Today we’d like to introduce you to Eunice Chay.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
• My passion for working with immigrants and refugees stems from my own lived experience. I was born and raised in Raleigh, NC, with first-generation immigrant parents. My paternal grandparents fled China during the Cultural Revolution, so the refugee experience is one that is in my own family history. Growing up with immigrant parents, I watched them navigate life in a country, language, and culture that was not their own.
• When I was five years old, my father’s job moved us to Taiwan, where we lived for three years, after which we returned to NC. Living abroad, even as a child, gave me a glimpse of what it’s like to move and adjust to life in a foreign country.
• These experiences of being a third-culture kid really impacted me. As an ethnic minority in NC, I wasn’t quite “American enough”. As an American-born Asian, I wasn’t quite “Asian enough”. Thankfully, my family and my faith helped to anchor my identity.
• In high school, I spent a couple of summers working at my friend’s mom’s dental office, where my mom also worked. It was inspiring to see a woman be a clinician, a business owner, and a mother.
• Fast forward to college, I studied International Relations and was pre-med/dental at Agnes Scott College. During the summer after my first year, I did an internship at the NC Dept of Public Health, Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Branch. I worked on a project that looked at smokeless tobacco use in youth. This experience was my first glimpse into public health and how research, policy, and intervention can affect health on a population level. I also got to see how dentistry went beyond teeth to encompass oral health, which then is connected to overall comprehensive health.
• After college, I worked for several years in various positions, including working as a dental assistant in a private practice office, volunteering at local community health centers, and working as a caseworker at a local non-profit providing social services to immigrants and refugees, particularly, low-income in Atlanta. These experiences were incredibly formative in the trajectory of my career, including giving me my first glimpse into the vibrant community of Clarkston.
• After these years of work experience, I went to dental school knowing I wanted to eventually work in community health. I got a dual degree DMD and MPH at the University of Pennsylvania. The summer after my first year of dental school, I did an internship at a local refugee resettlement agency. Later, I did my MPH thesis on Oral health and nutrition in the refugee community in Philadelphia.
• In 2017, our family had the opportunity to return to Atlanta. I knew I wanted to work with refugee and immigrant communities, but I wasn’t sure how or where. In 2018, after completing a second residency, I was introduced to Dr Esther Kim. She and a group of mission-driven physicians were starting a community health clinic in Clarkston. It seemed like a match made in heaven! From the beginning of Ethne, there was an understanding and vision that comprehensive healthcare, included oral healthcare. However, even then, it took several years to finally open Ethne Dental.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
• There were many personal and professional struggles to get to where I am today. I took four years between college and dental school. I got pregnant during my last year of dental school and had my first child 9 days after graduation. The COVID-19 pandemic put a big pause in…everything.
• In 2018, when Dr Kim and I met, I had just finished my second residency, and I did not feel like I was personally or professionally in a place where I could help start a community health dental clinic. After 4 grueling years of dental school, I had my first child in Philadelphia soon after graduation. (That means, I was pregnant my last year of dental school, during which I was completing both my DMD and MPH.) Then, I went straight into my first hospital-based residency in NJ, and then went straight into my second residency in Atlanta. I needed a moment to catch my breath. Moreover, I had never solely managed a dental clinic, let alone start a clinic. So, although I knew I wanted to end up at Ethne or somewhere like it, I didn’t feel like it was the right time. In truth, I was hoping someone else would take the lead, and I would make a great #2.
• In the next couple of years, I worked at various different offices, including private practice and a safety net clinic, and had my second baby. Even though I wasn’t directly working with Ethne, I was still connected with Ethne and involved in some preliminary planning. And then, COVID-19 pandemic occurred, and all of our priorities shifted to addressing that crisis.
• In 2021, I found myself ready to think about my next steps and reconnected with Ethne. Even though I had hoped someone else would take the lead, it became more and more evident that that person would be me. Over the course of the next two years, it was a slow but steady, one foot in front of the other, kind of progression towards opening Ethne Dental. There were many moments, especially in the beginning, when I felt a lot of doubt and uncertainty, but it was also SO clear to me that the need was so great for affordable, accessible, high value, culturally competent dental care in the refugee and immigrant communities in Clarkston. We worked with Emory and GSU to conduct needs assessment studies. This data combined with the anecdotal evidence the physicians saw in clinic everyday of people with dental care needs made it clear that there was a need for more access to dental care. It is also our deep conviction from our faith belief that compels us to do what we can to help those in need.
• At the time we started planning to open Ethne Dental, GA Medicaid did not include comprehensive dental care for adults. There was a lack of infrastructure to support affordable access to dental care in GA for adults. So, we had to be very creative in our business plan. Ethne was also only 3 years old at that point and still a non-profit, so there were limited resources to start a clinic. But, through the generosity of so many people, churches, organizations, and local dentists and having a great founding team, we were able to renovate and equip three operatories and saw our first patient on Halloween Day 2023. Over the course of the next 1.5 years, we slowly added more clinic hours, clinic days, and staff. In 2025, we renovated and equipped three more operatories, so we now have a total of six operatories with two dental providers and a team of amazing dental staff representing many in our community.
As you know, we’re big fans of Ethne Health Dental. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We are one of less than a handful of dental clinics in our area who accepts Medicaid, especially for adults. For people who do not have dental insurance, we offer an income-based sliding fee discount.
One of the things I am most proud of at Ethne is that we believe in culturally competent care, which means being able to communicate with our patients in their preferred language. We provide interpretation, whether through in-person staff members or through an interpretation service, for all patients who need it. We are also mindful of providing trauma-informed care. Many of our patients have been through extreme trauma, including fleeing war-torn countries. Dental care can very anxiety-inducing, and we work in very intimate spaces with sharp tools and bright lights. We are mindful of treating our patients with dignity and helping them be as comfortable as possible. And, an easy way to do this is to be able to communicate in their preferred language.
I am so proud of my team. Our dental team consists of all refugees and immigrants with language representation that includes Dari, Pashto, Burmese, Karen, and Oromo. In a world that sometimes struggles to seek common ground, I have the privilege of working with a diverse team and experiencing the beauty of what we can do when we bring our unique and diverse perspectives and gifts together to serve a common good.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Find your ‘why’ and let it guide you, especially in the difficult times. For me, it is my faith and the mission and vision of Ethne Health that compels me. It is seeing the needs of those around me and not being able to look away or do nothing. It is the conviction that even if we feel like we have little to offer, we offer what we have for the good of others.
Don’t be afraid to admit you don’t know something or how to do something. It’s OK. We all start somewhere, and we continue to learn. I am still a work in progress. Our clinic is a continuous work in progress. Only when we admit we don’t know something will we 1) have the humility to ask for help and to work towards finding solutions, 2) have the opportunity to work collaboratively with others. Don’t go it alone. Find mentors and leadership development programs and opportunities that will help guide you. Find like-minded colleagues and team members who will labor with you. There’s only so much one person can do, but, together, we can go so much further.
Have courage! Be brave! Put one foot in front of the other. Don’t be overwhelmed with the whole project. Just take it one step at a time, one task at a time.
Enjoy the process. Be thankful. The journey is not easy, but it is so rewarding.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ethnehealth.org
Image Credits
Photo credit: Jim Nguyen
