Baghdad. From the early days of my life I was highly interested in science. I finished my secondary education in Al- Motamayzat High School which is one of the distinguished schools in Baghdad because of their additional subjects in science. In conjunction, at the age of six, I attended Al Orfali institute which is a private institute of Fine Art. This developed my inattention to fine art. But, at that time I was confused which subject to choose as a major subject.

At the age of 16, I started my job as an assistant in my uncle’s dental clinic in which my tasks were to sterilize the instrument and schedule appointments. Here, I found what I am looking for. As I found that although dentistry is part of medicine but it needs the touch of an artist. This talent will help the dentist to make the most beautiful smile and to reestablish the shape of the teeth. At that time, I decided that my target is to attend the dental school.

I did all my best. Despite of the terrible state of Iraq at that time because of the war, I finally graduated from the secondary school with honors and received marks enough to qualify me to enroll within the Faculty of Dentistry/ Al-mustansiriya University, I worked hard in order to obtain good marks and succeed in the practical applications of dental medicine. At that time, the security situation of Iraq became worse and worse , so most of my colleagues moved out of Iraq or to another universities. The good thing was the reduction in the student–faculty ratio which increased the concentration of professors on our clinical work. This was a great opportunity to take the advantage from their personal experiences and help me to work on the complicated cases under their direct supervision. I graduated from the school of Dentistry, and I was awarded a Bachelor’s degree in Dental Surgery (B.D.S) with 67.044 grades . I was ranked (27) among (129) graduates.

I got a government job as a trainee dentist in Al – Fallujah Specialized Dental Therapeutic Center (internship). I was trained there for more than 3 years. In addition to the opportunities I got it in a lot of dental clinics. This built my practical experience by a number of skilled dentists and specialists. I also participated in number of courses and events inside and outside Iraq so as to be familiar with the rapid progression of dentistry. This, exposed how the dental system in the United states differs than in the other countries and built my interest to practice dentistry in the United States. Even with all my effort to develop my career I feel that I need to work more on it and the best way is to start from the beginning. For that, I am trying to practice in all the fields of dentistry in the United States starting from dental assistant, hygienist, researches and dental student. In order to put my career on the right way.