Student spotlight: Alexandra Ibrahim
A path to dentistry inspires helping low-income populations and children
When Alexandra Ibrahim faces new experiences, she tells herself she can do it, even when the effort seems insurmountable. Like when she changed her study habits after learning that getting A’s increases the chance of getting into dental school.
Now, she’s a first-year student at the OHSU School of Dentistry, learning about hundreds of body parts in her anatomy course.
Front, left to right, first-year dental students Faith Hutapea, Tanya Aftab and Alexis Louie. Back left to right, Seseel Gergis and Alexandra Ibrahim, at a dental student orientation in September.
The Californian has had an interest in health care as a career for some time. She studied biology at the University of San Francisco and briefly considered the pharmacy field. One day, she received an email from the OHSU School of Dentistry. It was an invitation to take part in a summer dental experience. The program is called the Summit Dental Education Immersion.
Motivating experience
Ibrahim loved the experience. Carving dental models from soap while in the DMD simulation clinic in the Skourtes Tower at the Robertson Life Sciences Building was especially fascinating to her.
“Summit gave me the push; it motivated me to go into dentistry,” she said.
Ibrahim went even further. After the Summit program, she returned home and volunteered at two different dental clinics near her family’s Napa Valley home. While staffing the front desk, she helped soothe patients who were anxious. Overall, she says the experience “felt personal” to her.
Summit exposes learners to the rigors of a doctor of dental medicine, or D.M.D., program, how to prepare the dental school application and career advice. The program is part of the OHSU 30-30-30 plan, which addresses the health care workforce shortage, lack of workforce diversity and geographic distribution of employees. It is funded by the state of Oregon. The plan aims to increase the rate of graduates in some clinical programs by 30% and increase learner diversity at OHSU to 30% by the year 2030.
Community dental health
Ibrahim is only weeks into her educational journey at OHSU, yet she’s already thinking about where she might apply her new skills. She’s interested in working in dental public health, supporting patients facing houselessness or with children.
As an undergraduate at USF, Ibrahim volunteered to provide basic supplies to families and individuals. Her idea was to fill small backpacks with toothbrushes, dental floss and mouthwash.
“I noticed people weren’t taking care of their teeth. Houseless people wanted toothbrushes and floss,” she said.
She decided to add the oral care products to the mix of other items that were in the bags, like water bottles and gift cards. She even used her own money to buy the extra products.
Basic dental supplies that Alexandra Ibrahim assembled for families and individuals as a volunteer when she was an undergraduate.
“This was the best thing I did,” said Ibrahim proudly, “It felt right.”
Pressing forward
While attending her eight classes, including that intensive anatomy course, getting to know her classmates and discovering Oregon, Ibrahim is settling into a routine. The fall term promises to be more challenging than the summer term. The volume of learning is already higher. She keeps telling herself to press forward.
“You always think it’s impossible,” she says, “But I’ve done it before.”
She knows, too, that there are many resources she can access. There are also 77 other first-year dentistry students who are in the same situation.
Story by Rhonda Morin, APR
Photo by School of Dentistry
