Covenant Scholar’s dentistry path leads back to rural service
The program’s work-study jobs fostered Dr. Segovia-Chumbez’s relationships and science interests.
In the second grade, “Brunito” (as his mother called him) Segovia-Chumbez picked blueberries with migrant farm workers in Bladen County so he could make enough money to buy a new game.
He earned $15 that day and a gained new respect for the migrant workers who were supporting their families. Both his parents also worked with these families. As part of his state education job, his father, Augusto Segovia, convinced them to send their children to local schools. His mother, Maria Segovia, taught English as a second language in area public schools for 34 years.
“I made friends with some of the migrant families. They would invite us for lunches, get-togethers,” he said.
Now a dentist, Dr. Bruno Segovia-Chumbez ’15, ’24 (DDS) will return to his rural roots next year to provide dental care in underserved areas.
Segovia-Chumbez’s path to dentistry began with the Carolina Covenant, which allowed him to graduate from UNC-Chapel Hill debt-free. It continued with a National Health Services Corps Scholarship, which paid his dental school tuition and fees in exchange for his commitment to provide dental care in underserved areas after graduation.
A path to Carolina
The youngest of four children, Segovia-Chumbez grew up in rural Pender County. His family had moved to North Carolina from Peru before he was born because his father, a member of Peru’s national police, faced possible execution by communist terrorists.
When his father visited the UNC dental school for treatment, middle-schooler Bruno tagged along.
“I had never been to Franklin Street before or been to any basketball or football games. The first time at UNC was the dental school,” Segovia-Chumbez said.
A few years later, he began applying to colleges.
“We didn’t know how financial aid worked. To play it safe, I applied to public schools across North Carolina because I didn’t want to burden my parents financially,” he said. After he accepted Carolina’s offer of admission, a high school counselor told him that he was a Carolina Covenant recipient.
Creating connections
The Covenant’s required work-study jobs helped keep Segovia-Chumbez on the path to dental school. For two years, he staffed the UNC Writing Center’s front desk and met students from all backgrounds. During his junior and senior years, he worked in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health’s biospecimen processing facility.
“Work-study really helped. I met people that I’m still friends with. It’s had a lasting effect. My initial impressions of work-study were, ‘All right, I’ll go to work, then do important things like studying.’ I didn’t realize I would keep those connections and relationships,” he said.
After earning his bachelor’s degree and with dental school as his goal, Segovia-Chumbez looked for ways to strengthen his academic record. He earned a master’s degree in physiology from NC State and studied for the dental admissions test. Then he worked for two years in the virology lab of Aravinda de Silva in the UNC School of Medicine.
With that solid academic and research background, he enrolled in the UNC Adams School of Dentistry in August 2020.
In summer 2025, he’ll finish his residency at UNC Hospitals, providing dental care in an operating room setting for patients who cannot receive care in a standard dental chair. He will then work at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Durham before receiving his National Health Service scholar assignment.
