On May 9, East Carolina University graduated its first class of new dentists from its School of Dental Medicine. Included among those first 50 graduates was Philip Cochran, a Washington native, who is now the most recent addition to Washington dentistry, a place he said he’s always wanted to be.

“It means a lot to me (to be here). This was my goal from the very beginning,” Cochran said Monday.

Monday was his first day at work at Howdy, Howdy and Jones DDS, where he joins a slew of Washington natives who have chosen to practice in their hometown — and coming back home to work actually part of the ECU School of Dental Medicine’s stated mission, Cochran said.

“The mission is to send people back to where they’re from to help people in their communities, especially in rural North Carolina,” Cochran said. “The mission of the school meshed really well with what I wanted to do, so it worked out perfectly.”

Cochran was homeschooled in Washington before enrolling at the Beaufort County Early College High School. He received his first undergraduate degree in chemistry from N.C. State University; his second, in biology, from ECU. In 2011, he became part of the first class for the School of Dental Medicine, serving as class president all four years.

Cochran said he’s cut out for the work because he thrives on not only the mechanical aspect of dentistry, but the social part, as well.

“I love working with my hands, the hand-eye oriented work, but I love the social part too — spending a lot of time talking to the new people,” Cochran said.

And it’s building those relationships that Cochran believes is the most important part of building his career.

“As with any profession, people are always the most important thing,” Cochran said.

Cochran will be practicing family dentistry with Howdy, Howdy & Jones DDS. For more information, or to make an appointment, call 252-946-3355.