I am applying to your prestigious Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Program to put the finishing touches on my lifetime of education in dentistry. I feel strongly that OMFS is where I will be able to make my most total and most significant contribution to dentistry, and I write the following in support of my application. I have become a successful dentist in Canada only due to an enormous amount of hard work, dedication, and perseverance. A Korean man who was born in South Korea and raised there first, and then in Germany, before immigrating to Canada at the age of 18, English was my third language, and it was an uphill climb to compete successfully in examinations and to get accepted to and finish dental school. On top of the academic challenges, in 1996, tuition fees for dental schools tripled, and I paid for four years of dental school on my own by working part-time in various jobs.
I am currently serving as the principal clinician at the XXXX Family Dental Centre in XXXX, Ontario, as well as the XXXX Dental Clinic in XXXX, Ontario. Probably what makes me most proud of where I am as a professional these days, however, and will provide me with some interesting subject matter to share with my peers in your distinguished program is my experience since 2011 as a Clinical Faculty member for the XXXX Implant Training Centres in Atlanta, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico. I also have the privilege of serving as a member of the clinical teaching staff in the Department of Oral Radiology of the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of XXXX. Much of my volunteer work has been centered on athletic events, helping with the polyclinics at the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Vancouver in 2010; and again this year, 2015, with the Pan-Am and Para Pan-Am Games in Toronto.
I have for some time been developing a research interest in the area of bone physiology and biology as well as hospital dentistry. My short-term goal is to earn an MSc degree and a specialty certificate in OMFS. I realize that implant dentistry represents only a tiny portion of what I will learn in your program, and I look forward to the full breadth of material with which I will engage. Nevertheless, earning the MSc in OMFS will also greatly enhance what I can contribute to my current work as an implant surgeon and a teacher of implant surgery. I hope to spend more and more time in the academic world as my career advances.
I look forward to a whole immersion experience in OMFS that will enable me to excel as a teacher of oral surgery and to engage with and devote my time to research increasingly, and communicating our challenges to the next generation of oral health professionals. A goal-oriented individual, focused, and very hard working, I am looking forward to long hours studying OMFS and learning as much as possible as a student in your program.
I have dealt with a wide variety of challenges over the last 15 years serving as an oral surgeon, complex experiences that I look forward to sharing with my colleagues in your program. I have founded three successful dental practices, 2 of which I currently own. As a result of this enormous hard work and investment, I am now in a position professionally and financially to devote myself to the full-time study of OFMS. I am taking the most logical next step by applying to your program since earning my degree and certificate in OFMS will further enhance my own ability to excel as a surgeon and to teach others to do so at the same time.
I earned the MSc in Oral Implantology at the J.W. Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany, with a Master's thesis on the subject. This experience will also give me many valuable experiences to share with my colleagues who are also engaged with implantology and interested in developments in this area in Europe. My heart is very much humbled to be on this journey, and most importantly, I am grateful to recognize this opportunity as what will be the crowning achievement of two decades of devotion to oral surgery.
After thorough research, I have determined that the MSc in OFMS is the ideal program for me to continue to advance in my field, so that I can make my optimal contribution to oral surgery. I believe that completing your program will open my vision and transform me, not only into a better clinician but also into a leader who can organize information and knowledge to help our profession advance as rapidly as possible in creative and novel ways. In your program, I will have the invaluable experience of witnessing how leaders can make an impact on their fellow clinicians and on society, to illuminate the path for generations to come.
I thank you for considering my application to your distinguished and competitive program.