Earlier this year, we announced the launch of our inaugural Student Scholars Fellowship Program, which aims to support the next generation of leaders and scholars who promote the wellbeing of Latinx communities in Washington state. This program includes an outstanding cohort of 10 students in health sciences programs across the campuses of the University of Washington and Heritage University. This week, we are highlighting Mariany Morales (she/her/ella), student at the UW School of Dentistry.
Mariany was born in Mexico City but moved to the U.S. at the age of five, where she was then raised in Yakima, WA. She gained interest in the health sciences because she wanted to bridge the gap between health and the migrant community. “I was raised by a hardworking migrant family, so I was constantly exposed to the heavy grind by migrant laborers to make ends meet and provide for their families. Although they possess very admirable traits, I also saw that many neglected their health, whether that was because of the busy lifestyle, financial hardships, cultural barriers or the mistrust in the healthcare system,” she says.
Mariany chose dentistry specifically because she saw early on that oral health is one of the areas that was most neglected in her community. “Many people think that dentistry is just about braces and aesthetics, but it’s much more than that,” she says. Oral disease (tooth decay, gum disease, and oral cancers), it turns out, leads to host of other issues. “[Oral disease] can lead to systemic disease, severe pain, infection, and costly emergency visits that can be a huge burden to populations that are already facing countless hardships,” she explains.
Next year, Mariany will be graduating with a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree, and she plans on continuing her education for a bit longer to advance her skill set not only as a dentist, but also as an active member of her community. “My main goals are to educate communities on the importance of oral health in primary care, build relationships and trust between community members and dental professionals, and make dental care more accessible considering location, transportation, cost, fears, and more.”
Read more about Mariany’s story here!