Q: Report in, sailor. What's your story?
Pham: I was born and raised in Irvine, California. I graduated from University of Southern California School of Dentistry in May 2004, then entered the U.S. Navy immediately after graduation and headed to officer boot camp for six weeks. I spent a year as an AEGD (Advanced Education in General Dentistry) resident at Marine Corps Recruit Depot in Parris Island, South Carolina. From there, I transferred to the Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar (San Diego) for two years.
During my time at Miramar, I was deployed with a medical unit from Camp Pendleton to Iraq for seven months in 2006, spending February to September at a small forward operating base in Al-Qa'im, western Anbar Province, Iraq.
I left the Navy in September 2007 and moved to New Jersey with my wife, Colleen. We have four children: Callie, Landon, Cruz and Layla.
I began working in private practice as an associate for three years at several offices before partnering with a friend and becoming an owner of Brickworks Dental in Mays Landing, New Jersey in 2010.
Q: Why'd you become a dentist?
Pham: I was always raised to be a doctor, but it wasn't until my senior year in college that I found my true calling. I was studying for the MCATs one night and got really frustrated and got out a piece of paper to do some soul searching. I wrote down some questions. What do I enjoy doing? What kind of lifestyle do I want? Where will I be in 10 years? So on and so forth. When it was all done, I was still looking at being a doctor…but what kind? I went back to the MCATs still frustrated.
A month later, my grandmother was sick and I went to the hospital to visit her. As I was walking down the hallway, I started to feel nauseated and uncomfortable. Definitely not normal, as I had previously just volunteered in an emergency room for two years. Weird. Could I work in an environment like this? Did I want to be around sick and dying people? More questions got added to my list.
A few weeks later I had my dreaded visit with the dentist. Of course I had another cavity. After she numbed me up, she asked me if I wanted to watch. Really? Never been asked that before. "Sure!" My curiosity was piqued. So as she worked, my mind began to process what she was doing, and things began to click. My soul-searching paper came to mind. Maybe a dentist? I love working with my hands. I love interacting with people. I love helping people smile. I love to eat. So afterward, I asked her if we could get lunch and I could talk to her about dentistry as a career. She filled me in on the details and "BAM!" there it was, all the answers to my soul-searching list of a couple of months earlier. Dentist.
Q: What got you interested in military service?
Pham: Well, during orientation week at USC there was a session on tuition, financial aid, and debt, and with USC not being the cheapest of schools to attend … well, you don't realize how much your education [costs] until it is on a PowerPoint presentation. So after five minutes of 140 students gasping for air and wondering how they were going to pay the loans back, two military recruiters came in and give their spiel.
"Join the Navy and let us pay for school …"
Seemed like a good deal to me. Five of my friends and I signed up and the rest is history.
The best choice I made as a new graduate was joining the Navy and serving my country.
Q: What memory in your military service stands out to you the most?
Pham: I have so many fond memories [of] my three years of military service that it would be hard to single out just one.
I remember doing push-ups in goose poop at 5 a.m.
I remember going on a date with my future wife in Charleston, South Carolina.
I remember sitting in a C130 going into a tactical defensive approach (imagine toilet bowl) as we prepared to land in Iraq.
I remember getting to pilot an M1 Abrams tank, fire a grenade launcher, and many other incredible things.
I also remember standing at attention silently, as we watched our base commander lay four sets of ID dog tags on crosses in memory of four fallen warriors.
Q: Would you recommend aspiring dentists to go into military service?
Pham: Yes, 100 percent yes. Military service is one of the most rewarding things you can do. You might not get paid as much as your private practice counter parts. But the experiences and the people and places you get to see in the short amount of time that you are in will more than make up for any pay discrepancy. You get to be a dentist and not worry about supplies, staff, malpractice, co-pays, insurance, or even cancellations. You get paid to take CE courses and develop your skills. You get a months' worth of vacation a year! And of course, you get to treat the brave men and women of our US armed forces.
Q: Tell me about your family.
Pham: My parents came from Vietnam in 1975 to escape the communist regime and build a better life for themselves. I was born in 1977 and my sister, Beverly, the following year. I got married to Colleen twice, actually. In 2006, a month before I was to deploy to Iraq, we got married in the small chapel at Miramar with just her immediate family and mine. In 2007, we renewed our vows in New Jersey with the rest of our family and friends. In 2008, our first daughter, Callie, was born. She will always know where her daddy is from. In 2010, Landon, our first son, was born. And in 2013, sweet baby Cruz was born, followed by Layla, born in June of 2015.
Q: What are the biggest differences between working as a dentist in the Navy and working in civilian life?
Pham: The biggest difference would be case acceptance. In the military, whatever you diagnosed would be treated. And if the patient didn't show up to the appointment (which was rare unless training was occurring), I would just call up his/her commander and ask why they weren't there. In a way, it was part of the job description to come to the dentist. The units were to maintain combat readiness, which was not only physical, but [also] included medical and dental readiness. Also, there was never any worry about payment. The question, "Does my insurance cover that?" never came up.
Q: Imagine taking a colleague of yours who has never served as a dentist into a military environment. What would be the hardest/most difficult thing for him or her to adapt to?
Pham: Only having to see 6-8 patients a day and getting paid to work out during your 90-minute lunch. Oh wait—you asked [what would be] most difficult…
Probably having to be at work at 5:45 a.m. In the dental clinic, we wore scrubs, treated patients, did dentistry and then went home.
Q: Walk me through an average day of practicing dentistry in the Navy.
Pham: Depends on where you were stationed. Funny thing—[before] being in the Navy, I had never been on a ship, other than a tour of an aircraft carrier. I was what they called the "green side," which meant I was attached to the Marines (since they do not have their own medical and dental support). So I was either working in my clinic stateside, or in a field tent or makeshift clinic when I was in Iraq. Some of my counterparts were assigned to ships, where their dental clinic was inside a small city called an aircraft carrier. Their lives were much different, depending on if they were deployed or in port.
Q: Are there things you miss about being in the Navy and serving as a dentist?
Pham: I miss the camaraderie. We had a big clinic and so there were always five to eight young dentists hanging out together. It was almost like we were in school again, but this time we were getting paid.
Q: In terms of procedures and clinical cases, what were the biggest differences between practicing in the military versus in civilian dentistry?
Pham: The biggest differences would be the use of fixed prosthetics. Implants, crowns, and bridges were not often completed, due to the cost and time of the procedures. Most of the time, large amalgams and composites were the final restorations.
Q: Outside of work, what are your passions?
Pham: USC Football–Go Trojans! Fight on! [Also], spending time with my kids. Every day it amazes me how intelligent, funny, and witty they are. [I like playing] paintball, too. Nothing like sneaking through the woods and unloading paint on an unsuspecting opponent to relieve some stress.
Q: What advice do you have for new grads?
Pham: Associateships at multiple types of offices, fee for service, PPO, HMO, and corporate dentistry … these really allow you to learn how people and dentistry come together.
Get into a residency program or military positions and learn as much as you can. If you're going into the private sector, work at as many different dental offices you can. I worked at 3 different offices at one point. One being a fee-for-service office where things were slowed down and you really got to talk and develop relationships with patients, but not get as much dental hands on experience. The next being a PPO office where there is a mix of all types of patients and you really learn speed and develop systems. You have to really learn to communicate quickly and efficiently in order to get the patient to trust you and accept treatment. Efficiency and quality are key. The last office which I was only in for a few Saturdays before I quit is an HMO office. The experience I learned wasn't clinical so much as empathy and compassion. In the HMO office I was told what to do and on who. I did not agree with 90 percent of the treatment plans and I felt like patients were treated like numbers and statistics instead of human beings.
Lastly, practice where you want to live. Be involved in the community you work and live in. Have volunteer days, have presentations at elementary schools, and sponsor local events. It will help both your practice, but also help make the community better as a whole.
Q: Tell me about the Veterans Smile Day you started.
Pham: Veterans Smile Day is spreading nationwide. It started 4 years ago at my office in New Jersey. Last year we had over 50 offices across the country participate from California to Indiana to Massachusetts.
This year our goal is 100 offices to participate. We even had University of Buffalo School of Dental Medicine have a Veterans Smile Day in June and I am currently talking to more deans of other dental schools to [encourage them to] participate. After meeting with the leaders of the American Dental Association last year, they have recognized the effort we have put forth and have been publicly supporting the cause to help recruit more dentists.
The dream is to one day have the dental community lead by example by serving our nation's heroes and treating them as they deserve to be treated.
If you are interested in participating in the Veterans Smile Day event, or for more information, feel free to email me at deryckp@hotmail.com.
|