Gwen Werner
Recruiting
American Indian Students into Dentistry
Gwen
Werner, Navajo, is a dental student at the Arizona
School of Dentistry & Oral Health. As a Year 3
student she spends much of her time caring for her
patients in the school’s dental clinic under the
supervision of the dental faculty member. Werner is
paired with a Year 4 dental student. She sees his
emergency patients when he is away on rotations or
externships. When he graduates, she will take over the
care of his patients. Werner does internal rotations
in specialties, such as oral surgery, and pediatrics.
She also attends classes in fields, such as
pharmacology and oral pathology.
Werner has been a key figure in creating a CD and
Internet-based information for American Indian students
interested in careers as a dentist [See Resources]. When
Werner decided to go to dental school, she didn’t know
how to get the information she needed. She wants other
potential dental students to know about the resources
that are available as well as the steps that they need
take to prepare for and apply to dental school.
When she graduates from dental school, Werner plans to keep
her options open but says, “Eventually I want to live and
work on the rez in Tuba City. My whole family lives there,”
she says.
Balancing
Career and Family
After high
school, Werner went to Arizona State University (ASU) where
she majored in architecture. After two years she married
and had a baby daughter. Not wanting to put her daughter
into day care, Werner put her education on hold for two
years.
When she returned to school, Werner knew she wanted to
balance a career with sufficient time for her family. Being
a dental hygienist appealed to her because she could help
people and have more reasonable working hours than most
architects. In addition, the great need for dental
professionals in the IHS was made clear to her when she
tried to schedule a routine dental exam at a local IHS
facility. “They told me they could only see people with
emergencies,” she said. For a regular exam I’d have to wait
for two years. I said that if I waited that long, I would
be an emergency case.”
While taking classes at several community colleges in
pursuit of the dental hygienist certification, Werner
decided that she’d wanted some hands-on experience to see
if this was the best career for her. She applied and was
accepted in a dental assistant training position at
the Tuba City
Indian Medical Center. After a
couple of months the dental director and others began
encouraging her to change her career path. “The director
said I could do more for my community as a dentist,” says
Werner. “At first I couldn’t imagine myself as a dentist. I
had never met an American Indian dentist. Then I decided to
give it a try.
“The dental director at Tuba City called Darlene Sorrell
who was the first female Navajo dentist. She put me in
touch with Dr. Blue Spruce who invited me to his house
where we talked. He helped me become even more aware of the
severe shortage of American Indian dentists.”
Werner returned to ASU where she completed a BS in biology.
She encountered problems in getting the pre-dental school
information that she needed, but with the help of other
pre-dental students and advisor, she was successful in
applying to dental school.
Advice
“I recommend
becoming a dental assistant. See what a dentist does and
whether you really like working in people’s mouths. I also
suggest that students take advantage of the many
opportunities that are available, such summer enrichment
programs, INMED, AISES internships.”
This
article was originally published in the Spring 2007 issue
of
Winds of Change. (The cover
artist, Buffalo Gouge, Creek and Cherokee, works with
bright colors. Portraits are his main interest. For more
information visit .)