{"id":95738,"date":"2014-08-20T08:34:45","date_gmt":"2014-08-20T12:34:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=95738"},"modified":"2014-08-25T09:30:16","modified_gmt":"2014-08-25T13:30:16","slug":"future-doctors-and-dentists-arrive-at-uconn-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2014\/08\/future-doctors-and-dentists-arrive-at-uconn-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Future Physicians and Dentists Arrive at UConn Health"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Xiaoxiao<\/a>
Xiaoxiao Hong, an incoming dental student, is helped into her white coat by Dr. Arthur Hand, professor of craniofacial sciences and cell biology. (Tina Encarnacion\/UConn Health Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Xiaoxiao Hong wants to de-stress, she paints \u2013 but her paintings are no ordinary watercolors. The incoming dental student has perfected the art of painting in ink on rice paper, a Chinese tradition that is one of the oldest in the world, using the same techniques as calligraphy. The delicate movements it requires will no doubt help her when it comes to the intricate moves needed for her future career in dentistry.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019m really good with my hand skills, and would like to specialize in oral surgery,\u201d says Hong, who grew up in China, where her father was a dentist.<\/p>\n

\"Xiaoxiao<\/a>
Xiaoxiao Hong already holds a doctoral degree in biomedical science from UConn Health. She is shown here with her adviser, Professor Gordon Carmichael. An example of her artwork hangs on the wall. (Carolyn Pennington\/UConn Health Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hong is one of 46 dental students in the Class of 2018.<\/p>\n

The associate dean for admissions in the dental school, Dr. Edward Thibodeau<\/a>, says the dental class of 2018 represents \u201ca unique blend of students who, as applicants, demonstrated academic excellence, a love of the profession, and a commitment of service to others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hong is already well acquainted with the Farmington campus, after spending the past six years at UConn Health earning her Ph.D. in biomedical science, as a student of Gordon Carmichael<\/a>, professor of genetics and developmental biology.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be a new chapter for me. It won\u2019t be boring but I think it will be a little bit intimidating.\u201d says Hong.<\/p>\n

Like Hong, many of the incoming dental and medical students already have connections to the University: around a quarter of the students in each class received their undergraduate degrees at UConn.<\/p>\n

\"Olajide<\/a>
Olajide Abiola ’13 (CLAS), an incoming medical student, is handed a pen to sign the Honor Code by Dr. David Henderson, associate dean of medical student affairs, at the white coat ceremony. Also shown are second year medical students Fludi Naka and Mark Fleming. (Tina Encarnacion\/UConn Health Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Incoming medical student Olajide (\u2018Junior\u2019) Abiola \u201913 (CLAS), says he feels very well prepared for what\u2019s ahead. \u201cNow I\u2019m excited,\u201d he says, \u201cbut I\u2019m sure I will be a lot more nervous when I hit the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Assistant dean of medical school admissions Richard Zeff<\/a> says, \u201cWhile the entering class of 98 students is largely from the state of Connecticut, it is a highly diverse group. This diversity will add greatly to the richness of the learning environment and opportunities for personal growth that all of our students will experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abiola, who is from Bridgeport, took advantage of the Health Career Opportunity Programs<\/a>\u00a0offered at UConn Health last summer. He completed the six-week medical and dental school preparatory course.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an integral part of helping me pursue my dreams,\u201d says Abiola. \u201cAfter completing the course, I received the MCAT score I was hoping for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abiola has been dreaming of becoming a doctor since he was in middle school, when his mother made the library a mandatory destination as part of his learning. Whether it was a book on the solar system or human anatomy, science books were his favorite.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time I would learn a new fact I would go to mom and say \u2018Guess what,\u2019\u201d explains Abiola. \u201cShe loved it and would always play along. She really helped nurture that interest in me.\u201d<\/p>\n

What does mom think now that he\u2019s entering medical school? \u201cOh my, she can\u2019t believe it\u2019s happening \u2013 she couldn\u2019t be prouder!\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow <\/em>UConn Health<\/em><\/a> on <\/em>Facebook<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>Twitter<\/em><\/a>, and <\/em>YouTube<\/em><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Incoming UConn Health students \u2013 144-strong \u2013 began the year with the presentation of the iconic white coats. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":95734,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[179,1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[45],"class_list":["post-95738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uconn-health","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 11:52:42","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\/95738","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\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95738"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95851,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95738\/revisions\/95851"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/95734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95738"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=95738"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=95738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}