Alumni Profile Q&A: Drs. Amy Kim and Gregg Hyde establish fund to enhance dental care for veterans

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Supporting and expanding dental care for U.S. military veterans is the purpose of a new endowed fund at the School of Dentistry that was created with an initial financial gift from an alumni couple – Drs. Amy Kim (DDS 2001) and Gregg Hyde (DDS 2000) of Seattle, Washington. The Victors for Veterans Fund will support the dental school’s program by that name, which provides dental students with hands-on clinical experiences while delivering much-needed care to veterans at external clinics around Michigan. In a recent interview, the couple discussed why they decided to give back to the dental school, why they chose veterans as a focus of their philanthropy and how they hope fellow alumni and friends of the dental school will be inspired to help grow the fund.

Q:  Gregg is a veteran of the U.S. Army and is Chief of Dentistry and Residency Site Director at the VA Puget Sound medical center in Seattle. Are there other military connections in your families?

Gregg: Both of my grandfathers, my dad and my stepdad served in the military so there was a history of service to follow. I signed up for the Health Professions Scholarship Program in dental school. I served three years in the Army after graduating in 2000, starting with a one-year AEGD Residency at Fort Lewis, Washington, now called Joint Base Lewis-McChord. I then served a year in Seoul, South Korea, at the Yongsan Garrison. It was an excellent experience, treating U.S. active-duty patients, dependent family members and also foreign troops. I returned to Fort Lewis and was deployed to Kuwait in 2003 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  The Army was an excellent training experience in dentistry and exposure to the military and government service.

Amy: My dad was in the Air Force when we lived in South Korea. And after we moved to this country, he served in the Army National Guard. With all of the military connections in our families, we understand about the sacrifices required for military service and that veterans are a really special population.

Q: The language used to establish the new fund cites “the unique oral health needs, lived experiences, and access-to-care challenges many veterans face” and that you “are inspired to help ensure the next generation of dentists is prepared to provide informed, compassionate care to this population.” Can you share a bit more about your inspiration for doing this.

Amy: A big myth about veterans is that their dental care is taken care of. Unfortunately, that is the case in only very specialized circumstances. It is really a shame because they served and they deserve it, but they don’t have access to care. That could change someday, but until then, we have to do whatever we can to help. As our country celebrates its 250th birthday, we felt this was a meaningful way to honor those who have served.

Gregg: Comprehensive VA Dental care is generally only covered for veterans who are considered 100% service connected or disabled from their military service. That applies to only a small segment of veterans. Most other veterans have to seek dental care in the community at their expense or with private insurance. Our interest in starting the Victors For Veterans fund at the dental school was an attempt to help those veterans who are unable to get care at the VA. It also helps to educate dental students on some of the unique issues that the veteran population may have and that the students will be seeing in their dental practices down the road.

Amy:  I’ve been sending information about the fund to family and friends and encouraging them to send it to their friends. People have all sorts of Michigan connections. You don’t have to give a million dollars. Whatever works for you. I hope it will inspire my peers. Most of us are at a point where we are all doing fine financially, thanks to the University of Michigan. Some of my friends are starting to sell their practices or winding down. If they are looking to make gifts, this is a great opportunity.

About Gregg Hyde and Amy Kim
  • After Dr. Hyde finished his military commitment in 2003, the couple returned to the Ann Arbor area. Dr. Hyde was an associate in the South Lyon practice of Drs. Bill and Therese Shortt (both U-M DDS 1987) and he taught two days a week at the dental school in the 3 Green clinic. In 2009, the couple moved to Seattle where Gregg started at the VA Puget Sound as a staff dentist and Residency Site Director. He was promoted to his current position as Chief of Dentistry in 2014. He is part of a large group of general dentists and specialists who care for veterans and educate dental residents.
  • Dr. Kim is a Clinical Associate Professor in Restorative Dentistry at the University of Washington in Seattle. She holds several administrative positions: Assistant Dean for Community and Educational Programs; Director of the Office of Educational Partnerships; Executive Director of the Advanced Education in General Dentistry program; and Faculty Director for Continuing Dental Education. She also is a Consulting Clinical Research Administrator for several projects being directed by Will Giannobile, the dean of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine and a former U-M dental school faculty member. Their research connection dates to 2003 when she assisted Giannobile when he started the Michigan Center for Oral Health Research during his time at U-M. While Dr. Kim has practiced and taught clinical dentistry occasionally since graduating in 2001, most of her career has focused on research and educational programs. Her research experience includes work at the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Institute and for a pharmaceutical company while the couple lived in South Korea for Dr. Hyde’s military service.
  • During dental school, Gregg and Amy lived in the Delta Sigma Delta dental fraternity house but didn’t become friends until Gregg talked Amy into being one of his patients for a teeth cleaning. They married in 2001 after she graduated and before they left for his military assignment in South Korea. They have two children: Their daughter Hana is a junior at Northwestern University majoring in environmental studies and sociology on her way to law school; their son Jack, still in high school, hopes to be admitted to U-M for undergraduate studies and had a research internship with a dental school faculty member this summer.

Q: Not everyone remains close or contributes financially to their alma mater.  Why have you?

Gregg: I think the four years at Michigan were the most fun, challenging, memorable and formative years that I’ve had in my life.  It gave me my career, my friendships and my family.
We had a number of exceptional mentors at Michigan who exemplified a dedication to the dental education and dentistry in general. They were truly the leaders and best. Drs. Don and Ron Heys in the clinics really shaped and set an example for how we approached clinical dentistry and patient care. And I met lifelong friends in dental school, a great group of guys from the Class of 2000 – Ted Fornetti, Kai Maulding, Mykle Jacobs, Nathan Makay, and John Heys. We started an annual ski trip during dental school and it has been going for 25 years and we have added in an occasional golf trip as well.

Amy: It wasn’t intentional to stay close to the dental school, but because I’ve been in research in academics, it was just a very natural evolution, meeting Michigan people at conferences and developing contacts around the country. Will Giannobile and I always say that “all roads lead to Michigan” when it comes to dentistry and dental research. Also, I’m inspired by the current students I have at the University of Washington. They want to come with me on a Saturday, on their free time on a weekend, to do dental screening with migrant worker families. It’s inspirational as a teacher and an educator. And when I think back on my time as a dental student, I was kind of a brat. I had this sort of entitled approach where I thought: “I don’t need to know all of this. I just need to know how to fix teeth.” But the faculty were really teaching me so much more than that – life skills and the whole head and neck connection. I think I just didn’t appreciate it and didn’t know how much this was going to benefit me. So now I feel like I want to give back and I’m glad I came around to the realization that I wouldn’t be here, I wouldn’t have any of this career, I wouldn’t be where I am, if not for my school. We knew we wanted to give back. We feel really fortunate to be at a point in our lives where we can do that. There are lots of good causes out there, but if we were going to give back to anyone or anything, it would be Michigan. As we talked more about ‘what is our cause, who do we want to help,’ we narrowed it down to our dental school. And then we talked with the development office about the needs of the school. We wanted to make sure that however we give, it truly benefits the school and the students. And now, also veterans.

To support the Drs. Amy and Gregg Hyde Victors for Veterans Fund , make an online gift here. For more information on ways to give and matching opportunities, contact gifts officer Kelly Jones in the Alumni and Development Office at [email protected]. General information about giving to the School of Dentistry can be found on the Alumni and Development website here. 

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The University of Michigan School of Dentistry is one of the nation’s leading dental schools engaged in oral healthcare education, research, patient care and community service.  General dental care clinics and specialty clinics providing advanced treatment enable the school to offer dental services and programs to patients throughout Michigan.  Classroom and clinic instruction prepare future dentists, dental specialists and dental hygienists for practice in private offices, hospitals, academia and public agencies.  Research seeks to discover and apply new knowledge that can help patients worldwide.  For more information about the School of Dentistry, visit us on the Web at: www.dent.umich.edu.  Email: [email protected], or (734) 615-1971.