Drew Burkhardt joined 19 other high school students from across the region at Hatala Orthodontics for its annual Job Shadow Day on February 4, 2025. He signed up for the opportunity because he became interested in dentistry after he shadowed his uncle, Dr. Eric Ruffo, at Riverside Dental last summer. "That really awakened my interest in dentistry," he shared.
Drew felt that visiting Hatala Orthodontics during their Job Shadow Day would be another great "real-world" learning experience. And he has definite plans to become a dentist; he'll be attending Binghamton University next fall to study biology.
We thank Dr. Pat Scannell and his team at Hatala Orthodontics for opening their doors to Drew and other local students for a behind-the-scenes look at their office. Students got to observe all areas of the practice - patient care, how models are formulated in the lab, and more. Plus, Dr. Pat and other staff shared their educational and work experience career tips.