Hi! My name is Luis Marquez. I am originally from Venezuela. I have always been interested in the sciences and my favorite subjects growing up were biology and chemistry. I’ve known since a young age that I wanted to be involved in the sciences professionally. I had an uncle who was a dentist. He would let me spend some afternoons at his office and see how everything worked. I was always fascinated by how much you can impact someone’s life by improving their oral health. This is why I decided to go to dental school in Venezuela. For me, dentistry has the perfect balance between science, art, and changing lives.
In 2011, due to Venezuela’s political and economic circumstances, I took a major risk to leave my country and career behind to start from scratch in the United States. Coming to the US is the best decision I have ever made. As I already had experience in the dental field, I pursued employment as a dental assistant. As a foreign-trained dentist, it has been fascinating to experience dentistry from the perspective of an assistant. In my current role, I have several practice management responsibilities and I have had the opportunity to work with various dental specialists. I chose a career in dental hygiene because it is directly related to my favorite dental disciplines: periodontics, prevention, and patient education. Looking ahead, I want to continue my education in the area of healthcare administration and to become a professor in a dental or dental hygiene program.
