Antoine Skaff started his life in a way that not many people can relate to, from escaping war and heading to Canada at age 16 to switching careers at a pivotal moment of his life. We spoke with Antoine Skaff to discuss his life journey as well as the decisions that brought him into the field of dentistry.
“My professional career started in 1977 in Civil Engineering at the University of Ottawa, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada,” says Antoine Skaff. At the University of Ottawa, Skaff was in their engineering program for two years before life put him on a new track.
When he was in his 2nd year, Skaff unfortunately fell ill which forced him to miss some time of his engineering education. Faced with a difficult decision, Antoine Skaff says, “Rather than repeating my third year in Ottawa, I applied and was accepted at West Virginia Institute of Technology in Montgomery West Virginia. And all the credits I earned were transferred.”
This unknowingly started a chain reaction of events that would build up his life in ways he never imagined. “I took many credits every semester, and I was on the Dean’s list every semester, and I graduated in May 1982 with a high-grade point average,” says Antoine Skaff. During his time in West Virginia, he also met his wife and got married. During the time that his wife was studying in medical school, he completed a Masters in civil Engineering in Morgantown, West Virginia. He then began working for the Department of Highways in Charleston, West Virginia.
During his time at the Department of Highways, Antoine Skaff lived away from his wife who was at medical school in Morgantown, West Virginia. The difficulty of being so far away from his wife prompted a sudden and drastic career change for Antoine Skaff. His wife tried to convince him to pursue a career in medicine and join her at the Medical school, however, Antoine Skaff had another idea.
“I looked up and called the dental school in Morgantown, West Virginia, and inquired about their dental program. The lady on the other end, offered to send me an application,” says Antoine Skaff.
They accepted him with recognition of his high achievements, on the condition that he complete some basic science courses as well as the Dental Admissions Test before beginning his first year. He then graduated from Dental school in 1989.
By the time Antoine Skaff had completed his Dental school education, his wife had been placed in Florida for her residency. To be closer to her, he moved there, and while working there he found out he had passed his examinations and received a position in Florida working for a dental clinic. Once again his life changed when they moved back to West Virginia so that he and his wife could be closer to his mother-in-law.
This change in his life created a new career addition, which was in developing buildings. This started with his first practice. Antoine Skaff says, “It was hard to find a dental position in Charleston, so I decided to buy a very old dental practice. Located in Nitro, West Virginia.”
Through that, they were able to develop a few more buildings and build an even better dental practice. “My wife and I started by buying a lot, which is six blocks away from our house. And we started building a multi-office building (six) office buildings in Charleston, West Virginia. And I had my practice there,” says Antoine Skaff.
This is how Antoine Skaff went from an engineer to a dentist with his practice. When asked what he learned from all his experiences and whether he had any advice for students, Antoine Skaff says, “Do not jump from one major to another. Jumping majors is a waste of time, you should set your goals. Find something you like and try to accomplish it. Do not quit and if you fail, try again and keep on trying until you achieve your goals.”
