Featured Testimonial About Creighton University
It's what I wanted after dental school, to go pedal to the metal in service of others. It's been amazing.
On his first day of a rotation at a public health clinic in a 5,000-person town in northwest Nebraska, alumnus Jared Hansen was approached by the dentist who had served the rural community for years.
“I remember him saying, ‘We need to talk,’” said Hansen, who was then a Creighton University School of Dentistry student still undecided about his first career move.
Turns out, there was a job opening in a town about 90 minutes away.
And Dr. James Hadden had made a rather quick evaluation of Hansen that ultimately proved to be accurate: Hansen was perfectly suited for this small-town gig.
That’s how Hansen, DDS'24, ended up in western Nebraska, where he lives with his family in Scottsbluff and works as a general dentist for the Community Action Health Network. The nonprofit clinic is part of a national network that provides discounted care to underserved patients and families.
“I'm originally from Salt Lake City, but I knew pretty early on that I would be willing to go anywhere if it meant I could help people,” Hansen said. “And in my fourth year (at Creighton), I was ready to get to work. I was like, ‘Let’s go!’ So, I’m grateful to Creighton for opening doors for me professionally but also helping me gain confidence in my skills and prepare me for success.”
Hansen’s early professional path is one of many examples of the School of Dentistry’s commitment to expanding learning opportunities for students while helping the state’s rural communities access necessary oral healthcare.
In June, the School of Dentistry announced $4.625 million in Rural Health Transformation Grant funding over the next five years to strengthen rural healthcare initiatives across Nebraska — that includes opportunities like Hansen experienced, when he completed a clinical rotation in Chadron, Neb.
Creighton has also partnered with the State of Nebraska for the last decade to award a Rural Scholarship to select students, including Hansen, who choose to spend five years after graduation working in rural areas to fill a healthcare need. In 2026, Creighton will award the 10th and final scholarship to a student recipient as part of the program.
About two-thirds of rural communities don’t have adequate access to dentists, according to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control. A study released by the Centers for Disease Control earlier this year stated that Nebraska hospital emergency rooms see an average of nearly 8,000 visits annually for non-traumatic dental conditions (care that could be provided at a dentist’s office).
“I’ve been fortunate in this job because it’s exactly what I envisioned,” Hansen said. “My schedule is packed, and I’m running around, seeing different patients and doing different things each day. It’s what I wanted after dental school, to go pedal to the metal in service of others. It’s been amazing.”
For years, Creighton’s School of Dentistry has been committed to offering opportunities that expand professional possibilities for students. Some might start school with a passion for providing community-based care in areas that lack adequate access to it. Some recognize it over time.
It’s just that recently, the need for care in rural areas has increased. And Creighton is responding.
Jory Crouch, DDS’19, was still in school at Creighton when an opportunity arose to take over a practice in his hometown, Grand Island, Neb. He wasn’t sure. But word began to spread among Creighton faculty that he was considering starting his dental career in central Nebraska.
Crouch was soon called into a meeting with the Dean of Creighton’s School of Dentistry. He remembers feeling like a kid walking into the principal’s office.
But he wasn’t in trouble. It was the opposite.
That day, Crouch learned he was eligible for financial resources (Creighton’s Rural Scholarship) that would help him achieve his professional goals. He was floored.
“Creighton gives students all the experience we need to immediately step into the field and care for patients in need,” said Crouch, who now owns Trail View Dental in Grand Island. “I am incredibly grateful for the education I received and the support that’s helped me in my career.”
A little over an hour’s drive to the northeast, in Columbus, Neb., is another Creighton alum doing similar work.
Abby Beckwith, DDS’23, actually found Dental Innovations with a Google search. The practice wasn’t interviewing for a new dentist when she reached out, but it didn’t take long before its growing patient list demanded an additional set of hands.
“It’s incredible because we do no marketing or advertising, aside from supporting community events and donating money to local causes, but we’re overflowing with patients in need of care,” Beckwith said.
You really do feel like you’re making a difference for people in the community.
— Abby Beckwith, DDS’23
That’s why this career path appealed to Beckwith.
She was a soybean trader with an agricultural economics background, but she wanted to do more to help people. So, she pivoted. She enrolled in Creighton’s dental school and found her calling.
She discovered, too, the kind of dentist she wanted to become.
“Not only were we taught about caring for the whole person, but as students at Creighton, we were cared for in a very wholesome way,” Beckwith said. “That approach stuck with me, and it shaped me as a dentist and as a person.”
Beckwith took one of her clinical rotations in Albion (the town where she now lives) through Creighton's Extramural Education Program, which started in 2008 and sends fourth-year dental students to federally qualified health centers, tribal dental clinics and rural private practices.
While there, Beckwith got a glimpse of the healthcare challenges facing rural communities. She also learned from fellow Creighton alumna Kate Kusek, BS’07, DDS’11, who took over her hometown practice in 2015.
So, when Beckwith started dating her now-husband, Beau, and he revealed his long-term plan to move to a small town, she was 100% on board. After graduation, they moved with their two kids to a farm in central Nebraska.
Beckwith drives 45 minutes to work each day, and she’s enjoying every minute of it.
“There’s just something about living and working in a small town, where the community aspect is so huge,” Beckwith said. “Maybe because there’s not much around us, but we spend a lot of time socializing together and supporting each other. It’s really special. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
