Growing up in rural northeast Tennessee, fourth-year dental student Molly Ramsey was used to the hourlong car ride to see her dentist. She says her home of Hancock County has no private practice dentist, and although a dentist occasionally visits the local health department, most residents are forced to trek for regular care.
“You have to go at least 40 minutes to an hour to a neighboring town to go to the dentist, and if you have to go to a specialist, then it could be as much as an hour and a half to two hours,” she says. “Then, there’s the problem of being able to take off work, and people do not have a lot of money where I grew up, so you see a lot of dental problems as a result.”
Wanting to eliminate the barriers those in her rural community face when accessing care, and wanting to follow in the footsteps of her siblings who have medical careers, Ramsey began considering going into a health care field. Her experience having braces helped narrow her focus to dentistry.
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