Oklahoma Christian University hosts a unique club for students pursuing a career in dentistry. The on-campus Pre-Dental Club reports a 100% acceptance rate when their members apply for dental school.
According to the club’s mission statement, Oklahoma Christian’s Pre-Dental Club exists to encourage and guide students as they prepare for dental school.
Peter Damico, president of Pre-Dental Club, said everyone who has been in the club has been accepted into dental school.
“We have a 100% acceptance rate into dental school,” Damico said. “Whether it’s right after college or after a gap year, everyone in the club has gone to dental school.”
Damico has been accepted into the University of Missouri’s dental program and plans to attend there this fall.
During meetings, club members watch prepared presentations from professionals in the dentistry field or Damico himself.
“Last semester, we had a guest speaker who was a dental sales rep come and talk about what he does as far as the other side of the business,” Damico said. “Dentists buy all the products and all the equipment and stuff, and they sell it. So we got his perspective.”
Damico said club members primarily study biology, but one accounting and finance major attends. Damico said all are welcome and learning about dentistry has direct application for many majors.
“If you’re a CPA, there are entire corporations for accounting that specialize in dental practice,” Damico said. “I actually met a guy just recently — he’s the head of the Oklahoma Society for CPAs, and he specialized in dentistry for a lot of his career.”
Damico said he chose dentistry because of benefits over medical school and a mission trip which shaped his calling.
“For a long time I was in between dental school and medical school trying to decide,” Damico said.
Dentistry offers four-year schooling options, simpler insurance, and less hospital administration work according to Damico. In addition to convenience, an experience in Guatemala helped convince him to pursue dentistry.
“I went on a mission trip to Guatemala over the summer where we set up mobile dental and medical clinics,” Damico said. “I’d never been out of the country before, and helping people in that type of way is something that I really am passionate about. Once I am a dentist, I would like to do that once a year and go to countries like that and serve populations that are in need.”
Damico said he has learned much from participating in Pre-Dental Club while at Oklahoma Christian.
“I learned so much about what it means to be a pre-dental student, what it means to be a dental student, and some of the intangibles like how the business runs, how to operate within the business, chairside demeanor, how to carry yourself,” Damico said. “I would say it kind of reinforced what I already thought about the profession.”
Vice President Copeland Zajac said Pre-Dental Club’s first meeting of the semester is tentatively set for the week after spring break, at 6:00 p.m. March 23 in NSW 109.
“Both the president and I are slam packed,” Zajac said. “We try to meet just about once every month or every two weeks. We’re having our next meeting right after Spring Break.”
During the next meeting, Damico will give a presentation on the dental school application process to help students prepare their resumes and inform them what to expect.
“Next time, we’re going to be talking about the application process,” Zajac said. “about what it actually looks like to apply to dental school, because it’s not the same as medical school.”
Pre-Dental Club encourages members to volunteer with Oklahoma Missions of Mercy (OkMOM), a free dental clinic serving low-income communities.
“I think a lot of people kind of associate dentistry with kind of a cash grab,” Zajac said. “I think it’s so much more than that, especially during this event because they see over 2,000 people each event, and they help give out free dental care to people that can’t afford it or don’t have the most easy access to it. Some people come from different states just to come to OkMOM.”
All students are welcome to attend dental club, whether they are pursuing or considering dentistry or just curious about the profession.
“I’d love to try to convince you one way or the other,” Damico said. “Either you come into the profession and start getting on the track to go to school or you rule out an option if you absolutely hate it. Come check us out”.
Students interested in attending Pre-Dental Club meetings can find the most up-to-date information on the club’s Instagram: @ocpredentalclub.
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