A Whole New World: Serah Uddaraju, Class President and Belter of Disney Tunes
Serah Uddaraju
Four years ago, during the Class of 2015's first dental school exam, Serah Uddaraju broke the tension by warbling lyrics from "A Whole New World.'' At the podium on convocation day, he belted out the theme song of the Disney blockbuster "Frozen.''
As president of the Class of 2015, Uddaraju was known for his hammy propensity to burst into song and bust some moves whenever he felt the urge, which was often. At a half-time dance-off during a Knicks game this year, he gleefully boogied down to Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop,'' drawing cheers from the crowd, despite a narrow loss to his opponent, a middle-aged mom "who sadly, knew how to work it better than I,'' he admitted.
Uddaraju doesn't plan on changing now that dental school is over and he's about to start his residency at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. As a DMD, he'll undoubtedly keep both his sense of humor and the compassion that served him so well as a student doctor and class president.
Like many RSDM students, Uddaraju was drawn to a career in dentistry because it allows him to combine his artistic skill with his love of science. But he also attributes his career choice to a childhood spent coping with the symptoms of Osteogensis Imperfecta, a congenital bone disease that instilled a deep awareness of his own fragility. An ordinary spill from bike riding or running with friends sometimes resulted in broken bones. "I couldn't play outside like a regular kid,'' he remembers. "In many ways it shaped who I am today.''
As a result, he spent lot of time indoors, drawing, painting and play-acting. Uddaraju also become curious about how the body functions. "All my life, I wanted to know exactly what made me so different form everybody else,'' says Uddaraju, whose symptoms have subsided in adulthood.
A family filled with healthcare professionals influenced his decision to be a dentist. But Uddaraju was sold after shadowing a professional dentist, who taught him the importance of forming relationships with patients and how gratifying it can be. Another experience also changed his life -- a solo hiking trip through Cambodia, Thailand and India. "Before dental school, I was less outgoing, but when you're backpacking by yourself, you have to come out of your shell. You had no choice but to talk to people to learn what you needed to know, so walking up to random people was no longer scary to me.''
It's not hard for Uddaraju to explain why he's excited about starting his career. "It's such a rewarding profession, you're helping people function again,'' he explains. "I had one patient who was missing so many teeth, she couldn't chew food. Over time, I gave her implants and a partial denture and a few days later she came up to me and age me a hug. She said, 'I want to thank you, for the first time in many many years, yesterday, I could finally enjoy a bagel. And tonight, I'm going him and I'm going to have an apple, For me, that's what it's about, not money but making a difference in someone's life."
