Allen County needs dentists. Recent graduates of University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry have a lot of debt, and need jobs. Allen County, meet Arthur Unruh.
Unruh, a 26-year-old Hesston native, became one of Allen County’s newest health professionals when he began his career as dentist in July at the Community Health Center, 1408 East St.
Unruh’s decision to come to Iola was in part a result of the National Health Service Corps, which offers a tax-free student loan repayment program for health professionals who opt to work in underserved areas .
“Most of Kansas is underserved in health care, but in southeast Kansas, we have a particular shortage of dental professionals,” said Krista Postai, executive director of Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas, based in Pittsburg. “Having that ability to help new professionals with their loans is a great benefit to us. If you can have a little bit of an edge, it’s a win-win.”
Unruh admits the odds of he and his wife Jennifer ending up in Iola without the program were slim but now that he’s here, he knows it was the right choice.
“I knew I wanted to take advantage of the program so that kind of limited me to a few different cities, but Iola is a really nice small town, and I knew I wanted to stay in Kansas,” he said. “And the public health center is a really nice facility and the location puts us in a decent range of our family and our friends.”
Postai said there’s no shame in taking advantage of the program, especially for recent graduates.
“The loans young professionals have when they get out of school are huge,” she said. “The last thing they need is to turn around and sign their whole check over.”
Though the loan repayment plan is a nice perk, the real reward, Unruh said, is knowing he’s working in a place that truly needs him.
“The loaner payment was my incentive to come out here, but if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to see the patients I see, so I wouldn’t be able to help some of those people that don’t have a lot of money,” he said. “We don’t turn anyone away, so it’s a good service for everybody.”
The health center shares the same building with The Family Physicians and Iola Pharmacy’s drive-through. Unruh said the the staffs of those two businesses have made his entry to Iola even more enjoyable.
Working through Pittsburg’s CHCSEK system also has benefits.
“They’ve been really supportive of me … and it’s nice because I can just focus on the dentistry and I don’t have to worry about running an office, hiring and firing and dealing with budgets,” he said. “It’s just dentistry.”
Postai said the East Street facility suits new professionals well.
“It’s a well-equipped practice because the REACH Foundation and the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City helped create that clinic. It’s a perfect environment for a new dentist who wants to give back to the community,” she said.
Unruh said 75 percent of his time is dedicated to pulling and filling teeth.
Dentistry is a worthwhile profession, Unruh said, because it is a results-oriented and it keeps his hands occupied.
“One of the things I like about dentistry is it’s hands on and it’s very directional,” he said. “There’s a problem and you solve it.”
Unruh said he and his wife of 14 months are settling in nicely to the area, renting a home just east of Iola and finding their favorite places to eat.
“I lied to myself when I first got here. I said I was going to make food at home a lot,” he said. “That hasn’t worked so we go out to eat a lot.”
Jennifer is a 2004 graduate of Kansas State University and works in advertersing B&W Trailer Hitches.
The couple say they are happy to be in Iola and eager to get to better know the community.
“We’re slowly socializing,” Unruh said. “Another nice thing about dentistry is meeting and interacting with a lot of people.”
Young dentist finds fit in Allen County
