ADVOCACY
DENTAL STUDENT PERSPECTIVE: TAM NGUYEN Paul Logan, VDA Director of Strategic Initiatives/Innovation
Tam Nguyen is a first year at the VCU School of Dentistry and shared his reflections on VDA Lobby Day, the transition to dental school and the intersection of public policy and dentistry.
As a first year dental student, how has your experience been so far?
It has been a very good experience. I have had many mentors at the school who have helped me a lot up to this point. I did a post-baccalaureate program at VCU before dental school. During my post-bacc I did an internship that included volunteer work and I got to know a lot of the faculty and students who helped direct me in the path I needed to go, which made the experience a lot smoother. I honestly didn’t think I’d be in dental school; it was a dream I really didn’t think was possible. I thought people who went to dental school or med school had to be 4.0 students with perfect entrance exams. Talking to them, I realized it’s more about hard work and enjoying what you do, and I feel fortunate to be here. And those relationships have continued to be incredibly valuable.
This was your first VDA Lobby Day, tell me about how you got involved and how it went?
Brett Siegel and Travis Luke with ASDA were advocating for VDA Lobby Day and explaining why it was important. That had me interested. It can be intimidating at first but seeing faculty members like Dr. Awab were involved help a lot. They helped ease us into talking to other
dentists and legislators and made it comfortable for us to be there. What Brett and Travis did with advocating for Lobby Day and getting us there was crucial – especially getting the D1s there this year – because as you progress through school, you may be busy, and it becomes harder to attend. Whereas for us as D1s, we were able to experience it and appreciate it. For me, I’m going to be back every year. That’s what getting involved early has taught me. What I’ve seen from ASDA is a lot of hard work that I can see paying off. And I think there’s a new culture brewing at VCU. Other than the D3s, I think the D1s were most strongly represented from the school. I think they’re doing an excellent job advocating for VDA Lobby Day and I hope we can continue that trend of getting D1s involved early so they can be a part of it.
You shared a personal story in the Richmond Times-Dispatch about your experience with the Medicaid program and the need to increase access to care. Can you share some of that story?
Drs. Kirk Norbo and Justin Norbo were paired with me for my lobby day experience. I felt fortunate to have been with them because I don’t think I would have had the confidence to share my story without encouragement, and they allowed me to share my story growing up on the Medicaid program with the legislators that really put a face on the issue for them.
M E D - M A L P R A CTam Nguyen C A P I N C R E A ST I C E E Credit: Photo
Dr. Nish Dalal
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