Medicines loss is dentistrys gain

New York鈥擶ayne E. Stephens turned down a medical school scholarship in his native Jamaica in 1996 and opted for a broad-based liberal arts education in the U.S. at a college he had never visited.

After earning his undergraduate degree at the top-ranked Williams College in Massachusetts, he briefly explored several different careers before entering the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine. He has since gained acceptance to Columbia’s Graduate School of Business and is studying for the DDS/MBA dual degree.

Mr. Stephens, who became an American citizen in 2002, was elected president of the American Student Dental Association last fall鈥攂ecoming ASDA’s first African-American president.

“I am proud of the open culture that has always been present in ASDA, which allows people of all backgrounds to contribute their talents,” said Mr. Stephens. “My presidency is not an isolated event. In fact, women make up the majority of the ASDA board and 5 of us are persons of color.

“There is still work to do in attracting the best students from underrepresented backgrounds to dentistry,” he said. “If my presence as an African-American motivates even one such student to go into dentistry, I would be incredibly delighted.”

In quieter moments, the 29-year-old acknowledges the success he’s achieved at this early stage of his dental career. Family circumstances prevented him from traveling to the U.S. to visit colleges, so he applied from abroad with a guide book as his only reference. He made his first trip to Williams College in 1996, arriving as a scholarship student with a part-time job washing dishes in the dining hall.

“I realize the significance of being the first African-American ASDA president and do feel privileged,” he said. “I am excited about the chance to serve dentistry and keep developing myself and continue to improve conditions for dental students and the patients that we treat.”

The 17,000-member American Student Dental Association is the national organization for students pursuing careers in dentistry. There are a number of issues at the forefront of ASDA’s advocacy efforts right now, said Mr. Stephens, such as increased mobility in the clinical licensure process, dental education and access to care.

ASDA also took a position early on for more minority recruitment in dental schools, he added, which included mentoring underrepresented minorities and encouraging them to pursue careers in dentistry.

“I realize that I’m able to connect with students who otherwise wouldn’t consider dentistry,” Mr. Stephens said. “I have had a lot of help in my life, and that encourages me to give back and to spread the word about the profession.”

He keeps in touch with some of the high school and college students he met as a teaching assistant with Columbia University’s Summer Medical and Dental Education Program. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded initiative is a six-week enrichment program to help undergraduate students from racial, ethnic and socioeconomic groups that are underrepresented compete successfully for dental and medical school admission.

The American Dental Education Association administers the SMDEP initiative. Several dental schools received grants to sponsor a program, including Columbia, and the ADA sponsors $25,000 in travel scholarships for SMDEP scholars.

“When I got to dental school I was surprised at how many other students had close connections to a dentist, either an immediate family member or a friend or through a predental club,” said Mr. Stephens. “That’s a great thing鈥攚hen you have more exposure to the profession you understand what is required. A lot of minority students, myself included, don’t have that.”

Mr. Stephens was ASDA’s representative to the ADA Council on Dental Education and Licensure’s Career Guidance Committee last year and had a key role in planning and coordinating the 2007 ADA annual session’s Student Ambassador Program, a recruitment process in which dental students take the lead in organizing and conducting programs for local college and high school students.

The son of two teachers, he was on a science track at his secondary school (similar to high school in the U.S.) in Kingston, Jamaica, and received a medical school scholarship. His professional education in Jamaica would have begun immediately after high school graduation.

“The secondary school system in Jamaica is more streamlined with various career paths,” he said. “You almost have to make a choice of a career at the secondary level. Science and art may conflict, for example. In the American educational system, there is academic freedom to study and not be forced to choose a final path that soon.”

In 2000, he earned his bachelor of arts degree from Williams College in economics with a concentration in math.

His first entry into the career world was with a short-lived Internet start-up company in Cambridge, Mass.鈥攁 full-service soccer Web site鈥攁nd “you can imagine how that story ended,” he said. After moving to Atlanta, he became a middle and high school teacher at the Marist School.

At Marist, he taught an advanced placement course in macroeconomics. His regular interaction with high school students got him thinking about careers that would meld many of his interests鈥攅conomics, business management and teaching.

“It appeared dentists had a lot of autonomy that teachers have, and also the ability to teach, provide value and touch peoples’ lives,” he said.

When he was ready to apply to dental school, he chose Columbia University in part because of its dual degree program (DDS/MBA) which in addition to training students to be skilled clinicians also offers a solid background in business, finance and managerial aspects of health care organizations.

“A benefit of being part of such a trusted profession is that dentists are often able to serve as leaders of important societal institutions,” he said.

“Particularly at programs like Columbia’s business school, the MBA is really about training in leadership and analytical problem solving,” he continued. “For any enterprise to be viable in our rapidly changing economy, its leaders must understand market forces and how to raise and allocate capital. Many of the challenges facing our profession such as access to care and the faculty shortages in dental schools have a financial/business dimension. By investing in this dual degree, I am preparing myself to be a more skilled leader and to play a part in developing solutions to these issues.”

Becoming involved in organized dentistry was a natural choice for the leadership opportunities it provided, such as serving as a National Health Care Policy Extern in Washington, D.C., in 2006.

“ASDA was a great way to get involved with people who care deeply about dentistry. I’ve loved working with students from other schools, interacting with national organizations and forming coalitions. At every step of the way, it’s been among the best experiences of my life.”

Mr. Stephens is in his third year of dental school but with the dual degree program is on track to graduate in 2010. After that, he said he would like to pursue additional training either through a specialty program鈥攑ossibly in pediatric dentistry or orthodontics as he enjoys working with children鈥攐r a general practice residency.

As his career advances, he would also like to develop an access program in Jamaica, where his parents reside, to help meet the dire need for oral health care in his home country.