5 Questions With ... Dr. Steven W. Friedrichsen
Steven Friedrichsen, D.D.S.
Dean
Western University of Health Sciences College of Dental Medicine
1. What’s a major development in your field that’s flying under the radar?
Artificial Intelligence. Most of us are underestimating the impact it will have on education and practice. Although Artificial Intelligence (AI) is still in the first level of utilization outside dentistry, we can’t afford to overlook the potential impact it will have on us in both arenas.
2. What’s the best career advice you ever received?
The old adage, if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life. I have loved almost everything I have done in my career—almost.
3. If you could change one thing about dental education (or dentistry) with a snap of your fingers, what would that be?
I would make it more affordable and accessible. Not just dentistry by the way. Health care and health care inequities are a formidable challenge for our nation.
4. What’s the ultimate comfort meal for you?
Homemade spaghetti with garlic bread and for dessert, chocolate-cherry cake with a glass of ice-cold milk. I guess I’m still five years old at heart.
5. If you couldn’t be in dental education, what field would you have chosen for a career?
I would likely be an architect. It provides the same inner satisfaction of producing a creative and tangible outcome.