Resident Spotlight: Dr. Miriam Walker, 2019 recipient of Dr. Bessie Delany Scholarship
Pediatric dentistry resident Dr. Miriam Walker feels a sense of connection with Dr. Elizabeth “Bessie” Delany.
Delany was the second African American woman licensed to practice dentistry in New York State as she managed and operated a practice in Harlem for many years. She was also active in civil rights, and openly defied the segregation laws of her time. At the age of 101, she and her sister Sarah “Sadie” Delany co-authored “Having our Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years,” which became a New York Times bestselling book.
“One thing that was really special about [Delany was] that regardless of inflation, of how the trends were going in dentistry—she never increased her fees for those who needed dental work and services the most,” Walker said. “She really gave back to her community.”
“I plan on going back to Tennessee [after residency] and plan on serving the less fortunate, or those who may not have the best access to dental care,” Walker said. “The research I’ve done in the past and do now has a lot to do with helping children who may not have the best access to care…..and that’s why I relate to the missions that Dr. Delany had.”
It is fitting, then, that Walker, a pediatric dentistry resident at the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM), is the 2019 recipient of the Dr. Bessie Delany Scholarship Postdoctoral Award, which she received during the National Dental Association (NDA) convention, held in Washington D.C. in July 2019.
The scholarship is given annually to a female African American dentist who is pursuing an additional degree in an area such as public health, administration, pediatric dentistry, research, or law.
“Congratulations to Dr. Walker for her well-earned scholarship,” said Dean Jeffrey W. Hutter. “I know that I speak for the entire school when I say it is truly wonderful to see a resident like Dr. Walker receiving recognition for her dedication and hard work.”
Walker, who is from Nashville, Tennessee, received her Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) from Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry in Nashville. She chose GSDM for her residency because of the variety of opportunities it offered—and because of its location in Boston, which she called a “city of thinkers.”
“When I came to BU, I felt like it was a place where you could do research, and in so doing, make an impact on the world,” she said. “I felt like BU had the best of what Boston had to offer.”
As a pediatric dentistry resident, Walker has rotated through four different sites, spending time in the patient treatment center at GSDM, Boston Medical Center, a community health center in East Boston, and Franciscan’s Children’s Hospital in Brighton.
“All four sites are very different,” she said. “We really get a wide variety in regards to our experience.”
In addition to her time in the patient treatment center, Walker is working on a research project where she examines the bacteria load in children.
“We have a chair side method of testing streptococcus mutans, which are the bacteria that causes cavities,” she said. “Then we correlate that to their actual decay, missing, filled and treated teeth that they have.”
Walker said that she finds working in pediatric dentistry particularly rewarding because of the difference she gets to make in childrens’ lives.
“The habits you instill on a child, and the experience that a child has while they’re still young, carries….it’s with them for their entire life,” she said. “I felt like if I really wanted to make a difference in how people view oral health, and taking care of their teeth, I felt like I should start young—they’re receptive, they’re very open, they’re very curious….they house the best of what humans have to offer.”