Valentina Savath

UConn School of Dental Medicine

I was raised in Bristol, Conn. I attended Yale as a first generation college student, graduating with a B.S. in biology in 2011. At HAVEN Free Clinic, I served as Spanish-speaking volunteer in the education department. HAVEN is a primary care clinic serving New Haven’s uninsured residents, unique in that it is a multi-disciplinary student-run clinic that includes the Yale schools of medicine, nursing, physician associate, public health, and undergraduates. I learned what it was like to counsel patients with limited resources and how health disparities impact health. Although I focused on medical issues at HAVEN, I observed that oral health is often left out of the health disparity conversation. It became important to me to find ways of addressing oral health care disparities in primary care clinics similar to HAVEN. In a country that’s becoming more ethnically diverse, I also learned that cultural sensitivity and effective communication will become indispensable attributes of future dentists. One of the most exciting aspects of volunteering at HAVEN was the unique multi-disciplinary nature of the clinic. The education department communicated often with students on the medical teams to coordinate education topics. Our own department was diverse, made up of nursing students, medical students, and undergraduates. Each brought a different perspective clinically and personally, allowing us to teach and learn from each other. I have also participated in the executive board of the Social Justice Network and Yale Gen-Act (anti-genocide advocacy group) and volunteered in an orphanage in Bangkok, Thailand. Becoming a health scholar would help me utilize my volunteering experiences and gain exposure and training in a way that would help me effectively and compassionately serve urban and underserved patients who need health care. Although we know oral health care is essential for overall health, gains in improving oral health disparity are still lagging behind those in medicine, especially in these populations. I hope to bring to UST lessons and enthusiasm I have for advocating for diverse underserved populations and decreasing health disparities. Applying what I have learned from serving in my social justice and community service roles, I hope to connect my past with future aspirations in order to provide excellent interdisciplinary team-based health care for underserved populations.