Application for a Dentistry Externship

Application Essay

I am interested in an Indian Health Service Dental Externship because it is an opportunity to obtain real-world dental experience while finishing my final year of dental school. I believe that experience is very helpful for students and that shadowing professionals in the field that you are about to enter can be a very good way to understand more deeply the types of challenges and solutions that everyday practitioners come across. Additionally, I know that I have already benefitted substantially for my time as a student and it would be especially good to buttress my last year with practical knowledge of what this career is like.

Shadowing gives students immense opportunities to see dentistry up close and in a truly personal manner. It is a chance to meet real life patients, see first-hand their concerns, hear their questions and note how professionals apply themselves. Taking my knowledge from the classroom and implementing it throughout an externship would be like taking a tank for a trial run after spending years learning all about how it works, what it can do, and how its instruments can be used. Students dream of the opportunity to get out into the field and gain experience. They dream about because experience is a great way to boost confidence, gain insight, and take command of one’s learning. I have always striven to take ownership of my education.

I also recognize that it is crucially important to reach out to underserved populations. Patients who are do not have sufficient access to care should be given more attention and I would like to be part of that plan to assist them. It is time that underserved populations be given a chance and it would be an honor to help other health care providers take part in the plan to address their needs, identify solutions to their problems, and develop ways to better improve their oral hygiene.

By spreading the knowledge I have learned among others who have not had the chances or exposure that I have had in school, I can advance the aims of health care professionals in the field of dentistry and promote better health as well. It has always been a great passion of mind to assist a team in doing good things for this country. I would certainly love to extend my experience by being hands-on with a team dedicated to high ideals such as helping others to better themselves.

This externship would also be a great chance for me to decide if Indian Health Service can be a career choice in the future. Exposure of this sort can give me a lot of information to take back with me as I begin to focus on how to best use my talents, skills and knowledge for the good of myself and for the good of my neighbors. Taking part in this externship is an initiative that can be of great use in directing students towards a bright path forward.

Finally, spending time with the Indian Health Service would sufficiently prepare me for the next stage in my medical career. I cannot think of a better, more appropriate way to spend one’s final year in dentistry school than to spend it with IHS working in the field, listening to and learning from others, contributing to their work, building relationships with team members, and gaining a sense of dentistry in action.