Ronnie Sparks

Second Year Orthodontics student

Advisor: Peter Ngan, DMD

Hometown: St. Albans, WV

Where did you obtain your undergraduate degree? My undergrad was at West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, WV where I majored in Biology and Chemistry. I then went to dental school here at WVU for four years before beginning the Orthodontics program.

Why did you choose WVU? It was always just assumed for me to come here. I was accepted at other programs, but when it came time to actually comparing the academics, WVU didn’t compare to anywhere else. To me, WVU had everything I wanted and when I talked to other dentists throughout the state and throughout the tri-state region, they all seemed to have a general consensus that WVU trained their dentists the best. As far as clinical skills go, every board that I talked to has been very happy with the quality of dentists that have come out of WVU. That’s what really sold me on WVU.

What are your career ambitions? Of course! I want to be an orthodontist. When I was younger, the thing that really peaked my interest in dentistry was when my dad had some tooth pain when I was around five. I just remember him being in such severe pain. Immediately after he anesthetized the tooth, you could just see the relief on my dad’s face. So that really sparked an interest in health care and overtime while observing different healthcare options, I always came back to dentistry. It was just something that I really loved. For choosing Orthodontics, after hearing Dr. Ngan speak about orthodontics so passionately in my first class, it really sparked my interest in that. Knowing that someone could be that passionate about their job was great. During my four years of dental school, I spent as much time as I could observing Dr. Ngan and his faculty practice. Seeing that really sealed the deal for me. That’s what I was going to do. I wanted to work with kids for the rest of my life and try to fix their teeth.

Who do you hope to help? My ultimate goal would be to help the underserved Appalachian communities, specifically the kids. Obviously, that’s why I’m in orthodontics. On top of that, my dad is one of 16 from southern WV, and comes from a family of coal miners. He had a really rough childhood, especially with dental care. Listening to all of those stories of my dad just really inspired me to want to help the underserved population of Appalachia, especially in oral medicine and that’s why I started going into dentistry. Specialty care is really hard to find in a rural community. Even with general practicing dentists, you may only have one in a county. But specialty care is not even evident; you really have to go to larger areas. I would like to alleviate some of that hassle of driving two to three hours just to find specialty care and quality specialty care.

Do you have any awards or accomplishments? I graduated number one in my class in dental school and I have presented my research at least four or five different times across the country. I’m presenting at a physicians conference on pediatric sleep apnea and how orthodontics can affect it, which is what my research is on. I presented at an international meeting called IADR (International Association of Dental Research). Basically anybody and everybody throughout the world submits to this one organization to get their research published on an international level. They select individuals to present at an international meeting. I was chosen last year and I presented in Miami, FL. I have also presented at the WV Dental Association state meetings. I have also received several scholarships.

What is your favorite part of your program? I’d say the best part about being in Orthodontics at WVU would be just the amount of patients you see and the quality of patients you see at WVU. You get a mix of those that need help financially and those who can afford to spend what they need on healthcare. You’ll see people with severe special needs, autistic patients, cleft lip and cleft palate patients and then of course you see the run of the mill normal kids. I think the best part about it is just seeing the variety of kids you see and the number of kids you see. The education you receive here is far superior to other programs. We treat the patient first versus treating for requirements and the amount of patients you see here is almost doubled as to other institutions.

Do you have any hobbies? My wife and I love to go the movies and we like to go camping and fishing. Really just spending time with family because school takes so much of your time. When you’re away, you really want to spend as much valuable time with your family.

Were there any surprises? I don’t know if there were really any surprises. I came into dental school knowing I wanted to do the best that I possibly could. I never thought that I would necessarily specialize, but I wanted to leave my options open. So I studied hardcore and by doing so, I don’t think there were any surprises.