Tooth Talk: Q&A with Lesly Joseph DMD AS 27
In our Q&A series, “Tooth Talk,” we are sitting down with GSDM students and residents to learn more about their paths to Boston University, their time at GSDM, and how they have made Boston their home.
For the latest edition, we spoke with Lesly Joseph DMD AS 27. He discussed when a dental extraction led him to becoming a dentist, the Haitian dental field, and how he balances being a DMD AS student and GSDM graduate research assistant.
Want more Tooth Talk? Read the rest of the series on the Tooth Talk newsfeed page.
Questions and responses have been edited for clarity, context information, and length.
Lesly Joseph DMD AS 27. (Photo credit: Dan Bomba, GSDM.)
When did you first know you wanted to become a dentist?
When I was 14 or 15 years old, I had a tooth extracted because I had some sensitivity. I was referred to someone who I was told could treat that tooth, lower molar, because it was very sensitive, . When I went there, the first thing the woman said she was going to do was extract the tooth.
In the countryside of Haiti, where I am from, they don’t have a lot of dentists. The access to dental care was very limited. When she extracted my tooth, I wanted to figure out how or why she did that. I just wanted to understand how teeth grow, how to prevent tooth decay, and how to prevent people from losing their teeth. That drove me to become a dentist.
What is dental school like in Haiti?
In Haiti, we have only one dental school and it was very competitive. People from all over the country are competing for just 25 spots. I had an opportunity to meet with a dentist in my last year of high school. He gave me a bunch of documents to help me study for the entrance exam. I started studying with them, and I successfully passed the entrance exam. I was one of the luckiest 25 students to be admitted at that time. That was 2005 and I studied dentistry for five years.
One interesting thing in Haiti is that after you graduated dental school, you have to do one year of social service. You go to the countryside, and you spend one year either directly under a dentist or help open a dental center if there isn’t a dentist working there. If you don’t do this for one year, you cannot obtain your dental license.
What education and community service work did you do between your initial dental education and your time now at GSDM?
In 2010, I received a scholarship for a leadership and civic engagement certificate program at the University of Delaware. It was an intensive program. Although it wasn’t a degree, it opened my eyes to civic engagement.
When I went back to Haiti, I went back with more knowledge, more capabilities, and more passion to be involved in the community. After my community service, I worked to expand my practical skills in the field.
I received another scholarship, this time for my first master’s degree from Brandeis University in International Health Policy and Management (now called Global Health Policy and Management). This was from 2015 to 2016. This was my first venture to Massachusetts.
I traveled back and forth between the U.S. and Haiti to practice, but in 2020, with everything happening, I decided to stay in the greater Boston area.
I later did a second master’s degree in public health from University of California, Berkeley, from 2021 to 2023.
What made you pick GSDM?
I picked GSDM for two reasons. When I was doing my MPH, we had some presentations at SPH, so I was already familiar with the Boston University Medical Campus.
Most importantly, GSDM is one of the few dental schools that has a Global & Population Health office. This aligns with my mission and values. I find that at GSDM, I will have the opportunity to not only be a good clinician, but to be able to immerse myself in the global and population field. I also liked that the type of community service offered at GSDM is both at the local and international level, like with students going abroad to the Caribbean to provide dental care to people in limited dental access areas.
During the admissions process, you ended up being offered a position as a graduate research assistant with Global & Population Health. You share that you worked in this role for a year before starting your DMD Advanced Standing program. How did this opportunity come to be?
During my interview, my interviewer said they noticed my background in research, global and population health, and public health. They said there was a project running and there was a role I might be interested in. They said I should connect to the person in charge, Dr. Michelle Henshaw, SPH 96 DPH 07, GSDM associate dean of global & population health. I emailed Dr. Henshaw and it just came together.
What do you do in your role as a graduate research assistant?
At this phase of the project, as a research assistant, I’m helping with the project in many ways, like assisting, recruiting, and enrolling participants. Our main focus is on recruiting and enrolling participants. I go onsite to the community centers and communicate with patients in the waiting areas, explaining to them about the research, explaining to them about what we expect from the research, and inviting them to participate. Sometimes they say no, but a good number of people do say yes.
You are now in your first year of the DMD Advanced Standing program. What has it been like balancing being a GSDM student and student employee at the same time?
It’s really challenging, but at the same time, it’s rewarding. It’s amazing to be a student at the same time working on research projects because I love it a lot. But I would say that it requires good time management and organization.
Next academic year, you will be entering the Patient Treatment Center. What impact do you hope to have on your patients, especially with your public health perspective?
When I start working on patients, I am expected to align the treatment that I’m going to provide to the patient’s values and their satisfaction. We need to make sure that they’re satisfied with the treatment and make sure that they’re happy and have improved confidence.
What are you most looking forward to being involved with at GSDM?
I‘m going to continue working in research because I want to build up my experience in the research field. But if there is something I could do outside of the research, it will involve being in more leadership roles and/or doing community service.
What advice do you have for other internationally trained students who are looking for an advanced standing dental program?
Always work on making a first impression. A first impression is not only when the person gets to the interview, but it comes from the way that the person is filling out the application. The second thing is to keep up with clinical knowledge and skills, but balance that with time outside of the clinic. It can be community service, research, or anything they’re really passionate about.