A mother of three, Osiolelume Uloko DDS ’26 crossed continents and oceans to earn her American DDS degree through Ostrow’s ASPID program. 

OSIOLELUME ULOKO HAD FELT THIS BEFORE. Not because of palm trees or an urban skyline looming in the distance, but because of the way a university could wrap itself around a community and pull everyone toward a common purpose.

She grew up with that feeling in Benin City, Nigeria, known as a prominent education hub, where her father was a professor of kinesiology and her mother worked in the Ministry of Education. Achievement was not an aspiration in her household. It was simply in the air.

So when Uloko arrived at USC for her ASPID entrance bench exam in 2024, something clicked into place.

“Though it was far from home, the community felt familiar and centered around academic success,” Uloko says.

Every Step Led Here

Uloko earned her dental degree from the University of Benin in 2010, then spent nearly a decade providing dental care as a civilian staff member within the Nigerian Army hospital system before relocating to Canada in January 2019.

There, she worked as a treatment coordinator and office manager, building toward the next chapter.

That chapter arrived in April 2024, when she was accepted into Ostrow’s Advanced Standing Program for International Dentists (ASPID) and moved to Los Angeles with her husband, Thompson, and their three children: 8-year-old boy-girl twins and a son who turns 5 in June.

“The whole family had to make sacrifices for me to attend this program,” she says.

A Partner in Every Sense

Through long nights and rigorous coursework, Uloko’s spouse, Thompson, held down the home front.

“He has been the wind beneath my wings,” Uloko says. “He stepped in to take care of the kids on nights when I had to stay late for night clinics. He bridged that gap for me.”

Even so, she never let the role of student eclipse her role as mother.

“When you come home, you’re a mom first,” she says. “I had to be present for my kids and family life. Then, after all was said and done at night, I continued with my schoolwork.”

Preparation Meets Purpose

With three dental licensing exams under her belt, Uloko is now board certified in Nigeria, Canada and the United States. She credits much of her recent success to the hands-on mentorship from Ostrow faculty.

“They’re not just teaching you from a textbook point of view,” she says. “They’re teaching you from cases and experiences they’ve also encountered.”

A rotation at the Union Rescue Mission, working alongside Drs. Melina Minassian Grigorian, Mehdi Mohammadi and Kathy Elizondo, gave her career a new dimension. Guided by faculty members whose commitment to service matched their clinical expertise, she found a purpose that extended well beyond the clinic walls.

“I hope to one day open my own dental practice,” she says, “but this experience solidified that community care will always be part of what I do, wherever I am.”

The Trojan Dental Family Way

Ask Uloko what she will miss most about Ostrow and her answer comes quickly: her classmates.

When stress ran high, the cohort found ways to ease the pressure together, gathering on and off campus to study or check in.

“They are the family I didn’t know I was going to get,” she says. “There was always someone willing to help or listen.”

At Commencement, the classmates and faculty who carried her through will finally get to meet the family that made it all possible, Thompson and their three children cheering from the crowd.

Her message to international dentists considering the leap is simple.

“It is worth your time and growth,” she says. “It now feels like a short sacrifice for a long, confident career ahead.”

Ostrow’s Commencement Ceremony will take place, Friday, May 15 at 4:30 p.m. at the USC Village Great Lawn. Visit our Commencement webpage for more information.