Itzel Medina's Introduction

Hi, my name is Itzel Medina, and I live in the Bronx. I am planning to major in Global Public Health/Pre-Health, and I am on the Pre-Dental track.

My intellectual experience that has shaped me the most would probably be the time I learned that there is an extreme shortage of dentists in some parts of the Dominican Republic. I was in a workshop offered by a dentist who specializes in public dental health, and she was going over the countries that had the worst people to dentist ratios. I was shocked to see that the Dominican Republic was on the chart. I am from the Dominican Republic, and I have been there over twenty times. I always knew that the Dominican Republic did not have the best access to health services, but I definitely did not think that it was one of the worst in the world.  Although I only visited the city whenever I went, I did not take into account the fact that the entire country was not in the same shape as the city was. I saw a dental clinic about every two streets, so I assumed that there was no shortage; instead, I assumed that people simply could not afford dental services, and that is bad enough on its own. Ever since I realized that the Dominican Republic is not in the shape it appears to be in certain areas, I have felt a need to express how important dentistry is in the health professions because there is this idea that all health problems can be solved through physicians, but that is not the case. My eyes have been opened from what I choose to see to what actually exists. I felt that I actually understood what everyone was referring to when they spoke about the Dominican Republic having bad health care services. This has also helped me reaffirm my decision to go into dentistry.