My Educational
Background
Dr. Jafari attended the University of Massachusetts for his undergraduate education, where he landed on the Dean’s list every semester he was there. He would eventually enroll at the University of Connecticut for dental school. There, he completed two years of medical school and two years of dental school, giving him a unique perspective of the field that many dentists don’t experience. He chose general dentistry because of the freedom it provides to speak with patients consistently and build relationships with individuals and families alike.
During his time at New York Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, Dr. Jafari received the Prosthetic Dentistry Award for outstanding clinical performance and was exposed to many different dental specialties, patients, and complex cases. While he looked up to many teachers, mentors, and other dental professionals, it was Dr. Aaron Brandwein that stood out to him the most. A general dentist as well, he greatly appreciated how he never shied away from anything and was truly a jack of all trades when it came to dentistry. This inspired Dr. Jafari to be the best general dentist he could be, and that’s truly reflected when patients visit him for care.
As someone with parents who grew up in a small town in Iran, he understands that many people don’t grow up with the same resources that you might take for granted. It’s partly why he was raised with such a do–it–yourself attitude, and this has not escaped him as an adult.
During his time in dental school, he and many other students organized a mission trip to Honduras in order to provide care to underserved communities in need of dental care. Through contacts provided and organized by faculty at the school as well as a contact with a local church in the Honduras area, they were able to plan a one–week trip, giving Dr. Jafari his first opportunity to work on real dental patients. Just like how he worked with what they had growing up, he and his colleagues gathered funds, dental tools, technology, and materials to help those who needed it most.
