{"id":194742,"date":"2023-01-26T11:27:19","date_gmt":"2023-01-26T16:27:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=194742"},"modified":"2023-01-26T12:16:16","modified_gmt":"2023-01-26T17:16:16","slug":"match-day-for-the-class-of-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2023\/01\/match-day-for-the-class-of-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Dental Match Day for the Class of 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week, fourth-year students from the School of Dental Medicine gathered to celebrate their residency placements\u2014known as the Match\u2014for the next year.<\/p>\n

Dr. Steven Lepowsky, dean of the School of Dental Medicine, congratulated the graduating class on an outstanding year of residency placements.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough this exceptional outcome has become commonplace in our school, it should never be taken for granted,\u201d Lepowsky said. \u201cOur students place in some of the most competitive residency programs nationally and it is a reflection of their hard work, dedication, and commitment to excellence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are proud of what they have accomplished so far and whether this next step takes them to the West Coast, the South, Midwest, mid-Atlantic, North\u2014or whether they remain right here in Connecticut\u2014we know they will represent UConn well,\u201d Lepowsky continued.<\/p>\n

Out of the 51 students, 16 will be staying in Connecticut\u2014with six doing their residency at UConn Health. Half of the class placed in general dentistry residency programs, while the other half placed into specialty areas, such as oral surgery, orthodontics, prosthodontics, pediatrics, and endodontics. The students will be practicing across the country\u2014in Oregon, Florida, Oklahoma, Illinois, Vermont, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Minnesota, New York, Arizona, Pennsylvania, California, and Alabama to name a few.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always so exciting to see where our students are, and where they represent UConn,\u201d said Dr. Sarita Arteaga, associate dean for students.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Gabriel Levin is the first UConn student to place into a dental anesthesiology program. (Tina Encarnacion photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gabriel Levin, from Avon, made history this year as the first UConn dental student to match into a dental anesthesiology program. Levin will be headed to Jacobi Medical Center in New York City.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love the medicine aspect of anesthesiology and being able to treat patients with anxiety that is really prevalent in dentistry. Making patients feel more comfortable is something that I am really looking forward to,\u201d said Levin.<\/p>\n

Flaviah Muchemi\u2014also interested in both medicine and dentistry\u2014was drawn to the School of Dental Medicine\u2019s unique M Delta curriculum. Muchemi was born in Nairobi, Kenya and grew up in Connecticut. After graduating from Quinnipiac University, Muchemi worked as an ICU nurse for 3 years before enrolling in dental school. She placed for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Case Western Reserve in Ohio, her top choice.<\/p>\n

\"\"
From left to right: Edward Amelemah, Flaviah Muchemi, and Kaimen Obeng celebrate their residency placements. (Tina Encarnacion photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis is the best specialty for me with my background as a nurse in the ICU, where I got to see patients in the operating room,\u201d said Muchemi. \u201cBeing able to combine dentistry and medicine is what I\u2019m interested in.\u201d<\/p>\n

DeC\u00e9lia Browne grew up in Florida and attended Oakwood University in Alabama. Browne is the only student in her class to head to a Community Health Center in Connecticut after she graduates this year. Browne spent a lot of her time volunteering at Community Health Centers as an undergraduate.<\/p>\n

\"\"
DeC\u00e9lia Browne will be practicing at a Community Health Center in Connecticut. (Tina Encarnacion photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI grew up in an underserved community, and I have really missed serving and being part of the community\u2014I\u2019m really excited to give back in a different way,\u201d Browne said.<\/p>\n

Browne is hoping to practice pediatric dentistry after she gains experience at the Community Health Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to get my foot in the door and give back to my community as much as I can,\u201d she continues.<\/p>\n

Chris Allen, of Burlington, is a \u201cdouble Husky\u201d\u2014he completed his undergraduate at UConn in Storrs before attending the UConn School of Dental Medicine. Allen, who will be headed to the University of Alabama for a general practice residency, is looking forward to leaving Connecticut for the first time to explore another part of the country.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Chris Allen will be pursuing a general practice residency at the University of Alabama. (Tina Encarnacion photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to provide general dental care to a population that\u2019s in need and looking to grow and develop my skills so I can be a competent general dentist in the future,\u201d Allen said.<\/p>\n

Allen hopes to one day open a private practice as a family dentist and provide care for \u201ceveryone that walks through the door.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cOur students place in some of the most competitive residency programs nationally and it is a reflection of their hard work, dedication, and commitment to excellence,” said School of Dental Medicine Dean Dr. Steven Lepowsky <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":194747,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2166,2235,179,2227],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2177],"class_list":["post-194742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sdm","category-today-homepage","category-uconn-health","category-uconn-edu-homepage","post_format-post-format-video"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-26 02:23:29","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194742"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":194790,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194742\/revisions\/194790"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/194747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194742"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=194742"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=194742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}