For Brianna Hodak, a fourth-year Doctor of Dental Surgery student from Spring Church, Pennsylvania, a myriad of opportunities to serve others through rural healthcare drew her to West Virginia University. Since enrolling at the university, she has immersed herself in communities across the state and followed her passion for improving access to care.
In recognition of her dedication to service, Hodak was selected as the 2025 West Virginia Rural Health Association Outstanding Rural Health Student. She was nominated by Christie Zachary, program director for student outreach and marketing for the WVU Institute for Community and Rural Health, for her continuous engagement in several of the institute’s student programs from her undergraduate studies at WVU to her pre-doctoral dental education.
“I’d like to thank Christie Zachary for introducing me to all the Institute has to offer,” Hodak said. “She saw potential in me to become a rural health leader.”
“I first wanted to become a dentist when I was three years old, because I always loved going to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned. I became more involved in the idea in middle school when I learned about Operation Smile, a nonprofit that provides free cleft palate surgeries to children around the globe. I was always interested in the service aspect of dentistry, and that was my main motivator,” Hodak said.
She enrolled at WVU for her undergraduate studies in biochemistry in hopes it would increase her chances of being accepted to the School of Dentistry. After shadowing dentists throughout high school and during her undergraduate years, she found a love for the combination of scientific concepts with a hands-on, artistic approach offered by the field of dentistry.
“I am thankful that I did [come to WVU for undergrad] because I had a great experience. Then, when looking into the dental program here, my main interests included the mission of service, the Guatemala mission trip, and the rural rotation program,” she said. “One of the topics I am most passionate about is reducing barriers to healthcare in resource-reduced regions of the world, including Appalachia. During my involvement shadowing and volunteering with these populations I was able to experience the sense of community and the grit the people of West Virginia have.”
Hodak began her participation with the Institute for Community and Rural Health as a sophomore when she was accepted into Rural Undergraduate Shadowing in Healthcare (RUSH), a program that introduces students to rural-health practice. The experience provided her with the opportunity to shadow oral healthcare clinicians at the Minnie Hamilton Health System dental clinic in Grantsville, a community of less than 500 residents.
Since then, she has taken advantage of many other unique opportunities offered by the institute to positively impact underserved communities in the Mountain State. Hodak has served as a member of the leadership team for the Rural Health Interest Group and Project REACH (Rural Education Alliance for Community Health), which focus on advocacy and educational outreach. She has been selected as a West Virginia Area Health Education Centers Rural Community Health Scholar, a two-year experience that includes clinical, didactic and community-based activities, and a Nourish West Virginia Sustainable Food Systems Leadership Fellow, where she was paired with the Greenbrier County Health Alliance. She also participated in the WVU Rural PRO (Professional Readiness Opportunity) Program and completed a substantive community health project through the CARRS Program.
Hodak received extensive hands-on experience during her six-week rural rotation as part of the Doctor of Dental Surgery program, working with Dr. Timothy Thorne (DDS ’88) and Dr. Aimee Keplinger (DDS ’11) in Moorefield.
“I have been able to clearly see the need for dentists in this region of West Virginia. We see an extraordinary number of patients in a day, many of which travel from many hours away,” she said.
“These programs are important for communities because they meet them where they are and provide support in a way that is most beneficial for their own unique community needs. They also give individuals opportunities they normally wouldn’t have because of various barriers they might experience,” Hodak said.
Following graduation in May, Hodak will work with West Virginia Health Right’s Mobile Dental Clinic, providing free dental care to low-income patients in southern West Virginia counties.
