Dentistry’s Navarrete Anxious to Give Back to the Community

By Christopher James

Alfonso Navarrete, son of Colombian immigrants, is graduating as NYU College of Dentistry’s valedictorian for 2006. In spite of his success, which could easily land him a job in a Park Avenue private practice, he has chosen to pursue community service in the form of a general practice residency at a veterans hospital in his home state of California.

The move fulfills his goal of giving back to the community he came from.

“When I go back to California, I want to provide services for people who can’t afford it in my old community,” says Navarrete. “Working as an EMT, I regularly saw a lot of the people who came into the emergency room. Their dentition was pretty badly decayed, and they were in need of oral health services they just could not afford.”

Fluent in Spanish, Navarrete has used his bilingual abilities to help Spanish-speaking patients understand the procedures and care being prescribed and administered to them.

“Being bilingual is a big help,” he says. “People are too embarrassed to say that they can’t understand, but if you can speak the language, then it’s definitely a big help. Even here in school, I have so many patients that want to see me because I can communicate with them.”

In his upcoming residency, Navarrete will get to experience all different dentistry specialties.

“In school, if you have a patient with a more complex procedure, generally they go directly to the specialist,” he says, “so you don’t get to do a lot of those more complex procedures. In the residency, especially in the VA hospital, there’s no specialist, so you have to do everything.”

Navarrete notes that his parents sacrificed tremendously to ensure that he had the opportunity for a better life. Therefore, he is saving a surprise for them on graduation day.

“I have not told my parents I was selected to be the class valedictorian,” says Navarrete. “I think it will be a nice surprise for them to come to graduation and see for themselves.”