Dr. Heera Chang, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, spent four weeks in Asia visiting different types of businesses as part of an executive MBA program through the University of Hawai’i- Shidler College of Business. Chang was accompanied by her classmates in the executive program, as well a few undergraduate students.

Chang was particularly concerned about spending four weeks with students in their twenties, wondering how she would relate to student of a completely different generation, in a completely different phase of life.

After the trip, Chang came to the realization that she had more things in common with the younger students than she previously assumed.

This inspired Chang to change gears in her career—leaving her job as a healthcare consultant in Hawaii and pursuing a role in academia at UConn—where she first started her training as an oral surgeon.

“I think before that trip, if someone said, do you want to go and teach? I’d be like, I don’t know. I hear this generation is completely different. I don’t know if I could teach them,” said Chang.  “But after that trip, I would say that I gained understanding and the confidence.”

In July, Chang became the residency program director in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the UConn School of Dental Medicine. This has been a homecoming for Chang, as she completed her residency at UConn.

For Chang, coming back to UConn was a simple choice.

“UConn was one of my top choices,” said Chang. “ I remembered how professional everyone was, and how many of my attendings had such high standards when it came to taking care of the patients. That stayed with me pretty much throughout my career.”

“I realize what an incredible training I had here.”

Chang grew up in South Korea until she was 12 years old. Her family moved to several places, including California and New York. She earned her Bachelor of Science from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1992, her Doctor of Dental Surgery from Columbia University in 1998, and then her Doctor of Medicine from the UConn School of Medicine in 2001. From 1998-2004, Chang completed her residency in oral and maxillofacial Surgery at UConn.

When it was time for Chang to start her career in health care, her intention was to always try to treat patients who are underserved.

“Wherever I went, I tried to take all the Medicaid patients. That was just really important for me,” said Chang. “And along the way, I’ve met wonderful people, including patients that come from hardworking families. They just didn’t have a lot, but I was able to give them the best of care.”

Throughout her career, Chang served as an assistant professor in oral and maxillofacial Surgery at Columbia University, worked in private practice with offices in New York, Massachusetts, and Hawaii, acted as a clinical instructor at Waianae Community Health Center, and served as a public health oral surgeon with the Hospital and Community Dental Services Branch at the Division of Developmental Disabilities in the Hawaii Department of Health.

According to Chang, her work in Hawaii was a highlight of her career, especially treating  patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities as a public health oral surgeon.

“Caring for patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities is something that I didn’t really learn in school, but I learned being on the field,” said Chang.

Recently, Chang, finished a two-year executive MBA program through the University of Hawai’i-Shidler College of Business. Her time in the program rekindled her love of learning and inspired her career change.

“The executive MBA is one the reasons that  prompted me to wanted to go back into teaching,” said Chang. “I realized how important teaching is, and how someone has that ability to really, you know, reignite the joy. To me, learning is so much fun. I just had so much fun in this school.”

Now that Chang is back in Farmington, she looks forward to her new role in a familiar place.

“The nice thing about coming here is that I already know it’s a very good program, part of a great dental school. I am here to add to it.”

And as for the move from Hawaii to Farmington?

“I love Connecticut, and Farmington,” Chang said. “Aside from not having tropical trees, there is still a lot of aloha here.”