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Ryelyn Brown, B.S. ’22, D.M.D ’26, grew up in a small hamlet at the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains, knowing she wanted to work in rural healthcare. 

That instinct led Brown to the ����ֱ�� in Biddeford, where the University’s Medical Biology 3+4 Accelerated Dental Track program allowed Brown to earn her undergraduate degree in just three years before pursuing her Doctor of Dental Medicine degree at ����ֱ��’s College of Dental Medicine on ����ֱ��’s Portland Campus for the Health Sciences. 

Now, after graduating on May 16, Brown is first beginning her healthcare career at a more urban Maine practice to allow her to work with mentors who will help her develop into a top-rate dentist. 

Her end goal remains the same, Brown said. She then wants to work at a rural practice in Maine as a lead dentist.

“I always knew I wanted to be a bit more rural. And I think ����ֱ�� just really strengthened that, especially through the fourth-year clinical rotation where they emphasized serving in rural places outside of the campus clinic,” said Brown, of Au Sable Forks, New York, who will start work at Dunstan Dental Center in Scarborough, Maine, this summer.

Growing up in upstate New York, Brown was surrounded by a community grounded in the ethos of giving back and volunteer work. So, it was only natural that she would spend her undergraduate and graduate years participating in volunteer opportunities whenever possible, something that was easy to do at ����ֱ��, where programs that help underserved communities are plentiful.

Brown volunteered at many ����ֱ�� Service-Learning Program events, such as trips to visit and learn from the residents in both the Cumberland County Jail and the Maine Correctional Center in Windham, Maine, populations Brown wanted to learn more about.

As a scholar in the Maine Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Network Scholars program, Brown also conducted hearing screenings at elementary schools, participated in career exploration days at Portland High School, and completed a week-long rural health immersion in Midcoast Maine, spending time in Belfast and Rockland.

"AHEC was an opportunity to learn more about not being the best provider, but being a better human," Brown said. "Most patients remember how you treated them, how you made them feel, the connection that you shared — more than the treatment itself."

Her fourth-year internship brought her this spring to Lincolnville, Maine, also in the Midcoast, where she gave a presentation on oral health for older adults at a local assisted living facility, a fitting capstone project for a student whose research focused on access to care for older adults in rural areas.

Mohamed ElSalhy, Ph.D., associate dean of Academic Affairs in the ����ֱ�� College of Dental Medicine, said Brown’s commitment to public health went far behind the curriculum and clinical rotations required in her dental education.

“Ryelyn approaches patient care with compassion, humility, and a strong understanding that dentistry is about improving lives and strengthening communities, especially for those with limited access to care,” ElSalhy said. “She was consistently involved in community outreach activities and has demonstrated a sincere passion for serving underserved and rural communities.”

While Brown knew since high school that she wanted to work in a rural practice, she said it wasn’t until she explored the many opportunities ����ֱ�� afforded her that she decided she wanted to pursue that calling in Maine. The state’s natural beauty, as well as the need for rural healthcare providers, also spoke to her.

"I just fell in love with it," Brown said of Maine. "There's so much to do here, and even Portland feels small. I can't imagine being anywhere else."