ATSU-MOSDOH’s commitment to serving underserved communities drew student’s interest
Posted: October 2, 2025
Mary Nguyen, D2, was a public health major at University of Washington, planning for a future in dental education. Some of the most important things she learned about healthcare were the social determinants of health, health disparities, and how they affect different communities’ access to healthcare.
“Graduating, I vowed to myself to serve underserved populations and to advocate for better access to dental care, and it is what I’ve found at A.T. Still University,” Nguyen said. “Seeing ATSU-Missouri School of Dentistry & Oral Health’s (ATSU-MOSDOH) mission to serve the underserved immediately caught my attention, and I knew that I would be given valuable education here in order to reach my professional goals. I want to give back to the communities who need dental care access the most, for I believe that once the most marginalized communities’ needs are met is when we’ve finally achieved health equity.”
Nguyen is from Seattle and serves as MOSDOH class president with ATSU’s Student Government Association (SGA), secretary of the American Student Dental Association’s (ASDA) Kirksville chapter, District 9’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion chair with the American Student Dental Association, and student ambassador.
“Ever since I was young, I’ve had a natural drive for leadership roles and it was a priority of mine when I reached dental school,” Nguyen said. “I decided to apply for SGA President-MOSDOH because I wanted to serve as a communicator between MOSDOH and the overall ATSU SGA executive team. I want to grow in my professional and leadership skills, and I believed I would achieve that as SGA president.
“As far as the American Student Dental Association, it’s admirable how we have a community that cares about promoting student wellness and a passion for serving underserved communities. Not many of my classmates know that MOSDOH ASDA is an auto-enroll school, while many schools require students to pay for memberships. With that, many students don’t realize and take advantage of benefits that will help them in the long run. Within ASDA, I hope to expand our student engagement by allowing more students to attend conferences, attend more educational lunch-and-learns, and be encouraged to take on leadership roles within this organization.”
As a student ambassador, Nguyen wants to encourage students to attend ATSU-MOSDOH because it prioritizes serving the underserved.
“I know many students have doubts about attending a school in a small town, but I hope by being personable with them it can help them see why attending this school would help their career journey,” she said.
“Originating from a big city, I’ve grown to enjoy the peace and quiet in Kirksville. I found myself usually being on the go in Seattle and feeling the need to go out, but I’ve been enjoying the solitude. It holds me accountable to study consistently. Also, my program’s class is relatively small compared to other dental schools, so I’ve made a very close community with my classmates. Especially during fall semester, I have enjoyed hosting some of my classmates over, serving seasonal mocktails, and playing some games to get to know each other better.”
Nguyen also makes consistent use of ATSU’s Thompson Campus Center, where she lifts weights about three times each week. She also enjoys walking the beautiful trails near campus when the weather is good, and when she stays in she’s an avid fiction reader.
On campus, Nguyen is taking every opportunity to prepare herself for her future.
“One experience I’ve cherished during my undergrad was volunteering for Vietnam Health Clinic, a mobile health clinic that serves free healthcare in Vietnam for two weeks. One of my goals is to help out with the Vietnam Health Clinic, but this time as a health professional. In Vietnam, we serve the underserved in very rural communities, and with ATSU’s mission of training professionals to serve the underserved, it will help me achieve my goal,” she said.
