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June 20, 2007

BY KRISTEN WRIGHT, ASSOCIATE EDITOR
photos by Ingrid Williams

It’s summertime again in rural Louisiana. Like clockwork, the drawls sing slower, the tea tastes sweeter, and the mosquitoes merely hang against the hot, soupy air. Welcome to Natchitoches, y’all.

Down here, southern hospitality runs deep. Take 31-year-old Dr. Kimberly Rayford.

“At one time, there were 11 people living in my little two-bedroom townhouse,” she said.

Dr. Rayford, a New Orleans native and one of nine children, moved to Natchitoches in February 2005 to work at Outpatient Medical Centers. She was here when Hurricane Katrina tore through the south.

“We lost everything, along with many others from our community of New Orleans East,” she said. “I have to say that it was a blessing that I lived in Natchitoches at the time. Several of my siblings evacuated to my home during the storm. Of course, they stayed for months, which was fine with me.”

Three of her sisters and a brother moved back to New Orleans and are living in different homes.

“My family is one that is very close,” Dr. Rayford said. “We have the greatest parents one could dream of. My father, Dr. John B. Rayford Sr., is a retired nuclear scientist and physicist. My mother, Mary Ruth Rayford, was a homemaker. She passed away as a result of cancer during my freshman year at Meharry in 1999. My parents had been together 44 years at the time of her death. Unions like theirs are hard to come by these days.

“While we were growing up, they instilled in all of us the importance of an education. School was a top priority.”

Dr. Rayford is the only dentist of the bunch.

“Ever since I was a child,” she said, “I’ve wanted to have a career in the medical field. In college, I discovered that I was interested in dentistry. It allows me to provide a wonderful service to many people in need.”

She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology from Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans and from Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry in Nashville in 2002.

“My most prized accomplishment has got to be my graduation from Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry. It was the proudest moment of my life,” Dr. Rayford said. “The four years during dental school were, without a doubt, hard and challenging. I had lost my mother, and for a while, I did not know how I could do it. I kept my focus and did well. So when I did finish, I felt I had made my mother very proud. I felt like she was smiling down on me.”

The following year, Dr. Rayford participated in a general practice residency program at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

“After that,” she said, “I moved back home to New Orleans and worked as an associate with a local dentist, Dr. Aurelius Archie. I worked with him for approximately one and a half years. Then I moved to Natchitoches and began work at the clinic.”

Dr. Rayford is a member of the National Health Service Corps and participates in a loan-repayment program.

“Because Outpatient Medical Centers is located in a rural area with an underserved population, the National Health Service Corps pays toward my school loans for every year I provide dental service to this community,” she said. “Outpatient Medical Centers is a rural health clinic that provides services including dentistry to the community. There are three locations: Natchitoches, Leesville, and Tallulah. I am a staff dentist at the Natchitoches site.”

The clinic has six fully-equipped operatories.

“Our clinic is one of a kind in the Natchitoches area,” Dr. Rayford said. “We serve many patients throughout the Natchitoches area and the surrounding communities. I, along with our dental director, Dr. Lula Williams, and the dental staff participate in many health fairs throughout the year to promote our clinic and to provide health and dental education to all. We also provide screenings for many of the Head Start programs in the area. We feel very strongly about educating patients at an early age about the importance of oral health. Our clinic is also one of the only Medicaid providers.

“I’m very interested in the DIAGNOdent caries detector, but I have not used it yet. It is a piece of equipment I would like the clinic to consider.”

Dr. Rayford sees herself starting her own practice within three to four years.

“I’m not sure where,” she said. “More than likely, I will go back to my home of New Orleans, or at least close to that area. My other goal is to continue my dental education in cosmetic dentistry. I really want to become more proficient in cosmetic procedures.”

Her advice for women who want to pursue dentistry is to give it your all.

“I say go for it,” she said. “It is a wonderful field that provides great rewards. Women dentists of course tend to be more nurturing and gentle, which are qualities patients love. Dentistry is also very flexible, therefore you can have this career and a family. Women can do anything we put our minds to. Remain focused on your goals, and never give up.”

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