U.S. Army Dental Corps

Not just anyone can say he has put braces on ferrets or studied the skeletal characteristics of unclaimed human bodies. But these were just of few of my varied and extraordinary dental school experiences. Looking back on that chapter of my life, I can say with confidence that I took advantage of every opportunity to learn about the dental field. I didn’t mind extracting ferret teeth until the early hours of the morning. In fact, I relished the chance to get my feet wet working with prominent dental professionals. Now, as I look forward to the United States Army’s orthodontic residency program, I hope I will encounter more of these exciting research opportunities.

Over the past few years, I have had the chance to evaluate and participate in several dental specialties through my preclinical labs, classes, and patient experiences. Orthodontics is the one specialty that I have learned to love. In fact, I first became intrigued by orthodontics years before dental school, when I was living in Saudi Arabia. My family and I would hop a flight once a month from Daharan to Riyadh to visit the military orthodontist. I was amazed by the profound change in my appearance and the correction of the malocclusion. Later on in my life, an orthodontist friend inspired me to pursue a career in dentistry. I was thrilled to hear that the military would be allowing HPSP students to apply for specialty training. When I looked at the number of slots available for orthodontic training, however, I knew the competition would be fierce. Since that time, I have worked as hard as possible throughout dental school to prepare myself for the rigors and demands of the U.S. Army Dental Corps.

Recently, I was invited to participate in a research project studying the effects of a biocompatible synthetic membrane placed on root surfaces of extracted teeth from live ferrets. We spent many a night performing root canals, extracting teeth, and placing orthodontics on reimplanted teeth. Indeed, we smelled like ferrets for days afterward. Later, we examined these samples at certain time intervals using SEMO microscopes for root resorption and anklyosis. We hope that the results of this study will help us prevent a human patient from losing a transplanted or avulsed tooth due to external resorption.

In yet another research project, I studied the prevalence rates of root surface caries and other dental characteristics in a unique sample. At the Hammon-Todd collection at the Cleveland Natural History Museum, an exhibit that houses approximately 3000 skulls and medical records from unclaimed bodies of the early twentieth century, I caught a glimpse of the past and examined the dental health of another era. Later on, I had the privilege of traveling to Chicago to the IADR conference, where I presented my research.

As a proud officer of the U.S. Army, I look forward to a military career as an orthodontist, and I am fully aware of the commitment required of selected applicants. It would be my privilege to serve the Army for a minimum of seven years, not including the two years of training and the one year before specialty training. I grew up in a military family: my father was an officer in the Air Force for 21 years. Consequently, I understand military life and the opportunities it provides. I am certain that I will bring an enthusiastic attitude to this program -- and I won’t think twice about putting braces on a few more ferrets.

點評：

通讀全篇，亮點部分在于：對自己試驗項目的具體過程描述。很細致的描述，可以讓評審們看到其處理試驗的操作、專業能力等方面。

文章開始對學科興趣的產生進行了陳述，由于是在一個軍人家庭出生、成長，堅強的意志成為他今后進行專業的刻苦學習支持，牙科專業需要很豐富的專業操作經驗，而這部分的經驗勢必會成為被錄取的條件之一，所以對于自身軟件背景的介紹是必不可少的，只是需要注意表述方式，可以以第二人稱客觀的去對一個問題的處理過程進行描述，而不是主觀的陳述。

前兩段的出現從個人背景生活的描述引出了自己學科興趣的產生,之后的由于家庭原因而對學科學習變革轉折,再次引出堅定學習外科醫學的信心,末尾又跟中間提到過的專業經歷進行了前后呼應的結合,整篇文章不乏條理,連貫性,而且很容易讓人從感性的沉溺中感覺出筆者的寫作意圖,從而給出綜合,客觀的評估,判斷.

所以有針對性的處理申請文書是很必要的,此篇文章的作者正是抓住了對方學校考察的重點而寫出了看似生活化,但是很能體現申請者綜合素質的文章.

譯文：

美國軍隊的牙科兵團

不是每個人都可以很透徹的研究人體內部的骨骼特征，然而我卻在牙科學院學習時積累了難得的經驗. 回顧我這一生, 我可以很有信心地說,我利用每一個機會去了解牙科領域的知識，事實上,我也一直專注于我的工作，成為牙科領域的專家。現在,我期待加入美國軍隊的矯正牙醫醫師項目,希望我會挑戰更多的令人興奮的研究機會.

過去的幾年里，我一直找機會我在實驗室,班級和與病人在一起的時候來評估自己，并且參加牙科專業領域的研究．正牙學是一個讓我學會了去熱愛的專業．其實，我早在上牙科學習之前就對正牙學產生興趣了，那時我還住在沙特阿拉伯.我和家人每月都會從daharan飛到Riyadh去慰問那里的軍事正牙醫生． 我為自己外表及咬合不正發生的巨大變化感到非常驚訝．接下來，我的一個當正牙醫生的朋友一直鼓勵我投身于牙醫事業．當我知道HPSP學生必須申請參加專業培訓時，我有些害怕．當我看到正牙學訓練只有那么幾個名額位置后,我知道競爭會是多么的激烈. 從那時起, 我就盡可能在牙科學院的學習中嚴格要求自己，為能滿足進入美國軍事牙科兵團努力做著準備．

最近, 我應邀參加一個研究項目,學習生物相容性合成膜放在牙根表面的影響，我們花了很多夜晚來做個實驗，進行牙根導管，拔牙，在重新植的牙上使用畸齒矯正術．隨后,我們用SEMO顯微鏡按時間區間檢查這些標本看牙根是再吸收及堅固．我們希望這項研究的結果將有助于防止人體從病人喪失或移植脫位因外在骨吸收.

在另一項研究項目里， 我用了一個特殊標本研究了牙根齲齒的患病率和其他牙齒特征．在克利夫蘭自然歷史博物館,Hammon-Todd收藏, 占據大約3000頭骨，還有20世紀初大量無名尸的醫療報告，從這些報告里，我瞥見了過去那個時代牙齒健康及檢查的情況．后來,我有幸前往芝加哥參加IADR會議,在那里，我發表了研究講座.

作為一個值得驕傲的主任美國陸軍,我期待著把矯正牙醫作為我軍旅生涯一生的事業, 我完全清楚符合要求申請人承擔的義務.對我來說，很榮幸地為部隊服務有至少七年的時間, 不包括兩年的培訓和專業培訓前的一年. 我從小在一個軍人家庭長大:我父親是一名美國空軍的軍官，工作了21年. 因此,我了解軍旅生活及其所帶來的機會,我確信我將會帶著我的熱情及積極的態度去學習這個課程．