wind blows through the trees. [music] dog barks in quiet neighborhood. boat blows its horn. kelly crooker: every patient that i see, i know i’m touching their life in a profound way. my name is kelly crooker and i’m a general dentist for the family oriented primary health care center in mobile, al. during my first year of dental school, i accepted a military scholarship with the army.
as soon as i graduated dental school i was stationed at fr. polk, la for 3 years. when i was in the military, it wasvery difficult to see a young 17 or 18-year-old soldier come in and sometimes have to have all of of his teeth taken out due to lackof dental care. that was a huge motivating factor forcoming back to public service and public health. there’s definitely a connection between military service and public health. they’re both serving others -just in different ways. so, as soon as my military commitmentwas finished i moved home to mobile.
my husband found out about the national health service corps online. we thought it was a fantasticopportunity. i started thinking i really wanted to do something that would give me some flexibility as far as wanting to be a mother -wanting to have children one day. one of the great things about the national health service corps is that you can do this part time and stillreceive loan repayment. being able to have that flexibility tohave more face-time with my own family is very beneficial. to daughter: good job!.
you know, our clinic focuses mostly on children. i’m able to see these children fromsuch a young age and give them a positive dental experience. so, when they reach the age of 18or 19, they have had regular dental care.and they won’t be showing up in a dentist office with a mouth full ofdifficult treatments. to patient: high five! it makes me feel wonderful. i personally feel that every patient that we see and are able to treat
is a success story and that i’mimpacting their life. especially giving them a positive experience from a young age. there are plenty of people who havea traumatic dental experience and never go back to a dentist.we are looking to combat that. that’s why i’ll stay here whenmy commitment is over. the national health service corpshas provided the opportunity for me to practice in public health the way that i want to and not have the financial obligations that i wouldotherwise have. i would recommend to any military veteran who is interested in
public health to go on to the national health service corps website and look for opportunities.
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