The Explorers
Walk along with us and explore the steps University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences students take on their journey to discovering their education, careers and themselves.
Pitt stands for opportunity
“At my undergraduate school, the motto was ‘UCF stands for opportunity.’ And I had that energy in me coming into graduate school, so I came into Pitt thinking, ‘Pitt also stands for opportunity.’”
Emyli Peralta
We met Emyli Peralta, a third-year student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine, in the fall of 2023. She was born in the Dominican Republic, moved to the United States at age 5, and grew up in Kissimmee, Florida. She’s a first-generation college student who graduated from the University of Central Florida (UCF) in 2019, majoring in biomedical sciences and health sciences.
The First Step:
Find what makes
you happy
“When you speak to dentists, they say that dental school is the worst four years of their lives, but I’ve been so happy here because I have been working so hard since middle school to get here,” said Peralta. “To finally be seeing my own patients and doing what I love brings me so much joy. Especially when I’m treating Hispanic patients who have a language barrier like what my family had when we first got here. I’m able to bridge that gap and speak to them in their native language to explain treatment to them. It makes me feel really good coming home every night knowing that I am making a difference in my community.
“When I had my experience with braces, the visits with the orthodontist made me grow interested in the field of dentistry. She was a minority female, so I could really see myself in that role. All the staff in the office were having fun, they were always talking and laughing along with the patients and each other, and it was just a fun environment that I really enjoyed.
“It took three long years to get my teeth straightened out, but it was a great experience.
“When I was offered the opportunity to do dual enrollment in high school, I jumped on that boat. During my junior and senior years of high school, I was taking college-level science classes to get ahead and become a better applicant for dental school.”
The Second Step:
Get involved
“As an undergraduate student, knowing that I had to work my way through school, I thought there was no better job to have than in a dental office,” said Peralta. “I found an accelerated dental assisting program my first semester at UCF that I could do on weekends. Once I graduated from there, I found a job at a dental office where I worked throughout all of undergrad. I learned a lot during my time as an assistant that made the transition to dental school a little bit nicer.
“I would help with comprehensive exams in the mornings, so I got very comfortable taking radiographs and preliminary charting, so when the doctor came in and did the actual exam, it was easier to finish charting and treatment planning. Then, in the afternoons, I would be helping with restorative treatments, such as fillings, crowns and extractions.
“I became comfortable with the procedures, what the steps were, the setups, and so right now, when I just transitioned to the clinic, I feel like it was an easier transition.
“At my undergraduate school, the motto was ‘UCF stands for opportunity.’ And I had that energy in me coming into graduate school, so I came into Pitt thinking, ‘Pitt also stands for opportunity.’ So my objective was to get involved in anything that seemed particularly interesting to me. I got involved in the Hispanic Student Dental Association, the pediatrics club, considering I want to specialize in pediatrics, and in research. I wanted to learn as much as possible, but also make connections and provide other people with opportunities to learn and grow. That’s where I’ve made most of my friends and my faculty mentors.
“In my second year of dental school, I realized that the Pitt Dental Research Group hadn’t been active since COVID. So I reached out to the Office of Student Affairs and I brought the club back together and served as president for the 2022-23 school year. We planned events on how to get into research early on in your dental career, and workshops on how to build a CV and how to build those skills to prepare yourself for reaching out to faculty and seeking those research opportunities.
“I started my path towards research my first semester here at Pitt. I attended a panel with the pediatrics club, and Dr. Jacqueline Burgette was one of the panelists. I reached out to her afterward to see if she would be interested in taking me on as a mentee. I work with her on public health and pediatric research through a grant to work with women who have young children in Appalachia.
“I had the opportunity to present at the national oral health conference this past spring semester and won third place in the 2023 AAPHD Predoctoral Dental Student Merit Award.”
The Third Step:
Give back
“I am interested in pursuing a career in pediatrics because I didn’t see the pediatric dentist very often growing up because of transportation and language barriers,” said Peralta. “I thought it would be really nice if I could get in there early and make that difference and get those foundational behaviors down with kids, so they know to brush their teeth twice a day, importance of fluoride and flossing and everything. From what I’ve seen working with adults, it can be very difficult to change bad habits later in life.
“I think it is important to give back to the community, not only locally but also abroad. I’ve participated in three different dental mission trips.
“My first two trips were in undergrad, so I was just a dental assistant in Nicaragua and Panama. Then, this past spring break, I had the opportunity to go with the Pitt Hispanic Student Dental Association to Honduras and was able to serve as the provider now that I am a dental student.
“When we go on these trips, we are going to very remote areas—we’re not working in a city where they have a dentist readily available. We’re driving an hour out in a pickup truck to very remote mountains where sometimes they don’t have electricity, or the electricity just shuts off while you’re in the middle of working, and you just have to make do. But the people still have pain, they have these infections, they need fillings or extractions. You want people to feel comfortable in their smile and to feel comfortable eating because they’re not in pain.”
The Next Steps
“I plan on applying to pediatric residency programs next summer. And after completing my residency, I will serve back my four-year commitment as a National Health Service Corps scholar. I will work as a pediatric dentist in an underserved area in a Federally Qualified Health Center and gain more experience there while I serve back to a medically underserved community,” said Peralta. “And then hopefully move back to Kissimmee and work at the Federally Qualified Health Center that I used to go to when I was a kid. I also intend to take time out to give back to the community, volunteering at events like Give Kids a Smile and local free clinics, which provide free care to children, and going abroad on mission trips. That would be something that I would like to build into my contract wherever I do end up working, that I can still take time off to go and do these trips.”
About the School of Dental Medicine
The University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine celebrates 125 years of educating the best dental providers, improving the oral health of our community and expanding the boundaries of knowledge. Learn more about our achievements that take place each day at the School of Dental Medicine.
We strive to implement this mission with the highest professional and ethical standards in a culture of diversity, inclusion and cultural humility. Our commitment is to foster an environment that enables all students, faculty, staff and the communities we serve to develop to their fullest potential.
