D23 Jumbo of the Week

Meet this Week’s Jumbo of the Week: Richard Peterson!

Undergraduate Education: University of California, San Diego: Biochemistry and Cell Biology (B.S.) & Study of Religion (B.A.)

Graduate Education: Point Loma Nazarene University: General Biology (M.S.)

Positions of Leadership at TUSDM: D23 Curriculum Chair

Favorite Thing about TUSDM/Why you chose Tufts: I appreciate Tuft’s focus on wellness, whether it be our own wellness as a student or the overall wellness of our patients through the comprehensive care that we provide. I think that focusing on the overall being rather than just compartmentalized aspects is very important for the way we look at education and healthcare in the future. Beyond that, I feel like how I ended up at Tufts was rather preordained. When I first started to consider dentistry back in 2011, I googled “What classes do I need to take to get into dental school” and the Tufts Admissions page was the first link I clinked. Then when I came here to interview, later that day I was walking the freedom trail and bumped into my aunt (also from California) on vacation and we had no idea either of us were here at the same. In a way I feel like I was always supposed to go here.

Fun Fact About yourself/Things involved in outside of School: When I’m not in school I enjoy running. I go running most days of the week, even if it’s cold. I find it to be very meditative. I also enjoy going to breweries to try local beer, and taking slow meandering strolls through used bookstores to see what I can find.

D24 Jumbo of the Week

𝙈𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙠’𝙨 𝙅𝙐𝙈𝘽𝙊 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙠, 𝙄𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙖 𝙁. 𝙆𝙚𝙮𝙨!

Hometown: Long Beach, CA; Jackson, MS; New Orleans, LA

Position of leadership at TUSDM: SNDA D24 Liaison

Favorite thing(s) about Tufts and/or Boston? My favorite thing about Tufts is that we have access to sooooooo many resources. Every time I turn around, I’m learning about another beneficial resource.
My favorite thing about Boston most definitely has to be the architecture. My first time in Boston was in 2014 for a graduation and the one thing that constantly stood out was the interesting architecture.

Fun Fact(s) about yourself and/or hobbies? I love my pup, Opal. She really is the dog version of me. I love, love, love, love running and the outdoors. I also put 3 places as my hometown because I was born in New Orleans then moved to CA, but I literally visited/lived in all three places. I have had the beautiful opportunity to be influenced in all ways by all 3 cities as well.