I’m planning to open my own dental practice and dedicate 1 day/week to provide free dental care

Private practice

VCU , Endodontics residency program

Bachelor’s degree in oral surgery 2012 Iraq, VCU DDS’24

Iraq general dentist experience USA Dental assistant

Baghdad, Iraq. Arabic and English

US citizen

4 years of general dentistry in Iraq 4 years of dental assistant in USA

Painting/drawing

drwedyan_89@yahoo.com

Being born and raised in a country that has gone through a civil war means you start your day trying to tackle it and going through unexpected routes and situations, finding solutions to situations that seem impossible to solve, suffering pain, or loosing something you own or someone you love. But while I was in these situations you look at the end of the tunnel and see the light that gives me the signal to keep going and accept the challenge and you enjoy it by following your senses, watching my steps, being careful, patient, discipline, compassionate, think about alternatives. As a result of this, I ended up mastering going through challenges. In addition to that, war helped me understand people’s pain of losing something or someone, which makes me feel good when I try to help them save the stuff that they think will loose or getting rid of the actual pain that they are having. From a very young age I decided to be a dentist. The journey I took to lead me to the dentistry was not easy in all aspects. The civil war and the financial difficulties my family faced were the main obstacles that I had to face. Fortunately, with the support of my family and with the dedication I had I kept pushing and made it to dental school. When in dental school, I always hear people talk about specialization, but I never knew what I wanted until I did my first root canal in the fourth year of my dental school in Baghdad/Iraq. It was a challenging root canal treatment on a maxillary canine that the patient was crying of pain. I enjoyed the challenge I faced when I was working in somewhere I don’t see but following my imagination, orientation, and direction and I know at the end of the day I will look back at it and feel so relieved that I walked through that challenge and at the end I saved the tooth. From that experience on, I have realized that Endodontics matches my life and personality and its something I want to do for the rest of my life because I love how it feels during and after I perform a root canal treatment. I realized this kind of Dentistry matches my personality and the life situations I have gone and still must go through. Few years after, I have decided to move to the U.S. looking for a better life for myself and my family. As I started my dental journey here in the U.S. I have realized that to get into Endodontics residency I must go through the International Dental Program first. I had to work as a dental assistant for four years that I mainly assisted in Root Canal Treatments that I enjoyed every single procedure I assisted with. Took many Continuing education courses in Endodontics that opened my eyes to the new investments and technologies in Endodontics that made me even more interested in pursuing Endodontics residencies. While at VCU dental school I had the opportunity to shadow and assist the endodontics residents and senior select students, I have acquired more knowledge of many aspects of modern endodontic techniques. Observing them using the microscopes, the techniques they use to disinfect, shape and obturate the canals was one of the most delightful experiences I had in the clinic. All these experiences motivated me to pursue further training in endodontics. Being an endodontist is more about restoring teeth, relieving the pain, and making the patients feel happier by saving their teeth rather than extracting them. Now, it is my goal to enter the International Student Advanced Standing Program, where I can learn new techniques, meet progressive thinkers, and be part of an esteemed group of scholars and dental professionals. Along the way, I look forward to bringing my deep commitment to collaborate with my fellow students. Most importantly, I very much look forward to being an asset to your program.