A New Path to Dentistry

When Chase Dershem was in middle school, an older boy made a joke about his teeth. Dershem remembers going home in tears and, for a long time, refusing to smile.

Dental treatment changed that. "By my sophomore year in high school, I finally felt like I could show my teeth," he says. But the change reached far beyond his appearance: his new smile gave him confidence and helped him make new friends. "I even became a better athlete," he says. "It's amazing what you can do when you feel confident about yourself. I knew then that dentistry had changed my life."

Building a career in the field became his dream: he wanted to give others the same kind of care that he had found so transformative.

Then COVID-19 arrived. Dershem's mother, an obstetrician-gynecologist, continued treating hospital patients during the pandemic. In the early days, when it was still unclear what kind of exposure might be harmful, his family hung a plastic sheet inside their home so she could enter the house and quarantine in the basement. Although they lived under the same roof, he could not safely see her. The experience frightened him away from health care.

At Pennsylvania State University, Dershem majored in finance. He graduated with a job in investment banking, working primarily with technology, software, and AI companies. Almost immediately, he sensed it was not where he belonged. "From the day I started working, I knew I didn't like it," he says. "Deep down, I wasn't happy."

Around the same time, his mother was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. In one lucid conversation, she urged him not to spend his life doing work he didn't love, reminding him of the profession he had once imagined for himself. Dershem began to reconsider his early dream. "I realized I still wanted to become a dentist," he says.

Preparing for a New Profession

At Tufts, the dream Dershem reclaimed began to take practical shape. He enrolled in the university's Post-baccalaureate Pre-Health Program, which gives college graduates who did not major in the sciences a structured route to complete the coursework and experiences required for medical, dental, veterinary, and other health profession programs.

Previously known as the Post-baccalaureate Premedical Program, the program has a new name that better reflects the range of careers its students pursue. Designed for career changers like Dershem, it combines rigorous science coursework with individualized advising and opportunities to develop clinical, research, and service experience. Students generally complete the program in 18 to 24 months, following a course plan tailored to their preparation and goals.

Pursuing a Passion for Health Sciences

Post-baccalaureate students take science classes alongside Tufts undergraduates while also engaging with graduate students, faculty, and staff across Tufts' campuses. They also receive guidance on course selection, admissions timelines, entrance exams, and the many choices involved in building a competitive professional-school application.

For Dershem, who entered without a background in college-level science or familiarity with the dental-school application process, that support has been crucial. He uses the phrase "bowling with guardrails" as a point of comparison: "You have everything set in place for you to succeed," he says, "but you also have to put in the work. The program offers an incredibly effective combination of support and challenge."

Extending the Pathway

Through linkage arrangements, the program may also facilitate the transition to professional school. On the traditional application timeline, students often complete the post-baccalaureate program and then wait an additional year before beginning medical or dental school-a gap commonly known as a glide year. For eligible post-baccalaureate students who meet academic and admissions requirements, a linkage can make it possible to apply while they are completing the post-baccalaureate program, so they might begin professional school soon afterward.

Dershem does not yet know whether he will be eligible to follow that accelerated path, but he has already made significant progress toward preparing for what comes next. He has met with dental admissions leaders, completed a Tufts dental radiology certificate course, and begun shadowing an alumnus of Tufts University School of Dental Medicine (TUSDM) through the school's unique clinical shadowing pathway.

He credits the post-baccalaureate program's advisers with helping him navigate the process. "Without their help, it would have been impossible for me to come as far as I have," he says. "They've been incredible advocates for me."

Riki Gottlieb, associate dean of admissions and student affairs at TUSDM, notes that the value of the new pathway lies not only in shortening the route to dental school, but also in giving aspiring dentists earlier access to the guidance and clinical exposure they will need.

"Pre-dental students navigate a challenging and competitive admissions process," says Gottlieb. "By working closely together, the Tufts Post-baccalaureate Pre-Health Program and School of Dental Medicine provide the guidance, mentorship, and opportunities that help students reach their full potential."

"The result is more than stronger applicants; it is the development of future dental professionals who are prepared to lead, serve, and provide compassionate care," says Gottlieb.

For Dershem, his years in finance used to feel like a detour, he says, but no longer. "Banking taught me how to prepare thoroughly, communicate with confidence, and seek out opportunities," says Dershem. "I'm glad I can bring my past experiences to my present studies and my future career." Eventually, he hopes to own his own dental practice.

For now, he is focused on his courses, research, clinical experience, and preparation for the Dental Admission Test. The road is still long, but it's no longer leading in the wrong direction: "I made the right decision," Dershem says. "I wouldn't change a thing."

Training the Next Maternal and Infant Health Researchers

A Day in the Life of 44 Teenage Dentists

Their Future Is Now: Fourth-Year Medical Students Match With Residencies