Abigail Baldwin, DMD23, looks at dental problems and envisions solutions. As an undergraduate at Dartmouth College, she majored in biomedical engineering and brings an engineer’s mindset to practicing dentistry. Before starting her predoctoral program at Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM), she worked on the research and development team of a medical device start-up.
“I’ve always enjoyed designing solutions for problems,” Baldwin said. “I love how dentistry values the same principles of creativity, innovation, and materials science as engineering, and that the problems we solve in dentistry help our patients avoid pain as well as gain function and esthetics.”
During her clinical experience at HSDM, Baldwin found the most gratifying procedures to be those that helped relieve pain, which has led her to take the next step in her career to specialize in endodontics. Originally from Poulsbo, WA, after graduation Baldwin will return to the west coast to pursue a residency in endodontics at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).
In the last few months of her predoctoral program, Baldwin’s experience treating patients in a community health externship at Charles River Community Health left a lasting impression with her. Patients would often come to the health center with dental conditions that needed urgent attention.
“The experience was a constant reminder of the huge and almost immediate impact dental providers can have on patients – patients walk into the office with a painful emergency, and we can provide care that allows them to return to their normal daily lives,” she said. “It was extremely gratifying to do the dentistry that I enjoy and at the same time provide patients with solutions they were happy about when they walked out of the office.”
“By the end of my externship, I had learned basic dental Spanish that was enough to get through most appointments with only minimal time needed for further interpreting. I am most proud of this because my basic Spanish helped me not only decrease appointment times, but also helped me connect more with my Spanish-speaking patients and build their trust.”
Baldwin has a unique understanding of the challenges underserved populations face in obtaining health care. Her grandmother is an elder in the Snoqualmie Tribe—a Native American tribe from the Puget Sound region of Washington state.
“Native American populations are historically underserved in healthcare. One of my priorities is to provide care to Native peoples, as well as other underserved communities in my local area, in honor of the Snoqualmie Tribe,” she said.
The Snoqualmie Tribe supports higher education opportunities for all descendants and provided Baldwin with scholarship support throughout her program at HSDM.
“I could not be more grateful to the Tribe for this opportunity to pursue dental school at HSDM without a large financial burden. In my future career, I hope to return to Washington State and give back to the Tribe.”
