‘Who’s Who’ students all smiles
Registry recognizes achievements
of two School of Dentistry Bruins
By Jennifer K. Morita
Daily Bruin Staff
They’re both UCLA School of Dentistry students in their fourth
year and they’re both specializing in orthodontics.
They’re are at the top of their class and both Bruce Abbink and
Chad Smart have been named in the 1996 registry of "Who’s Who Among
Students in American Universities and Colleges."
"They’re the best students we’ve ever had here," said David
Rudolph, one of their instructors at the School of Dentistry. "Chad
is at the top of his class. He and Bruce are number one and number
two."
But that’s where their similarities end.
"When I started college, I was leaning towards engineering,"
said Abbink, 27. "My father was an engineer and so I was swaying
between engineering and medicine."
But Abbink, who grew up in Westlake, some 30 minutes away from
UCLA, said he soon realized that engineering wasn’t for him.
"I liked my physics classes, but I didn’t care for engineering,
and medicine didn’t really appeal to me either," Abbink said. "One
of my best friends from high school had a dad who was an
orthodontist. I was talking to him about what I wanted to do and he
just casually suggested dentistry."
Before making a final decision, Abbink said he volunteered at
his own dentist’s office, and through his dad’s Rotary Club,
visited dental offices and orthodontists.
"I wanted to get a feel for dentistry before I jumped into it,"
Abbink said. "I was looking at medicine and the changes that have
been occurring there. Managed care and HMOs are more popular now.
The idea of a private practice was more appealing to me. I wanted
to be in charge and not dependent or working for someone else."
After he graduated from UCLA with a degree in chemistry, Abbink
took a year off from school and went to work while he applied to
dental schools.
"My first choice was UCLA," Abbink says. "I liked the area; it’s
cheaper than private schools and it’s one of the top dental schools
in the nation."
According to UCLA School of Dentistry spokeswoman Elaine
Schmidt, UCLA ranks second to Harvard in its students’ National
Board scores.
"We really prepare people by making them work with the nuts and
bolts," Schmidt said. "We teach them how to work with different
patients, multi-cultural patients. We give the students a really
well-rounded experience."
As one of the top dental schools in the nation, UCLA puts its
students through what both Abbink and Smart call a "grueling
schedule."
"It was much harder than I ever thought it would be," Smart
said. "Especially the first two years. We just had a tremendous
workload."
Their schedules included taking a classload comparable to 26 to
30 units and about 18 classes each quarter for the first two
years.
"Can you imagine having 18 finals?" Smart asked. "There were
times when I was overwhelmed, usually during finals, and I’d stay
at UCLA all week. I’d sleep on tables or in the car."
In addition, they had their clinical work with patients and
labwork, and were required to conduct research with a faculty
advisor.
"It’s tough," Abbink said. "I had to keep on top of everything.
You just have to set priorities. There’s so much going on, you’ll
never accomplish everything."
But on top of the work and the studying, Abbink said it’s also
important to set aside some time for socializing, especially with
fellow dental students.
"These are some great people," Abbink says. "In each class
there’s only about 90 students so you really get to know everyone.
You have your labs together, classes. You see them more than your
own family."
But while Abbink said his fellow students are like family to
him, Smart’s reason for going into dentistry and his motivation to
keep going is his own family – his wife, Maria, and their three
sons, 10-year-old C.J., 5-year-old Cale, and 18-day-old Taylor.
"I was married and had my first kid before I had any idea of
what kind of career I wanted," said Smart, 30, who got married when
he was 19. After spending a year and a half in community college in
California, he returned to his hometown of Aurora, Colo. and went
to work with his father making ski and golf sweaters.
"After a while, I knew it wasn’t want I wanted to do," Smart
said. "I’d always wanted to do something in the health care field,
but I didn’t know exactly what. People didn’t have much faith that
I would succeed because, by then, I was married and had two
kids."
Smart left Colorado and began attending California Lutheran
University, where he debated between pre-med or pre-dental.
"There was a friend of the family who was an orthodontist and so
I started talking to him about his lifestyle, his work and what he
does," Smart said. "My wife and I became convinced that that’s what
we wanted."
It was a team decision, he said.
"We have a team approach to this career thing. Even though I’m
the one that’s the student, it’s for the both of us and it’s for
our family," Smart said. "I’m doing my part and she does hers.
"Orthodontics was more conducive to family life," Smart added.
"You’re not on-call and you can have a successful, well-paying
career while spending fewer hours away from home."
Despite having to balance the rigorous schedule of dentistry
school with family life and raising three sons, Smart’s instructors
said he is one of the best students they’ve had.
"He’s the kind of dental student you wish all the other dental
students were like," said Richard Stevenson, a professor at the
dental school. "He’s very bright and unassuming."
Stevenson explained that Smart’s scores for the National Board
exam, which all dental students must take, place him at the
top.
"You wouldn’t know it, though," Stevenson said. "He’s not
arrogant. He’s just friendly."
Smart attributed all his success to his family.
"I wasn’t a dedicated student until I had a family," Stevenson
said. "Having a family helped me focus and really make some
definite goals for myself."
On top of all their success, colleagues and instructors said
Smart and Abbink are all-around nice guys.
"Bruce is one of the sweetest guys you’ll ever talk to," Rudolph
said, "which is why he does such a great job with patient
management. You have a patient who is all stressed out and he is
able to calm them down and assure them that everything is going to
be OK."
FRED HE/Daily Bruin
Dental student Bruce Abbink treats Julia Gutierrez with fellow
‘Who’s Who’ Bruin and future orthodontist Chad Smart.
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