Dr. Terrence Walker joined Family First Health in August 2015 — seeing patients at our George Street and Hanover centers. He remembers exactly the month when it puts it into context that it was around the time he injured his Achilles tendon playing basketball and needed surgery. Since then, he’s hung up his basketball shorts.
He received his Bachelor of Science from Hampton University. He received his Doctorate of Dental Surgery from Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry. After doing a residency in Tennessee, teaching back at his dental school and doing another residency in Connecticut, Walker decided it was time to come home to York.
Terrence Walker was born and raised here, going to St. Patrick’s, York Catholic and York Suburban for school. It was at Suburban where he discovered his love of dentistry. A high school teacher told them to choose an occupation, shadow someone and do a report. The teacher suggested they choose something they were strong in — and for Walker that was science and art. So Walker decided to shadow his own dentist — Dr. Charles Stein in East York. From there, he knew he wanted to be a dentist.
His favorite part of being a dentist is interacting with patients. “Everyone’s different,” he said. And he works to “connect with patients as people.” It’s been fun along the way when patients come in and say they know his grandparents or aunt. “It’s cool to see how small the unit is,” he said.
When he’s not working in York or Hanover, Terrence Walker loves to travel. Mostly, he goes to Atlanta to see his fiancee (they’re getting married this October). The two met while doing their residencies in Tennessee. They’ll be doing their first big trip together after the wedding, when they head to Aruba for the honeymoon.
He loves comedy —too many comedians to pick, though Chris Tucker and Larry the Cable Guy come to mind (he blames living in the South). When it comes to sports — it’s Penn State football, the Philadelphia Eagles and North Carolina Tar Heels basketball. But he’s a giant Penn State fan.
His favorite food is anything Italian – mainly lasagna and pizza. And then it comes to his favorite dental procedures, he admits it’s got to be the restorative and aesthetic work. There’s just something about seeing the immediate turnaround on a patient’s smile and how that makes them feel.