“I do really feel that the school fosters the feeling of ‘you’re all in this together, work together.’”
DDS Class of 2010
Hometown: Honolulu, HI
Reason for Choosing Pacific: The students were friendly, happy and helpful
Career Plans: Practicing dentistry in Puerto Rico
Most people — how do we say this tactfully? — have less-than-positive reactions to having a root canal. Nalani Oda is not most people. Lying in the dentist's chair, she found her new profession. "During the root canal, I was very interested in what was going on. I knew I liked building things with my hands and problem-solving, things like that, and so after it was done I called up my dentist." An internship at his office followed, and she decided that she wanted to go to dental school.
But first, she had another calling to pursue. After getting her undergraduate degree at Colorado College, she moved to Japan for two years to teach English. On a transoceanic flight, she sat next to a man who designed kitesurfing equipment for a living. Never having heard of the sport before, she was fascinated. "We talked about it for nine hours!"
Nalani decided to give kitesurfing a try. On her first competition, she did well. "I had to make a choice - go straight into dental school or compete for a while - and so I took the gamble." She got to spend two years traveling and competing. "The kitesurfing was awesome and I'm really glad I did it, but I couldn't have stayed in it either because I felt like my brain was just turning into mush!"
Going back to school may have been a major transition, but one made easier by the sociability of Pacific. Initially drawn to the Dugoni School "because it looked good on paper," she was impressed by what she saw on her visit. "It felt different. It was the only school — out of about six — where the students were happy, which makes a big difference to me." Back home on a visit in Hawaii, she ran into a group of Pacific students on their spring break and they quickly became pals.
"When I came up here [to San Francisco] they showed me around, they answered all my questions, they called me later on [to find out which school I'd chosen]... people just went out of their way to be really nice, really helpful." The "humanistic approach" in the school's mission statement started to make sense to her. Today she says, "I do really feel that the school fosters the feeling of 'you're all in this together, work together, use each other.'"
During Nalani's first year, her professors focused on the dentist/patient interaction and stressed the importance of people skills. Having spent much time teaching kitesurfing and English, she was still struck by "how much of [dentistry] is building a relationship with your patients." Now in her second year, she finds working with patients "scary but fun," adding that "it's amazing how once you get down there [to the clinic] it all just kicks in."
Her second year is also allowing her a small amount of time for her old love kitesurfing. "It's nice to get back in the water... and it's good to be able to have a balance."
Plans for after graduation? "Eventually, I'd like to split my time between practicing somewhere in the US (probably Hawaii or West Coast) and somewhere in South America. So learning Spanish is a post-graduation priority." She is considering initially looking for work in Puerto Rico, perhaps through the National Health Service. "I'd have Spanish exposure, and they have great kitesurfing too!"
