Foreign trained dentist takes the long route to earn her DMD

While most foreign-trained dentists enter a two-year program to obtain their U.S. licenses, Ashwini Pilla took a different path. Over the course of 15 years, her journey from an associate dentist in India to a practicing dentist has finally come full circle as she prepares for her upcoming pediatric dentistry residency at Philadelphia’s St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children. She credits her classmates as her greatest champions. “They called me beast, superwoman, but I’d say back to them – ‘No, you folks are inspiring me. You are all rock stars to me,’” said Pilla. “I don’t know what they learned from me, but I learned a lot from them.” 

Growing up as the daughter of an agriculture executive, Pilla frequently accompanied her mother on visits to local farms after school, where she witnessed a high volume of cleft lip and cleft palate patients. This experience sparked the questions: Why? What causes these conditions? 

She became more curious about the dental and medical fields and dreamed of being an oral surgeon. 

In October of 2008, Pilla graduated from dental school in India with highest honors and began work as an associate dentist, a volunteer position to fill the gap while she waited for her license to arrive. During this time, she would travel to rural areas where dental resources were far less available.

“Commitment through volunteer organizations was enormous back in India because there are so many people who really need dental work. And there are so many other kids who are not even aware of the dental work. We used to teach them, ‘This is a toothbrush, and you need to brush, and you need to floss,’” Pilla explained. “I’m blessed that I did that.”

Before her license arrived, her family arranged Pilla’s marriage, and by January of 2009, she had immigrated to the United States. 

The standard procedure for foreign-trained dentists to be able to practice in the U.S. is to complete a two-year program. Applicants must pass the National Board of Dental Examination tests and qualify to sit for the National Integrated Board exam before they can apply to an internationally trained dental program.

 

Pilla passed each step and received interview offers from programs in Buffalo and Colorado. At the time, she was three months pregnant with her first child, and her husband was completing his postdoc at Stanford University in California. Pilla chose to take a step back and focus on her family instead, resulting in a long career break. 

By 2013, she decided it was time to pursue her dreams again. Her husband had started working as a professor at Clemson University, and they were financially stable – but there were no two-year programs available within the state. So, she pursued a different path and began the seven-year journey that would lead to her being a student at MUSC. 

“When I first met with Ashwini, I saw in her a very humble, dedicated and caring human being: the characteristics of an individual who will make an excellent professional who will do all she can to take care of all,” said Tariq Javed, D.M.D., associate dean for Academic and Student Affairs in the College of Dental Medicine. “I was immediately convinced that she would add a unique perspective to our student body. She took our guidance to heart and undertook very challenging coursework and other assignments prior to her matriculation into MUSC. The rest is history, as they say.”

 

Even though her BDS had transferred, Pilla still needed some basic credit hours to match the required hours for the Dental Medicine Doctor degree program. She enrolled in Greenville Technical College and then Clemson University, taking night classes one at a time while managing her household and raising her children. “I always wanted to keep my family together. So raising kids by myself while pursuing my dreams is not an option but a choice I made,” says Pilla. 

In 2019, she was ready to move forward and applied to MUSC. By the time of her interview, she was nine months pregnant with her third child. “I was like, ‘I’m not going to give up this time because it’s been a while.’ I did it, but I couldn’t get in. But I said, ‘No, I’m not going to give up.’”

She applied a second time in 2020 and was admitted into the D.M.D. program. “I still remember the day when I got the priority mail from MUSC and I cried with happiness. People said my perseverance paid off but I want to say that dentistry is the only field I know, and I just can’t think of pursuing any other opportunity outside it so I kept on trying until I made it to the class of 2024,” says Pilla.

Raising three children and managing a household while earning her D.M.D. was no small feat. With the support of her family, she was able to get there, but it was her classmates who kept her going each day. Small acts of kindness, like prepping her chair, served as encouragement to keep pushing forward, especially on days when she wondered if she was pushing herself too hard. 

“Ashwini proved to be a model student and clinician and earned accolades from faculty, staff, patients, and fellow classmates. She is a caring wife and mother as well,” said Javed. While many dental students come directly from an undergraduate program, Pilla continued to balance her roles as a mother and wife with rigorous classwork and clinicals. 

As she neared graduation, Pilla’s husband began work in Delaware. The full responsibility of their household fell to her, and she began to debate her path. Deirdre Williams, D.D.S., an associate professor and pediatric dentist in the Department of Biomedical and Community Health Sciences and a trusted mentor, suggested she take an elective course that was an advanced rotation in pediatrics, in which Pilla could experience what it was like to be a resident for one week.

“It gave me the confidence to apply, and I really needed that kind of push, or I would have been complacent, happy to be a general dentist,” said Pilla. She began to realize that, since her volunteer work in India, she had always wanted to work with children. Now that she had three of her own, Pilla felt confident she could connect with any patient, no matter their age. “Thank God she gave that opportunity to me.”

“Pilla is very passionate about her profession. Her passionate, energetic disposition, along with her methodical and detailed approach to tasks and challenges, speaks volumes as to why she will become a highly sought-after pediatric dentist. One who will provide the best of care with the highest level of skill delivered with compassion,” said Williams.

And though Pilla credits her classmates and professors as her strength when she struggled, they have undoubtedly learned much from her as well. 

“Ashwini will be pursuing a residency in Pediatric Dentistry at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, and I can say with great conviction that she will be an excellent clinician who will provide needed care to children in a most compassionate and caring manner. We are proud to call her an MUSC James B. Edwards College of Dental Medicine graduate,” said Javed.