UCSF SNDA Newsletter Winter 2020 Edition

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UCSF SNDA QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER

WINTER WARMTH

STRENGTH | NURTURE | DETERMINATION | ACTION

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CONTENTS 4

Editor's Note

By Vinh Hoang

Letter from the President

By Naya Okeke

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Feature: Dr. Robert Ho's Favorite Photo

My Path: Tips on How to Write Your Personal Statement

By Erin Malone

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13th Annual Impressions Conference Reflections from Outreach Committee and Volunteers

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Black History Game Night

By Jonathan Chestnut

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Women to Women Panel Reflections from attendees

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Mentorship

By Vincent Yang

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Welcome Interviewees to UCSF

By DentStay Committee

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2019-2020 Executive Board

38 Photo Credit: Dr. Robert Ho (UCSF School of Dentistry Professor)

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Board Game: My Teeth

Editor's Note

Photo Credit: Vinh Hoang (D1)

Greetings, We are very excited to release our UCSF SNDA Newsletter Winter 2020 Edition, which showcases the events we had this quarter. You will find a great article about how to write an impressive personal statement for dental school. In addition, this edition is especially packed with reflections from our 13th Annual Impressions Conference, Women to Women Panel, Black History Game Night, as well as Mentorship Program and DentStay. For those who are interested, we also include a board game to play with your friends. We also feature Dr. Robert Ho's favorite photo in his awesome photo collection. Dr. Ho is a Professor within the Department of Preventative and Restorative Dental Sciences in the UCSF School of Dentistry. We save the best for last!

We hope that you will find these reflections and articles valuable for your personal enrichment. If you have any ideas and want to be featured in our next newsletter, please reach out to me at brian.hoang@ucsf.edu.

Warm Regards,

Vinh Hoang 2019-2021 UCSF SNDA Newsletter Editor WINTER 2020 CONNECTIONÂ | Â 3

Photo Credit: Vinh Hoang (D1)

UCSF SNDA President

Letter from the President Greetings UCSF Family, For over 40 years, the Student National Dental Association (SNDA) has worked to promote diversity and increase minority presence in dental schools, all while helping to fight oral health disparities in our community! Our UCSF SNDA chapter has been diligently working to ensure these visions are felt through the greater bay area for years!

Our vision this year was unity (uniTEETH) - unity within our board, our members, and the community we serve.

This year our board brainstormed new initiatives to support this vision! We kicked off the year collaborating with HSDA & GSDDA to host a welcome picnic for incoming D1 students, a mixer for incoming and current black students to establish connections, and participated in the Black Student Health Alliance’s Friendsgiving for students across all the professional schools. Our Outreach committee shined raising funds to provide SIX scholarships for pre-dental students, and our mentorship committee expanded outreach efforts to middle school students and other university campuses. We also hosted our very own Black History Month game night!

We held true to our traditions by attending the NDA’s Greater Bay Area Dental Association Mixer, housing over 80 interviewing students with DENTSTAY, holding our “So You Want To Be a Dentist” five-part worshop series, and hosting Lessons in a Lunch Box at George Washington Carver Elementary School. On top of our quarterly events, we are continuing to keep pre-dents in contact with dental students through our mentorship challenge. We recently held our 3rd Annual Women to Women event to bring in Women’s History Month, and continue to put on two outreach events per quarter to provide oral hygiene instructions to the underserved.

Our 13th Annual Impressions was a huge hit with over 130 pre-dental students from all over the country joining us to learn more about our amazing field. They were welcomed with pearls of wisdom from UCSF alumni Dr. Muhaimin and Dr. Benjamin. Students had the opportunity to interact with students, attend workshops on reviewing sample AADSAS applications and diversity and inclusion. They also participated in mock interviews and gained hand skills in our Simulation Lab. The event was closed with scholarship presentations, words of encouragement from Dr. Alston, raffles, and oral hygiene goodies. Thank you to ADEA, FDSC, and ASDA for their collaboration on making this event possible.

It has been a pleasure encouraging our board to push ourselves to newer heights! I cannot wait to see the impact SNDA continues to make in our community this school year. As students who are seen as the minority in the dental field, we continue to show the world we WILL achieve anything we set out to accomplish.

Thank you to our advisors Dr. Taylor and Dr. Benjamin (and our forever advisor Dr. Alston), GBADS, our pre-dental students who continue to support our events, the greater UCSF community, and our wonderful 2019-2020 executive board!

Warm Regards,

Naya Okeke 2019 – 2020 UCSF SNDA Chapter President 4

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Golden Gate Bridge Photo Credit: Dr. Robert Ho (UCSF School of Dentistry Professor)

MY PATH

BY ERIN MALONE Writing a personal statement was the worst part of applying to dental school for me. School was school. The DAT was a test (a long test). Asking for recommendations came easy, but writing was the tough part. Even more daunting was the task of writing about me. I barely even liked myself, how could I convey to others that I was worth an acceptance? If you have had these thoughts, let me tell you, you are not alone. I was tasked to share with you some tips on writing a personal statement, some thoughts I had while writing, and things I learned along the journey.

Let’s put positive thoughts in our brains and start planning this statement out.

Before you begin writing, make sure you identify and write down these below points. Thinking on these items beforehand will lay the foundation of your statement and will provide a direction till completion. It is easy to start writing and dig yourself into a rabbit hole of ideas/emotion.

Then, two hours later you look up and you are nowhere near your completed goal, and you are now deleting superfluous information that sounded good but didn’t fit your story.

Identify the overall message that you want to relay.

Identify what makes you unique/different from everybody else.

Identify a systematic mindset on how you plan to complete your personal statement.

Have your resume/CV next to you, so you can add information in your statement that is not already in all of these documents.

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TIPS ON HOW TO WRITE START

So let’s get down to business and write some sentences. Here are some thoughts to address while writing: Somewhere in the first paragraph, describe the scene-using the theme that you chose. Write a catchy blurb introducing your journey through the theme. The first paragraph should also direct your overall message.

Build the story by answering these following questions:· What’s important to you? (If your family/friend describes what’s important to you, what would they say?)

What experiences or actions encompass you, and explains why you are the person you are?

What is the life journey that led you to know you want to be a health professional?

What weaknesses did you have and how have you overcome them?

CONTENT

STORY BUILDING

Add content to answer the AADSAS prompts such as: Why do you want to be a dentist?

What about dentistry intrigues you, or made you want to make a commitment to the profession?

What about you makes you know you will be a great dentist?

Have you demonstrated an ability to work well with others?

What weaknesses have you had and how have you overcome them?

Conclude with the initial theme.This allows cohesiveness in your statement and provides meaning to any items that seem like random tangents. Do not leave loose ends in your statement. Everything that you talk about should stay relevant and add substance to the overall message. Make sure the overall message was established and conveyed. Remember the character count limit. No matter how small you make the font, or how wide you make the margins, the character count will be the same.

THEME

CREATIVE

These are things I did to be creative: 1. Change perspective of the author (write in third person, instead of first).

2. Choose a theme to describe my story (superhero/superman themed).

3. Describe an event or events, that showed my uniqueness, and link it back to dentistry.

4. Showed my commitment and passion to dentistry and life outside of dentistry (like mother, my bed, and cheesecake). I’m not sorry.

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YOUR PERSONAL STATEMENT After writing my own personal statement and polling other dental students, the following themes stood out as key things I wish I had known:

SYSTEM/ MINDSET

STAY FOCUSED

AUDIENCE

DESCRIBE IT

Identify a systematic mindset on how you plan to complete your personal statement. My mindset for completion went a little something like this: “Word by word, sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph until it’s done.” Write one meaningful sentence a day, and in 2 months (approximately 60 days) your personal statement will be done. Don’t waste time. Just like everything in the AADSAS application, be prepared and make a plan to finish. Writer’s block is real, so there’s no time writing information that you cannot use.

Stay focused. If your message is to relay your hard work ethic and interest in dentistry through your time working at an art gallery, then do not write about how you learned how to play the piano as a child. Although your story about learning an instrument may be impressive, it is not relevant to the text. The quickest way to lose the attention of your reader is to piecemeal random stories or accomplishments together that don’t fit your storyline. We know you are great and successful but let the rest of the AADSAS application show us your brilliance.

Think about your audience. Other people have to read this. Cookie cutter statements are fine, but the best statements are catchy and draw the reader’s attention. Additionally, do not start your statement talking about teeth. This is not a theme, it’s a requirement for dentists. I would be very worried if my dentist did not have an interest in teeth in one way or another, so do not make your overall message solely about teeth. Let’s ease into this thing. We want a compelling thought-out journey, not an array of facts. Finally, have good transitions from one paragraph/idea to the next. The worst thing for a reader is getting into a story and the next paragraph starts a whole new story. Flow is important. Do not confound the reader.

“Don’t say it, describe it” This is a skill that will turn a decent personal statement into an amazing statement. The best writer’s in my opinion do not just tell the reader how they felt, but they make the reader feel how they felt. Example: After volunteering in Dr. Jean-Pierre’s dental clinic, I felt confident that dentistry is the profession for me.

After volunteering in Dr. Jean Pierre’s dental clinic, my spirit was uplifted to new heights with so much confidence that I knew I had found the perfect profession for me.

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Are you juicing up your sentences by adding this flare? Absolutely, but would you rather have a dehydrated reader thirsting for life in desiccated words or a reader with their properly sprinkled with creatively placed adjectives. I’ll take the second please.

Remember you are an interesting person. Yo, this point right here was a huge point for me to remember. This might be a sticky note point that you post where you are writing. Why is it so important? Many people writing their statements get shy, nervous, or even concerned because they feel they are not interesting. Many people feel that their unique points are boring and just haven’t been through anything traumatic or exciting enough to write about. Get these ideas out of your head!!! You are an interesting person and your story deserves to be told. Yes, many have had common experiences, your outlook on life is unique and nobody has had to live in your shoes. Be a tour guide and take the reader on your life journey. If you’re an excited tour guide, then your excitement will spill over to your audience. If you feel you are boring with not much to say, then that will be reflected and felt by the reader as well. I’m taking flight off my soapbox now. You got this! Go get ‘em!

Get multiple people to read your paper. I know this may be a scary task because it’s your “personal statement”, getting different eyes on your statement is necessary. After writing your statement for some time, you will become familiar with your work and your mind will begin to fill in text. Fresh eyes will keep you honest and see mistakes that you are reading over because of your familiarity. I recommend you have someone well-versed in English read your statement for grammatical errors and consistently through

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the statement. Have a stranger/professor read your statement and discuss with them what message they felt your statement displayed. If you use a professor, try to get a professor that will write a recommendation letter for you. Your statement could provide prospective into your life that they may not have seen or known.

I hope this article is helpful for those reading.

Writing a personal statement is truly personal. Every idea or suggestion does not work for everybody. Just like people, personal statements come in all shapes and sizes. The common denominator is your uniqueness.

Take this writing experience as an opportunity to let your light shine to any interviewer bold enough to read about you.

No matter who you are, you can accomplish this feat, and always remember this is only one portion of the AADSAS application.

Perfection is not needed to get into dental school. So, breathe, have fun, and just be you.

Erin Malone 2019-2020 Junior Mentorship Coordinator

Photo Credit: Becky Nguyen (D2) and Marleah Nurse (D1)

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Photo Credit:Â Dr. Robert Ho (UCSF School of Dentistry Professor)

IMPRESSIONS CONFERENCE

BY KEVIN HAHN, ELLIOTT PEREIRA, TIFFANY LA, AND PATRICK HUYNH

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On February 23rd, 2020, SNDA hosted its 13th Annual Impressions Undergraduate Dental Conference at UCSF. The Impressions Conference holds a lot of meaning for our outreach team as through it we are able to empower undergraduates from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds to pursue a career in dentistry and expose them to student life at the UCSF School of Dentistry. This year we had 130 pre-dental students from all around the nation attend our conference!

For our keynote speaker, we had our very own advisor, Dr. Hibret Hailu Benjamin. Her inspirational speech about her path to dentistry set the tone for the rest of the day as our students were more than excited for a day packed full of dental activities. Along with this, students listened to several presentations from a variety of people such as Dr. Dawud Muhaimin (UCSF SOD Alumnus ‘99), Dr. Lopez (UCSF Dental Alumni Association), Brennan Crilly (Admissions & Outreach), Roger Mraz (UCSF Office of Graduate and Research Affairs), the Community Dental Clinic, and our own SNDA mentorship team. Students also had the opportunity to participate in two hands-on activities: the Filipino Dental Student Coalition (FDSC) took charge of the Mock Interview workshop while the American Student Dental Association (ASDA) and American Dental Education Association (ADEA) worked together to lead another successful Sim Lab day. In Sim Lab, students were able to practice drilling on Learn-A-Preps and pour up stone models of typodont molar teeth. In the interview workshop, students were given a run down of do’s and don’ts before, during, and after interview day.

For the latter half of our conference, students had the unique opportunity to participate in one of two breakout sessions.

The “Dental Admissions Mock Committee” led by Brennan Crilly allowed students to critically analyze mock applications for their strengths and weaknesses from the point of view of an admissions office.

Photo Credit: Vinh Hoang (D1), Becky Nguyen (D2) and Marleah Nurse (D1)

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Photo Credit: Becky Nguyen (D2) and Marleah Nurse (D1)

The “Allyship in Healthcare� session with Dr. George Taylor and our two Junior Outreach chairs, Tiffany La and Patrick Huynh, focused on how to create a voice and set of tools for healthcare providers of the future to cultivate an inclusive atmosphere and improve quality of care for their patients. Once both sessions were done, a student panel led by 3rd year Noah Koraym answered questions submitted by the students. Finally, the day wrapped up with our closing Scholarship Presentation

by Dr. Pamela Alston, President-Elect of the National Dental Association. This year we were able to give away six $225 scholarships because of a successful holiday sock fundraiser supported by all of our students, faculty members, and Dr. Alston who doubled the amount fundraised. Once scholarships were awarded, electric toothbrushes, swag bags full of dental care items, DAT prep books, and UCSF application fee waivers were raffled off to our attendees.

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And with that, our 13th Annual Impressions Conference was a wrap! We received a lot of positive feedback from our attendees, and we cannot wait to make it an even better event come next year. This could not have been possible without the collaboration between SNDA, ADEA, ASDA, and FDSC, and we want to give a huge thank you to our board and all of the volunteers who came to help out for our event!

See you next year!

Kevin Hahn, Elliott Pereira, Tiffany La, and Patrick Huynh UCSF SNDA Outreach Committee

Congratulations to the following recipients of this year scholarship (from left to right): Reeva Gestre, Adora McQuinn, Manuel Alonzo Barrios, Shaudee Badie, Cody Fong, and Hannah Salao.

Photo Credit: Becky Nguyen (D2) and Marleah Nurse (D1)

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2019 - 2020 UCSF SNDA Executive Board Members Photo Credit: Becky Nguyen (D2) and Marleah Nurse (D1)

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APPRECIATION

BY CAT CHENG This past winter quarter I volunteered at the

"I was appreciative of the opportunity to give back to these students..."

SNDA Impressions Conference where I was able to do mock dental interviews for future dental school matriculants. It was a really nice event not only for me but hopefully also for those who attended. I was able to give younger students, still in their undergraduate programs, tips on how to explain their experiences in a more cohesive and meaningful way. In addition, I believe I was able to help prepare them, without scaring them, on what dental school is like, especially what UCSF dental has been like as a first-year student. I was appreciative of the opportunity to give back to these students and I really wished, as an out of state student, that I would have been able to attend one of these workshops in order to not only receive feedback on my interviewing skills from recent matriculants but also to interact with current students, see their perspectives and interact with the community. Overall, it was a great event and I intend on volunteering again in upcoming years!

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Left to Right: D1 Students Byron Trinh, Joy Geng, Vincent Yang, and Nina Hatami

It was a pleasure to be invited on the student panel Q&A for the SNDA Impressions Conference. I had always been envious of the students who took time out of their busy schedule to offer pre-dental students guidance on becoming competitive applicants. As a panelist, I hope I was able to enlighten the prospective dental students by answering some burning questions they had in mind. After the conference, I was surprised to receive messages from curious attendees who showed their interest in learning more about getting into dental school and applying for the Military’s Health Professions Scholarship Program.

I think SNDA Impressions Conference is an excellent program that brings together a diverse group of aspiring dental students, and provides them with exposure to dentistry, mentorship, academic guidance, and assistance in the application process.

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CURIOSITY

BY BYRON TRINH "...I hope I was able to enlighten the prospective dental students..."

DREAM HIGH

BY AILEY BLYSTONE My name is Ailey Blystone, a third-year dental student at UCSF. I recently participated in the Impressions Conference 2020 held by the Student National Dental Association (SNDA). I came to represent the Filipino Dental Student Coalition (FDSC) and volunteer my time with the pre-dental students from all over the country. My role was to be one of the interviewers for the mock interview portion of the conference. I had the pleasure to meet and work with 5 amazing potential dental students! I had so much fun asking them questions, hearing their personal and creative answers, giving them feedback, and answering their questions. It reminded me how fortunate I am to be attending dental school and to keep trying to do my best and never give up on my dream. It seems easy for us once we are in, but definitely harder back then when we were applying and trying to get in. I gave my email to the pre-dental students and I’ve had one of them already write to me asking for advice on their personal statement. It really warms my heart that I could mentor these amazing future dental students. It was such a fun experience not only for me, but, of course for these pre-dental students who are much looking forward to applying and getting accepted into their dream dental schools.

Left to Right: Ailey Blystone (D3), Stephanie Ellman (D1), Valerie Poquiz (D2), Alex Owyoung (D3), David Nguyen (D2)

"It really warms my heart that I could mentor these amazing future dental students."

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EXCITEMENT

BY MARRINA RAN Hi I’m Marrina, a D1 here at UCSF. I volunteered for the Sim Lab portion of the Impressions Conference. Dental students loaned their handpieces, burs, typodont teeth, mixing bowls, and Learn-A-Preps for this event for the pre-dental students to use.

These students got to practice with the handpiece drilling cavity preps and other shapes on the Learn-A-Preps, and they took alginate impressions of typodont teeth and poured up stone models of them! They seemed to have a lot of fun and really enjoyed the learning experience and taking home their stone models as souvenirs. The students I talked to mostly had never done this before, and I could tell they were in awe and super excited about getting to do dental school activities. A lot of them were very young, and it impressed (no pun intended) me that they were attending conferences like this so early in their career. I had so much fun giving advice like I was a faculty member. It was weird being on the other side because it felt like I had only just started dental school, but it made me realize how much I’ve learned in school so far, to be able to teach others how to drill!! Overall it was a very fun and rewarding experience. I would do it again! And I recommend those who haven’t volunteered yet to do so next year!

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"...I could tell they were in awe and super excited about getting to do dental school activities."

EXPLORATION

BY JOY GENG

SNDA Impressions Conference was a wonderful opportunity for pre-dental students to practice interview questions with a current dental student and to get hands-on experience in Sim Lab. In Sim Lab, two groups of students were able to take turn making alginate impression on a typodont tooth and drilling on Learn-A-Prep with high speed handpiece. There were a lot of D1 and D2 students who helped out and talked to the predental students about their experiences in dental school and their insights into the application process. I think it was really nice that the pre-dental students were able to get a glimpse of what is to come if they choose dentistry.

Left to Right: D1 Students Patrick Huynh, Vinh Hoang, Joy Geng, Cat Cheng, and Muruudul Otgonbold

"...the pre-dental students were able to get a glimpse of what is to come..."

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FEEDBACK

BY JERRY HUANG

In the past quarter, I was honored to be part of SNDA’s 13th Annual Impressions Undergraduate Dental Conference at UCSF. Theresa Bui, Marvin Chen and I teamed up to provide a simulated interview session for two groups of undergraduate pre-dental students. I was happy to see the students came in confident, enthusiastic, and prepared. My favorite part was to be able to sit on the other side of the table and provide feedback to their performances so that they can be more prepared for their future interviews. Aside from giving my insights on applying to dental schools and studying for the required courses, I was also able to learn what the new applicants were looking forward to for their dental education, such as CAD/CAM, new impression materials, etc. Needless to say, the forwardness in the visions of these pre-dental students took me by surprise. As a D1 student, I feel exceptionally obligated to reach out to and guide the aspiring pre-dental students, a group I belonged to not long ago, on this memorable journey. I believe both the undergraduate students and the current UCSF dental students benefited from this opportunity SNDA has provided.

"My favorite part was to be able to sit on the other side of the table and provide feedback to their performances..."

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Golden Gate Bridge Photo Credit Dr. Robert Ho (UCSF SOD Professor)

FULL CIRCLE

BY KAT PANOPIO When I was a pre-dental student, I looked forward to attending the pre-dental events held at UCSF. I genuinely enjoyed getting to know the dental students then, and would envision myself being in their position one day. It came full circle when FDSC led the Interview and Personal Statement Workshop for this year’s Impressions Conference. We organized a presentation covering a general overview of the dental school interviewing process, which was followed by a mock interview session held by student volunteers. My interaction with the pre-dental students led me to reflect on my personal journey and professional growth. I am always grateful to be where I am today, and I am so proud to have been a volunteer for the event that continues to touch many aspiring dentists.

"My interaction with the pre-dental students led me to reflect on my personal journey and professional growth."

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GROWTH

BY NINA HATAMI I really enjoyed the Impressions Conference and look forward to being involved more in the future! I loved meeting an extraordinary group of pre-dental students on a day in which we got to watch their interest grow in this field and be a part of that process.

When I was at that stage in my path toward dentistry, I was so grateful to the dental students whose valuable insight helped guide me, and it felt great passing the baton of information to the next cohort of students. I felt so proud of my classmates who organized such a transformative day, and I can imagine that the Impressions Conference might have been one of the most important days to the pre-dental students’ journeys of becoming dentists.

"I loved meeting an extraordinary group of pre-dental students..."

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IMPRESSION

BY MINHCHAU (MC) NGUYEN When the Impressions Conference committee was looking for volunteers, I signed up immediately. Why not? I love meeting new people, especially those who share the same interests and passions as me. However, I didn’t realize the amount of time and effort invested to coordinate this Impressions Conference. To do this, SNDA collaborated with ASDA, ADEA and FDSC in efforts to bridge prospective students to dental schools. The extensive planning and effort were for a worthwhile cause. Predental students were not only just taking impressions on a typodont tooth (or their thumbs for some) but also getting a first “Impression” on what UCSF School of Dentistry has to offer.

During this conference as a volunteer, I thoroughly enjoyed interacting with predental students in the organized Sim Lab

I genuinely value the time spent with the pre-dental students, because I believe that we both benefitted from our conversations. While the attendees get a flavor of student life at UCSF, I am fondly reminded of the excitement of applying into my dream dental school. Balancing didactics, Sim Lab and pre-clinical courses, it is easy to overlook how far we’ve come. I’m glad I had the opportunity to volunteer in this year’s Impressions Conference, and look forward to next year’s.

activities and in casual conversations.

With about two quarters of Sim Lab experience, I was equally nervous and excited to demonstrate how “hands-on” we get the moment we matriculate into dental school. Through working in Sim Lab together, we developed an open communication environment.

"I genuinely value the time spent with the pre-dental students..."

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Downtown San Francisco Photo Credit: Dr. Robert Ho (UCSF SOD Professor)

SNDA’s Impressions Conference is the largest pre-dental event of the entire year, and it was incredible to see all the hard work I’ve seen my peers do pay off and see all the different campus organizations come together to put on this event. As part of ADEA, I helped coordinate the Sim Lab portion of the day during which the pre-dental students drilled on Learn-A-Prep and made alginate impressions of typodont teeth and UCSF students were Sim Lab faculty for the day. The conference was a new experience for me because as an undergraduate student, I did not attend any pre-dental events like this.

Looking back, I feel blessed to be able to provide the opportunity to pre-dental students along with so many of my fellow UCSF classmates. Throughout the conference, I could see how eager the pre-dental students were to have hands-on experience and the opportunity to talk to our students. Hearing their stories and journey to dentistry reminded me why I chose to go into this field and their excitement energized me. I am very grateful to have played a role in a day like Impressions Conference, and I am looking forward to taking part in future pre-dental events as well.

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JOURNEY

BY VIVIANE NGUYEN

"Hearing their stories and journey to dentistry reminded me why I chose to go into this field..."

"I loved how the attendees were given opportunities to learn about dentistry"

OPPORTUNITIES

BY MARK RYAN ABAD Giving back to the pre-dental community has always been important to me, and volunteering for the Impressions Conference hosted by UCSF’s SNDA gave me the opportunity to do just that. With many others, I helped facilitate mock interviews for the conference attendees.

There were so many students of different backgrounds, all of them eager to pursue a career in dentistry. It was a great pleasure to not only provide tips and feedback to improve their interview skills, but to also get to know them from listening to their personal stories.

Several other aspects made this conference special—hands-on simulation lab demonstrations, personal statement workshops, and more. Pre-dental students were smiling throughout the day as they engaged with the activities such as taking impressions or using a handpiece. I loved how the attendees were given opportunities to learn about dentistry, ask questions, and connect with dental students. I remember what it felt like to be lost in the application process, so it means a lot to have been a part of the event that provided the guidance, resources, and mentorship for pre-dental students to reach their goals.

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PERSPECTIVE

BY BENJAMIN LAM I had the pleasure of volunteering at the 2020 UCSF SNDA Impressions Conference. I was able to assist in the simulation laboratory and help over one hundred pre-dental students drill on Learn-A-Prep blocks and take an impression of plastic teeth. It was a rewarding experience to interact with pre-dental students and give back to our future dental colleagues by teaching them material we had just learned the previous quarter. It was also a great opportunity to gain perspective on what our row faculty experience on a day to day basis in simulation laboratory. Overall, the Impressions Conference was a great volunteering experience that I look forward to participating with in the future and it is a unique opportunity I wish I had experienced as a pre-dental student.

"It was a rewarding experience to interact with pre-dental students..."

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ZEST

BY NHAT-THI VO For my second time volunteering at SNDA Impressions Conference as an Interview Workshop facilitator, I was amazed and impressed by the amount of zest shared amongst dental students and pre-dental students. SNDA’s mission to educate, mentor, outreach, and inspire and the student leaders’ tireless efforts to make Impressions Conference successful are inspiring and motivate me to share my experience with aspiring pre-dental students.

After being an Admissions Ambassador Student Interviewer this past application cycle, I was able to lead my group discussions with more insight on how to authentically answer questions and portray oneself. I really enjoyed learning more about each individual’s personal life, goals, interview style, and I hope I was able to give helpful advice and convince these students of how powerful and unique their experiences are. Volunteering as an Interview Workshop facilitator these past two years has been so fun and enlightening; I’m looking forward to my third time next year!

"...I was amazed and impressed by the amount of zest shared amongst dental students and pre-dental students" WINTER 2020 CONNECTION | 27

DIVERSITY

BLACK HISTORY GAME NIGHT

BY JONATHAN CHESTNUT Black history and dentistry go hand in hand. From Ida Gray Nelson Rollins, DDS (first black female dentist) to all of the thriving African American female and male dentists, we have come along way and we still have to keep pushing. These events help remind us of where we come from and show us that there’s not a lot of us and we have to stick together. I joined SNDA to help increase the African American student body population by going out in the streets to motivate those who are interested and those who don’t even know what dentistry entails. Just by creating that awareness, you’d never know what spark you may put into someone else’s life. The only way we can set a platform for those in the future is by creating that platform and being an outlet for those to come behind us. As a member of SNDA and a member of the dental community, you can create diversity by being a mentor to those who really need it or just by speaking to our future leaders because as I said, something we may think is small may be the driving force in someone else’s life and we need diversity in dentistry.

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"...you can create diversity by being a mentor to those who really need it or just by speaking to our future leaders..."

TRAILBLAZING

BY ANDREA AKABIKE In celebration of Women’s History Month, SNDA hosted its 3rd annual Women-toWomen Panel. Each year, SNDA hosts a panel of phenomenal women dentists for a discussion on their career paths, families, life challenges, and more! The format of the discussion is similar to the television show “The Real” and is led by our faculty advisor, Dr. Pamela Alston.

Every year, I look forward to this event. I always find it inspiring to see so many trailblazing women of color excel in the field of dentistry. I love how transparent the panelists are about their struggles around achieving work-life balance, starting their careers, and having a family. As a soon-tobe graduate, I cannot help but be encouraged by the panelists’ stories. They give me hope that the best is yet to come for me!

"I always find it inspiring to see so many trailblazing women of color excel in the field of dentistry."

Cherry Blossom Photo Credit: Dr. Robert Ho (UCSF SOD Professor)

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WOMEN IN DENTISTRY

BY ALLIE LIU This event was more entertaining than your average panel lunch-and-learn. The way it ran made it feel like you were watching a talk show, and the fact that the women were all relatively familiar with one another kept the ambiance comfortable and endearing. I was happy to see a great range of positions sported by the panel members in terms of what their daily routine looked like both at work and at home. I felt that much of the conversations were heavily focused on family life (and I understand that is a question many female pre-docs have for women dentists), but I would have liked to hear more about their professional lives, and maybe some roadblocks they’ve encountered in their professional life as a woman. Nonetheless, it was interesting to see how the women got to where they are. The biggest takeaway I had was that it is ok to go into our profession without a firm goal in mind and be flexible and comfortable with the choices you make along the way.

"...it was interesting to see how the women got to where they are."

Panelists from left to right: Dr. Pamela Alston, Dr. Feleshia Apps, Dr. Hibret Benjamin (Faculty Advisor), Dr. Jacquelyn Averett, and Dr. Ronni Brown.

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Photo Credits: Panelists: Vinh Hoang (D1) Hummingbird: Dr. Robert Ho (UCSF SOD Professor)

INSPIRED

BY ERIN WELTER I had the pleasure to attend the Women to Women event where five strong, successful women shared their personal experiences and advice for up-and-coming dental professionals.

Each woman had a unique path to how they found their own personal success, involving anywhere from prestigious leadership positions, involvement in community service, positive worklife-balance (for how they personally defined it), patient outcomes, impact on community, etc. We got to hear authentic conversation and discourse where they sometimes provided different answers, built on each others’ ideas, and challenged each other, many times providing different perspectives that allowed me to strongly resonate with each of them. Hearing their stories of challenges or unknown to triumph left me feeling inspired and uplifted. A huge take away that I had was how success can come from indefinite and changing pathways. With finals just around the corner, this event left me invigorated, inspired, and empowered ready to take on my own challenges.

"Hearing their stories of challenges or unknown to triumph left me feeling inspired and uplifted"

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MENTORSHIP

BY VINCENT YANG I attended the mentorship event for SNDA this quarter and it was a great event to get to meet and hang out with pre-dental students!

It was nice to provide them with thoughts and encouragement that I wish I had gotten when I was applying for dental school. Even though my mentee wasn’t at the event, I got to meet a lot of inspirational young adults striving to become great dentists!

Outside of the event, my mentee and I got to meet up and hang out with Pooja and her mentee at San Tung! We got to know each other better and I’ve continued to text my mentee throughout the school year in order to make sure he finished up his personal statement. I am thankful that SNDA provided an opportunity for me to meet so many inspiring pre-dental students throughout this quarter.

"I am thankful that SNDA provided an opportunity for me..."

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DENTSTAY WELCOMES INTERVIEWEES TO UCSF

BY ANGELINA TONG & AVA VAKILI

The dental school interviewing process can be a long and arduous journey for many applicants with many challenges -- months of waiting in anticipation, feelings of uncertainty and nervous excitement, and the nontrivial financial burden of interviewing. In response to these challenges facing interviewing students, UCSF SNDA offers the DentStay program to every student who interviews at UCSF.

Photo Credits: Tower, Flower, & Downtown SF: Dr. Robert Ho (UCSF SOD Professor) UCSF SOD students and interviewees: Angelina Tong (D2)

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DENTSTAY

In 2014, Eric Brown, Yamrot Alemu, and Ivy Fua brought the DentStay Program to UCSF after learning about it at a national SNDA conference. Since then, SNDA has put on this program each year in support of prospective students in the application process—particularly students from underrepresented backgrounds—in efforts to increase minority student representation in each matriculating class at UCSF. The DentStay program pairs interviewees with dental students for housing and hosts a dinner where interviewees meet each other and current dental students. Interviewees are able to gain invaluable insight from current dental students while partially offsetting the high costs of interviewing.

The DentStay program allows prospective students to spend time with UCSF students, meet people from similar backgrounds, and feel encouraged to attend. The dinners and hosts create personal experiences for interviewees to get to know the warm and rich community at UCSF.

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Photo Credit: Angelina Tong (D2)

In this application cycle, we had 100 interviewees attend our DentStay dinners and 88 interviewees stay with student hosts. Here are some quotes from interviewees who partook in the program this year: “I loved meeting the current dental students and hearing their perspectives on student housing options and the balance between student life, course work, research, and volunteer clinics.”

“It provided a very relaxing atmosphere the day before the interview.”

“It provided a very relaxing atmosphere the day before the interview.”

“I enjoyed having the opportunity to observe the daily routine of current students. I was able to more clearly visualize my life as a dental student.”

“I felt that I walked away with a very real sense of the people and community of students at UCSF. DentStay also helped offset the cost of flying across the country to interview.”

We’re so grateful that we are able to provide this program year after year and look hopefully to the future as we increase the diversity and representation at our school and in the dental profession!

Photo Credits: Dinner with interviewees: Angelina Tong (D2) Rose: Dr. Robert Ho (UCSF SOD Professor)

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Student National Dental Association Chapter at UCSFÂ The mission of SNDA is multifold. We strive to increase the recruitment, enrollment, and retention of underrepresented minority students in dental school by encouraging undergraduate students and younger from disadvantaged and underrepresented backgrounds to consider dentistry as a profession. We provide support and resources to aid these students in achieving their goals of entering dentistry or other health professional fields. We are also committed to outreaching to underserved populations and to improving the delivery of dental health to all people.

2019 - 2020 UCSF SNDA Executive Board

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Ifunanya Okeke President

Vandan Kasar Vice President

Noah Koraym Treasurer

Erin Welter Secretary

Elliott Pereira Senior Outreach Coordinator

Kevin Hahn Senior Outreach Coordinator

Tiffany La Junior Outreach Coordinator

Patrick Huynh Junior Outreach Coordinator

Sydney Nanton Senior Mentorship Coordinator

Lina Eltahir Senior Mentorship Coordinator

Erin Malone Junior Mentorship Coordinator

Jonathan Chestnut Junior Mentorship Coordinator

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2019 - 2020 UCSF SNDA Executive Board

Ava Vakili DentStay Coordinator

Angelina Tong DentStay Coordinator

Becky Nguyen Historian

Marleah Nurse Historian

Andrea Akabike D4 Rep

Shaun Abrams D4 Rep

Kyle Takahashi D3 Rep

Saba Dolat D2 Rep

Devin Babauta D1 Rep

Bianca Duarte GBADS

Rubin Sorrell GBADS

Vinh Hoang Newsletter Editor

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"One of my favorite images, so calm. In times like this, we need to have faith in medicine and be grateful to all the health care practitioners risking their lives to help others!"

Dr. Robert Ho

Two House Finches Kissing Photo Credit Dr. Robert Ho (UCSF School of Dentistry Professor)

PHOTOGRAPHY AND DENTISTRY

Photography is all about timing, being patient, understanding your camera, settings, and waiting for the right moment. The birds kissing is extremely rare. The color, composition, lighting all have to be perfect to give you a pleasing image.

BY DR. ROBERT HO

The same with dentistry, everything has to be well thought off, from thorough medical history taking, proper diagnosis, treatment plan and then execution of the restorative procedure had to be perfect, and then lifelong follow up.

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THANK YOU On behalf of UCSF SNDA Chapter, we would like to thank all the individuals in the Planning Committee in SNDA, ADEA, ASDA, FDSC, as well as faculty members for working together in organizing the 13th Annual Impressions Conference. We would also like to give special shoutout to all the volunteers who helped run all the workshops throughout the day and ensured participants learn as much as possible about dentistry and the program offered at UCSF School of Dentistry. SNDA Executive Board members also thank Kyle Takahashi for designing the awesome "More than a dentist" T-shirt for us to wear during the conference. Lastly, this newsletter would not be completed without significant contributions from our dedicated writers whose reflections about our various events throughout the quarter showcase SNDA core values.

13TH ANNUAL IMPRESSIONS CONFERENCE Co-sponsored by: Student National Dental Association (SNDA) American Dental Education Association (ADEA) American Student Dental Association (ASDA) Filipino Dental Student Coalition (FDSC) Funding Provided by: UCSF School of Dentistry: Office of Admissions UCSF Office of Student Life UCSF Associated Dental Students (ADS) UCSF Dental Alumni Association (DAA) Student National Dental Association Special Thanks to: Dr. Hibret Hailu Benjamin & Dr. George W. Taylor SNDA Chapter Advisors Dr. Pamela Alston - Former SNDA Chapter Advisor and President-Elect of the National Dental Association Dr. Dawud Muhaimin - UCSF SOD Alumni '99 Dr. Michael Lopez - UCSF Alumni Association Brennan Crilly - Office of Admissions Roger Mraz - Office of Graduate and Research Affairs Kevin Hildebrandt - Community Dental Clinic UCSF Office of Student Life UCSF Campus Life Arts & Events Volunteers for Lunch Discussion (D1 Students) Semira Amirkiai Esther Moon Hanna Nguyen MinhChau (MC) Nguyen Pooja Patel Marrina Ran Amanda Rosenfeld Shreya Shah Ellysha Sunga Luan Tran

Volunteers for Student Panel Q &A Kendall De Kreek (D2) Erin Malone (D1) Rosangel Oropeza (D4) Malav Parikh (D1) Byron Trinh (D1) Volunteers for Interview 101 and Essay Editing Workshop: Mark Ryan Abad (D1) Yvonna-Marie Barrientos (D1) Theresa Bui (D2) Marvin Chen (D2) Cat Cheng (D1) Jonathan Chestnut (D1) Joanna Chua (D1) Stephanie Ellman (D1) Mikey Gacias (D1) Valerie Gutierrez-Poquiz (D2) Kyle Hane (D2) Kevin Hildebrandt (D3) Anthony Hua (D2) Jerry Huang (D1) Arielle Miller (D2) David Nguyen (D2) Alex Owyoung (D3) Kat Panopio (D2) Sara Soofian (D2) Helena Viets (D1) Nhat-Thi Vo (D2)

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THANK YOU 13TH ANNUAL IMPRESSIONS CONFERENCE Volunteers for Sim Lab Demonstration Tom Bill (D2) Ivan Chan (D2) Alyssa Coulter(D2) Katie DiLeo (D2) Saba Dolatshahi (D2) Maurice Dominguez (D2) Heydi Dutan (D2) Nina Hatami (D1) Erica Harris (D2) Fady Ibrahim (D2) Mark Kane (D2) Benjamin Lam (D1) April Martinez (D2) Danny Matty (D2) Adrian Mendez (D1) Bradford Morgan (D2)

MinhChau (MC) Nguyen (D1) Viviane Nguyen (D1) Joseph Ordaz (D3) Muuduu Otgonbold (D1) Pooja Patel (D1) Greg Pavlos (D2) Roya Rad (D1) Marrina Ran (D1) Zahur Subedar (D2) Burin Thanasuwat (D2) Yvette Tran (D2) Byron Trinh (D1) Michelle Truong (D2) Vincent Yang (D1) Yan Zhang (D1)

And all the board members of SNDA, ADEA, ASDA, and FDSC chapters who came and helped with everything throughout the conference.

CONTRIBUTION TO NEWSLETTER WINTER 2020 EDITION Mark Ryan Abad (D1) Andrea Akabike (D4) Ailey Blystone (D3) Cat Cheng (D1) Jonathan Chestnut (D1) Lina Eltahir (D2) Joy Geng (D1) Kevin Hahn (D2) Nina Hatami (D1) Jerry Huang (D1) Patrick Huynh (D1) Tiffany La (D1) Benjamin Lam (D1) Allie Liu (D1)

Erin Malone (D1) Sydney Nanton (D2) MinhChau (MC) Nguyen (D1) Viviane Nguyen (D1) Kat Panopio (D2) Elliott Pereira (D2) Marrina Ran (D1) Angelina Tong (D2) Byron Trinh (D1) Ava Vakili (D2) Nhat-Thi Vo (D2) Erin Welter (D1) Vincent Yang (D1)

PHOTO CREDITS Dr. Robert Ho - UCSF School of Dentistry Professor Vinh Hoang (D1) Becky Nguyen (D2) Marleah Nurse (D1) Angelina Tong (D2) Individual writers who provided their self portraits and group pictures in their reflections 42

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CONNECTION UCSF SNDA QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER

/ucsfsnda @ucsf.snda

What ar e y o u l o o k i n g f o r w a rd to in

SPRING 2020?

Photo Credit: Dr. Robert Ho (UCSF School of Dentistry Professor)