Different Paths to Excellence

BY CHARIS ANDERSON MCCARTHY

While at GSDM, students move together through the school’s rigorous curriculum, sharing a path as they learn the foundational skills and knowledge they will need for success in their chosen profession. But once students graduate and leave GSDM, their paths diverge as they seek

out individual interests and specialties – but all in pursuit of excellence.

In this feature, we profile six GSDM alumni and the paths they have pursued – but in truth, there are 9,000 stories that we could tell, as each of you shine equally bright.

MILITARY Christian Ford

Christian Ford DMD 20 comes from a family with a long history of military service.

“Pretty much everyone in my family serves in one way or another,” he said.

For Ford, it wasn’t a question of if he would join the military, just a question of how and when. He contemplated enlisting at 18, but his mother – also a GSDM alumna – encouraged him to pursue his education first.

So Ford went to college, and then to GSDM. After graduating from dental school, he took up his place in his family’s military history by joining the U.S. Army Reserves – in the last slot available for at least two years. He is currently a Captain in the 455th MedCo(DS) at Devens, Massachusetts.

Far from finding it difficult to juggle a fledgling dental career with his service, Ford said it’s been “a blessing” as it is easier to schedule the time away now than it would be if he owned his own practice. He works at two practices – including Convivial Dental in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts – both of which have been very supportive of his military commitments.

Ford spends one weekend a month and then two consecutive weeks in the summer with his unit; additionally, there are different basic training requirements that he has to fulfill as well as other professional military education opportunities of which he can take advantage.

The connections and camaraderie with the other people in his unit have been a helpful addition to his post-dental school experience, Ford said.

“When you graduate from dental school, you’re typically on your own,” he said. “When I go to this unit, I have 50 or 60 dentists who have been practicing for five, six years or more … when I’m stuck, I can ask them for help.”

Ford plans to stay in the U.S. Army Reserves for 20 years or more, and is pursuing various leadership opportunities, including serving as a squad leader and as the Officer In Charge of the entire unit for the highly-demanding new Army Combat Fitness Test.

Despite the unsettled nature of the world, Ford is focused on remaining calm – and doing his duty.

“I didn’t join for a T-shirt, so if I’m needed, let’s go,” he said.

RESEARCH Débora Heller

From early on, Débora Heller PERIO 16 knew she wanted to conduct research, a calling that was reinforced when she participated in Brazil's scientific initiation program as a predoctoral student.

“I was making discoveries,” she said, reflecting on the experience. “I could see that through research, I was able to improve someone’s life.”

Heller worked in a microbiology and biochemistry laboratory throughout dental school. She then went on to do clinical training and a master’s degree in periodontology before coming to GSDM to complete a PhD under Dr. Frank Oppenheim.

“I was so lucky to work with the greatest pioneer in the field of salivary research with Dr. Frank Oppenheim,” she said. “Every time I met with him…it was like I was reading the best book in the field before it was published.”

Heller returned to Brazil after completing her PhD, and in 2016, started a salivary research laboratory, called Saliva Lab. Her particular line of research is salivary diagnostics: how to use saliva to diagnose oral and systemic diseases.

Using saliva as a diagnostic tool can help make diagnostic testing more accessible, something that’s particularly relevant in Brazil where not every city or town has a large health center with state-of-the-art technology. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Heller and her lab pivoted to focus on COVID-19. In a literature review published in September 2020, Heller and her colleagues demonstrated that saliva had tremendous promise as a diagnostic tool for COVID. She followed this with experimental research that tested the best way to collect and process saliva for this purpose, and then was able to implement the COVID-19 saliva test in her hospital, which is Brazil’s reference hospital.

“It really shows how we, as dental scientists, could contribute to fighting this pandemic,” Heller said.

Heller is passionate about sharing the newest scientific knowledge with other dentists and with the general public, viewing it as a way to expand the impact that research can have. Shortly after she returned to Brazil from her time at GSDM, she started an Instagram account – @adentistacientista – through which she explains dental research in layperson-accessible language. “I receive messages from many [students] that tell me, ‘My dream is to become a dental scientist!’” she said. “It is very gratifying to know that I’m having an impact in someone’s life – and they’re excited to be scientists as well!”

Community Service: Khurram Khan

COMMUNITY SERVICE Khurram Khan

In 2015, Khurram Khan DMD 09 was about a year into a career with the U.S. Air Force – after completing dental school at GSDM, and an oral surgery internship and residency – when he had an experience that he had been working towards since dental school.

He and his wife had traveled to a remote village in Guatemala as part of a mission trip where Khan spent several days operating on children with cleft lip and palate. This was the first time Khan’s wife had ever seen him operate, and afterwards she said to him, “I’ve never seen you so happy. This is your calling; you should pursue a cleft and craniofacial fellowship. You have my full support.”

Khan agreed. But it wasn’t just the specialty that made him happy; it was the opportunity to give back to children all over the world who were struggling with cleft lips and/or palates.

“I love the surgery; I love the babies,” he said. “I love how it changes their lives and protects them from the future, which can be very unkind.”

Khan has developed relationships with several organizations over the years, and closes his practice for multiple weeks a year to participate on mission trips that they’ve put together. He's traveled to Guatemala, Pakistan, and Mexico.

“Not only do we operate on children, but also, if we have the opportunity, we train other local surgeons to be able to do this,” Khan said. “These cases will continue. They’re not going to go away, [and] we can’t be there all the time.”

The trips are taxing, both physically and emotionally. Khan and other providers might be operating up to 12 hours a day, for five or six days straight. There is frequently a language barrier, which can make connecting with patients and their parents more challenging.

“I hold their hands, look them in the eye, and smile, to show them that we’re here to protect them and their children,” Khan said.

He continued later, “It’s a very humbling experience … For me to be able to bond with the child, the parents, and do the surgery, it’s an honor.”

The COVID-19 pandemic forced Khan to pause his mission trips temporarily, but he was able to resume them in late 2021.

“I’ve had a phenomenal career so far, and this is just the beginning,” said Khan, pointing to his time at GSDM as an important foundation.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP Mary Rocca

Back in college, Mary Rocca DMD 84 had a set of criteria for deciding what career to pursue: It had to be something that could support a family, that used her brain, that allowed her to live anywhere she wanted, and that allowed her to help people.

Enter dentistry.

But after a number of years in the profession – which included building a practice from scratch in Minnesota and then overhauling an existing practice in Napa, California, when she and her family relocated there — Rocca had, in many respects, reached the peak of her career. So she decided it was time to do something different.

“Whatever I do, I want to do it with excellence in mind, to do it the very best way that I can do it,” Rocca said. “I’d met all the goals I had set for myself. It was just time to have a new challenge in my life.”

Rocca and her husband had always had a dream of owning land on which they could grow something. And in Napa, the thing to grow – the only thing to grow – is grapes.

“You can’t live here and not have friends who work in the wine industry,” Rocca said. “Because we were surrounded by it, that actually increased our desire to be part of that industry in some way.”

In 1999, Rocca and her husband finally realized their dream when they purchased 30 acres of vineyards, now known as the Rocca Family Vineyards. They sell the grapes from about 26 acres and make their own wine from the remaining acreage.

Then in 2000, Rocca’s career took another turn when she took over a grocery store that had been in her family for years. It took Rocca a number of years to realize her vision for the store, but now, she said, “the grocery store is a lot of fun,” describing a small Whole Foods-esque store where she gets to experiment with carrying different cheese, wines, and a variety of delicious foods.

Rocca misses aspects of dentistry – particularly the feeling of completing a patient’s treatment plan – but sounds like she’s having more fun than ever.

“I really love mentoring and bringing along some of my young people,” Rocca said. “Having 50 people who work for me, I’m trying to be the best employer ever – and it’s just fun.”

ORGANIZED DENTISTRY James Lee

James Lee CAS 09 MED 10 DMD 14 grew up above his father’s dental practice in Malden, Massachusetts – but despite his physical proximity to the profession, he didn’t embrace it as a career at first. However, a series of interesting internships and experiences throughout college changed his mind.

“I’m someone who came around to dentistry a little bit later, and I really think that all those misadventures on my way to GSDM added color, shape, and perspective to my dental journey,” Lee said.

Once he committed to dentistry, he was all in – which included getting involved in organized dentistry as soon as he arrived at GSDM, of which his father, Ted Lee DMD 86, is also an alumnus. Lee joined GSDM’s chapter of the American Student Dental Association, which led to being appointed a student representative of the Massachusetts Dental Society’s Council on Dental Care and Benefits.

“It was incredibly eye opening to see the challenges and the opportunity for collaboration that dentists have when they’re involved in organized dentistry,” he said.

Once he graduated, it would have been easy as a new dentist to bury himself in his practice – but Lee “wanted a seat at the table,” he said. He had seen how important it was for dentists to be advocating for policies that helped their patients, their communities, and their practices.

In the past, dentists might have waited until they were older and more established to get involved in organized dentistry. But Lee sees huge benefits from prioritizing involvement from the very beginning of one’s career: Organized dentistry allowed him to have an impact beyond the four walls of his practice while simultaneously learning from more experienced dentists in ways that improved his own skills.

“At every step of the way, I’ve been able to take back to my practice better ways of practicing, more efficient ways of being a leader of my team, and a deeper understanding of the issues that my patients or my community are facing,” Lee said.

The American Dental Association (ADA) has prioritized elevating the voices of new dentists through its New Dentist Committee; Lee has been a member of this committee since 2019 and currently serves as the chair, now a voting position on the ADA Board of Trustees.

“I hope to be a good steward of this opportunity to really fight for our profession and the issues and the obstacles uniquely facing new dentists,” Lee said. “My role is going to be making sure our leadership is responsive to the needs of recent graduates.”

ACADEMIA Jason Yu

Jason Yu DMD 09 went to dental school – and, in some ways, he never left.

The summer before he started dental school at GSDM, he shadowed an oral surgeon and developed an interest in that specialty. So after dental school, he went on to an internship followed by a six-year program in oral maxillofacial surgery at UPENN.

But he wasn’t done yet. He really enjoyed his plastic surgery rotation during medical school, so went on to do a residency in plastic surgery, which led to a fellowship in micro-surgery and another fellowship in craniofacial surgery.

“I went down the rabbit hole and never came out,” Yu said. “I think it was more curiosity than anything else.”

Yu comes from a family of GSDM alumni: his dad, Donald Yu ENDO 81, completed postdoctoral studies there, and his sister, Jessica Yu DMD 08, was a year ahead of him in dental school. Two uncles, Henry Yu ENDO 83 and Charles Yu PERIO 78, and a cousin, Leon Yu DMD 07 PERIO 10, are alumni as well.

Yu is still “in” school now – but these days, he’s on the other side of the classroom as a professor at the University of Colorado’s School of Medicine. Yu didn’t start his academic journey knowing that he wanted to become a professor, but said his own experiences in academia helped shape his idea of what a career could be.

“Having so much experience at the academic level, being a resident for such a long time … it seemed like a natural process for me,” Yu said. “If I did private practice now, I’d be a fish out of water.”

Now, Yu is able to “pay it forward” and share his own experiences with residents as they adjust to post-graduate life.

“The highlights are, hopefully, helping your residents or your students avoid the mistakes you made,” Yu said. “I’m still pretty young in my career, but it would be nice to see, down the line, when your students surpass you.”

Boston University Dental Career Network

Get Connected!

Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine now has an online job-board system: Boston University Dental Career Network (BUDCN). The system allows employers to post positions tailored to GSDM current students, residents, fellows, alumni, and faculty.

STUDENTS may use BUDCN as a jobboard system and career resource tool customized for their needs.

ALUMNI & FACULTY can sign up as job seekers or employers for BUDCN.

EMPLOYERS can register to post positions and review applicant submissions for dentists and specialists.

Access the Boston University Dental Career Network dental-bu-csm.symplicity.com

Alumni Discount 20%

Continuing Education

New Graduate Discount 30%

*Discounts cannot be combined We offer multidisciplinary courses for dental health professionals on a range of cutting-edge topics, from robotics to Botox to laser dentistry–and more! You can choose whether you want a hands-on course, a live-patient demo, or a traditional lecture–and whichever you choose, you’ll be taught by a leading expert in the field.