Dr. Hayley Harvey entered the University of Iowa College of Dentistry in 1990, and as a dental student, she developed her interest in public dental health. After graduating dental school in 1994, Dr. Harvey furthered her studies and received her MS degree in dental public health in 1996. She then returned to her home state of Michigan and practiced dentistry full-time, also serving for three years as both the dental director and as a general dentist for a community healthcare center in Northwest Michigan.
In 1999, Dr. Harvey returned to Iowa to assume the role as the state public health dental director. In 2002, she became the section chief of the Department of Oral Medicine at Broadlawns Medical Center in Des Moines. The Broadlawns Dental Clinic serves an average of 8,600 patients annually, and University of Iowa College of Dentistry senior students rotate through the Center, also providing care.
Dr. Harvey splits her time between teaching students and caring for her patients. She also provides oral care for developmentally disabled patients. She says, “Working at Broadlawns allows me the opportunity to utilize my general and public health dentistry skills in the service of the community I love and live in.
“Coming to Iowa’s College of Dentistry instead of one of the dental schools in my home state of Michigan was the best decision of my life—second to marrying my husband, Matthew, who, incidentally, introduced the idea of coming to Iowa while in graduate school at Michigan State University. My visit to Iowa for the interview was so welcoming that I felt instantly at home. The impact of that singular decision has catapulted both my personal and professional life in an indisputable positive trajectory. “