Alumni Profile Q&A: Dr. Paul C. Lopez (DDS 2008, MD 2012) – A non-traditional journey to becoming a surgeon9 min read
It’s rare when someone can trace their career path to something that happened when they were an infant, but that’s the case for Dr. Paul C. Lopez, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon in Ann Arbor. He received his DDS from the University of Michigan School of Dentistry in 2008, his medical degree from the U-M Medical School in 2012, followed by certificates in general surgery in 2013, in oral and maxillofacial surgery in 2014 and in microvascular surgery in 2014. Today, as he practices as a partner in the Ann Arbor and Dexter offices of Michigan Oral Surgeons, he says the earliest thoughts he can remember as a child were that he wanted to be a doctor. In a recent interview, he talked about coming full circle from having a serious surgery as an infant to becoming a surgeon himself who is paying it forward every day for his patients. And much of it can be attributed to what he calls “a whimsical left turn.”
Q: The idea of being a doctor started very early for you. Tell us that story.
A: My ultimate path here truly started in my infancy, strangely enough. I’m a child of immigrant parents. My mom was from Ecuador, my dad from El Salvador. I was born in New York City, actually Washington Heights in Manhattan, and I grew up in Yonkers. At around 3 or 4 months old, they discovered that the soft spot on my head, the fontanelle that allows for brain growth as the baby develops, had fused together already. That was going to pose big problems as I grew. So to deal with that abnormal cranio-facial development, doctors performed a strip craniectomy. At the time, it was a risky procedure and we certainly don’t do them like mine nowadays. But everything was successful and my parents were so grateful. Navigating all of this was extremely challenging for them as two freshly immigrated Latinos speaking limited English in a semi-strange country. So for them, the successful surgery was an impressive event. And they just always talked to me in terms of their gratitude and they sort of ingrained in me a sense of needing to pay it forward.
Q: At what age did you begin to prepare for being a doctor?
A: From forever, since I could ever remember a thought, I had always wanted to be a doctor. In first grade, we had moved and I was new to the school. On the first day, the other kids are introducing themselves: ‘Hi, I’m Timmy and I want to grow up to be a football player,’ or Batman or whatever. And I’m saying that I want to be a neurologist. That’s a large part of why, when I reached high school, I chose the University of Connecticut for undergrad because I could major in physiology and neurobiology. And I did research in neuropsychopharmacology at the university. So I was on this path to being a neurologist to do this awesome surgery for little kids.
Q: What were the next steps?
A: After undergrad I decided to take a gap year to prepare for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). I took a job in Bethesda, Maryland, working in a private, community-based brain injury rehabilitation center. Its clients were patients with brain injuries such as car accidents and strokes. I learned a lot as a patient advocate and met some oral and maxillofacial surgeons in the process. But it was a stressful job, which didn’t help in preparing for the MCAT, so I left after a couple of years. I had a friend who was also heading to med school and the formula was to find a job in a hospital for a year or two before the MCAT and med school, to get exposure in that kind of setting. I had been thinking about how to do that. I lived in the Washington, D.C., area and one day while I was driving around, I found myself at an intersection near the Georgetown University Medical Center. I was at a traffic light where Georgetown was a left turn off of Reservoir. I thought: I’m never really down here, so I’ll check it out while I’m here. It was just a whim, a moment of serendipity. So what I literally did that day was go to the human resources office. They had a cork board with job listings posted by the elevator – there were no online job postings in those days. And I found a job that was kind of what I wanted and, wow, it pays 7 bucks an hour and that was way more than the 4-something I was making at the other job. So I took a job as a patient care tech, formerly known as an orderly. I assisted nurses on the unit and it allowed me to see and hear doctors doing rounds. Just as importantly, actually more so, it was where I met my wife Katie, who was a nurse there.
Q: So your ‘whimsical left turn’ brought you both a life partner and more insight into what career path to take.
A: Yes. My time at Georgetown was important because as I observed the daily routine with doctors making rounds and talking to some of them, I realized that my long-time dream of being a neurologist was based on not understanding what neurologists do. They didn’t do my surgery as a baby; they don’t do surgery. So I realized that I was not going to be a neurologist because I wanted to help people the way surgeons had helped me. But by then I’m in my 20s and I’m sort of rudderless trying to decide on my next career step. Finally, after many conversations with friends, doctors I had met and my wife, the idea of dentistry came up. Several doctors, including oral and maxillofacial surgeons, said if they had to do it again they would choose general dentistry. I decided that was what I would pursue and, fortunately, the University of Michigan dental school admitted me.
Q: What do you remember about dental school?
A: I was older than my classmates because by then I was starting dental school at age 31. But simply stated, I love the dental school. I love the dental school community. I love what it provided for me professionally, in terms of contributing to my development as a surgeon and as a provider of care for people. On a daily basis, I would see really terrific people on every level – smart, kind, working together and collaborating to do good things. Fill in the blank of what that is – straightening out somebody’s teeth, do this root canal, do the reconstructive jaw surgery, and so on. That is truly the most impressive, the most important thing that has happened to me is to have attended the University of Michigan. As I left the school and had more opportunity to mix with other professionals who attended other schools, especially in oral surgery, I gained more and more appreciation of what the dental school was able to provide for me and how I was prepared. We have insights into things that people from other really great schools didn’t seem to have as consistently as Michigan dental students. That gave me an appreciation for all the mentors I had there.
Q: Dental school prepares students for a general dentistry career and yet you ended up in OMFS. How did that happen?
A: After the time I spent working in the brain rehab clinic and at the Georgetown hospital, I had told my wife it would be only four more years of dental school and then I’ll be practicing. But in the back of my mind I still had that surgery interest. In dental school I wanted to convince myself that I could do something else, so I spent a ton of time in all the various departments – pediatrics, orthodontics, endodontics, periodontics. All of it is fascinating, you can find things of interest to latch onto. But by the third year, it was clear to me that oral surgery was what I gravitated to the most. One of the faculty members in the oral surgery clinic was very blunt with me in a friendly way. She said: “You need to do what we do. Stop being a jerk – don’t talk yourself out of it.” I finally decided to go on to med school and add the surgical and OMFS residencies. My wife wasn’t surprised and supported me even though the prospect of more years of education at my age was a bit daunting, particularly at the University of Michigan. The surgery residency program at U-M is renown for a reason. It is an intense program with tremendous faculty doing incredible things. They are setting the forefront. To be a part of that is an honor, but it is not easy. Going through that is a challenge. Add the fact that I was a non-traditional student, about 13 years older than the other med students, and by then we had two babies and the third of our four arrived during that time. It was a lot, a lot, a lot. I’ll say for the one-hundred-millionth time: only because of my wife were we able to do this.
Q: Your use of the term “non-traditional” is certainly apt to describe your journey to this career.
A: After I graduated dental school, medical school and finished residency, I realized the irony of it all. It was never a neurologist who did my surgery when I was six months old; it was a craniofacial surgeon, just like my Program Director and mentor Dr. Sean Edwards. So I did come full circle, indirectly living the pay-it-forward idea. I just didn’t realize it all that time when I was making decisions about my career. I don’t do craniofacial surgery now, but it is still in the realm of my training. It is just interesting how the universe guided me in this direction, paying it forward in some repects and living up to what Mom and Dad wanted.
###
This profile is one in an ongoing series highlighting School of Dentistry alumni, faculty, students and staff. The University of Michigan School of Dentistry is one of the nation’s leading dental schools engaged in oral healthcare education, research, patient care and community service. General dental care clinics and specialty clinics providing advanced treatment enable the school to offer dental services and programs to patients throughout Michigan. Classroom and clinic instruction prepare future dentists, dental specialists and dental hygienists for practice in private offices, hospitals, academia and public agencies. Research seeks to discover and apply new knowledge that can help patients worldwide. For more information about the School of Dentistry, visit us on the Web at: www.dent.umich.edu. Email: [email protected], or (734) 615-1971.