Genna Vegh

UConn School of Dental Medicine, Class of 2021

I was born and raised in Frederick, Maryland. I went to the University of Chicago and earned a B.A. in Linguistics before deciding I wanted to work in healthcare and pursuing dental school.

I love working with others, and have worked as a research assistant, an in-home caretaker, a SAT prep tutor and a substitute teacher; I’ve also volunteered teaching drug workshops at high schools in Chicago without funding for health class, tutoring adults in reading with the Frederick Literacy Council, and providing support to charity races through The Frederick Steeplechasers Running Club.

I wanted to work with UST because I value the interdisciplinary approach of the program and I think the days of seeing a person’s “health” as separate from their oral health, their nutrition, their daily routines, as well as their socioeconomic factors like their environment, are limited. Furthermore, I believe “we all do better when we all do better”, and focusing on the invisible element of society- the undereducated, the underserved, the impoverished, disabled, addicted, struggling- this is what pulls us all up. The chance to work with students representing all six healthcare schools to learn how to take different people’s needs, abilities and unique situations into account from all fronts is great experience for the kind of work I want to do.