Apple Tree Dental<\/a> as a specialist in public health and special needs and geriatric patients. She also works as a research collaborator with the Mayo Clinic\u2019s departments of dental specialties and health sciences research in Rochester, and holds leadership positions in the American Public Health Association, the American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry, the Mennonite Healthcare Fellowship, and the Center for Sustainable Climate Solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn honor of her achievements and service work, Slashcheva is the 2020 recipient of Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s Outstanding Young Alum award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe times I feel most alive would have to be instances where I am able to work with others to creatively consider a challenge \u2013 clinical, organizational, or personal \u2013 and develop a uniquely-suited solution,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\nLyubov Slashcheva helps a patient during the 2016 Christian Medical and Dental Association Richmond chapter’s annual spring break trip to El Salvador. (Courtesy photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nSlashcheva has always been driven to achieve, achieve early, and achieve across a diverse array of interests. She speaks three languages: English, Russian, and Spanish; plays the flute; holds an amateur radio license; and has won more awards and scholarships than can be listed in this article. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She says her parents \u201chad the confidence that I would work hard and jump through all the hoops\u201d of such a rigorous field as dentistry, despite the fact that most of her female immigrant peers didn\u2019t plan on pursuing education to that extent. Slashcheva came to the U.S. from Kazakhstan with her parents at the age of five \u2013 which she says set her up for a unique perspective on life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPerhaps because of my early experience of being an immigrant \u2013 interpreting for my parents, co-navigating complex adult systems with them, and experiencing their strong work ethic \u2013 each new opportunity has looked more exciting than intimidating,\u201d Slashcheva says. She enrolled at EMU after graduating from Turner Ashby High School at age 16, and finished her undergraduate degree in biology just two and a half years later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After a four-month service term in Latin America, she earned a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, followed by a Master\u2019s in Dental Public Health and a number of graduate certificates from the University of Iowa College of Dentistry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her position at Apple Tree Dental fulfills a service commitment to the National Health Service Corps, which provided a scholarship for her dental training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI hope to continue using my unique training and skill set to address the gaps in oral health for vulnerable populations in whichever local region we reside, as well as on the larger scale professionally,\u201d says Slashcheva.<\/p>\n\n\n\nLyubov with husband Scott. (Courtesy photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n