While most twelve-year-olds are preoccupied with playing computer games or hanging out with their friends, Dr. Cameron D. Lewis, a traveling oral surgeon in Connecticut and New York, was a bit different. He had a dream to be a doctor, so he pressed toward his goal throughout middle and high school. Despite his passion, he was undecided what type of doctor he wanted to be until his sophomore year in college. At age nineteen, a trip to Africa changed his life forever. 

“I was in South Africa in Johannesburg in 2001,” Dr. Lewis remembers. “That was a turbulent year for the nation, as there were a lot of racial tensions, unfortunately, and violence was not uncommon. The economy was also pretty bad, leading to more poverty. As I was interested in being a doctor, I spent time exploring the packed emergency rooms, examining patients who were waiting for treatment. It made a huge impression on me that they had to wait for so long to be seen by someone.” 

Dr. Lewis says that one night, he was standing off to the side in the ER, watching people hold their mouths because they were suffering from pain. “In that hospital, there was only one dentist that came to help for just six hours, one day a week. Can you imagine? People were being turned away simply because they didn’t have enough doctors to see them.” 

When a nineteen-year-old Cameron heard that, he knew he wanted to specialize in oral maxillofacial surgery. “I couldn’t help the patients in front of me, unfortunately, but when I got out of school, I was going to use my life to help those in need.” 

Upon returning to the United States, he got to work on his dream, devoting himself to his schoolwork and learning everything he could, especially in his biology and chemistry classes. 

At Xavier University in New Orleans, Dr. Lewis served as a member of the Howard Hughes Biomedical Honor Corps, through which he advanced his medical knowledge before graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. 

“By far the most useful experience I had was when I attended the National Youth Leadership Forum in Medicine in South Africa,” he says. “It really enlightened me because I was exposed to deprivation in healthcare and dentistry across the country. That’s something you don’t forget, especially when you know that your own knowledge and skills can help to alleviate it.” 

While school was far from easy, Dr. Lewis persevered, and in June 2007, he received his Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) from Howard University College of Dentistry, where he was awarded the Omicron Kappa Upsilon Kramer of Excellence Award during his junior year. He then served his residency in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at New York Medical College. 

“This was one of the most pivotal times of my life because in May 2013, I went on a humanitarian mission to the Dominican Republic to give service to cleft lip and palate patients,” Dr. Lewis says. “It was absolutely humbling. It had been a few years since I had walked through those emergency rooms in South Africa. Back then, I couldn’t help, but when I was in the Dominican Republic, I had the skills to treat patients. I will never be able to express what it felt like to help people who were so profoundly grateful.” 

Back in the United States, after graduating from New York Medical College in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Dr. Lewis faced a decision: what would he do with his professional life? 

“It was an easy decision,” he believes. “After helping so many people have access to healthcare, I had to keep doing it here in the United States. There are just too many patients who need assistance but can’t find it, so I started my corporation, Cameron Lewis LLC in 2014. I have been traveling to twenty offices across New York and Connecticut ever since, helping patients to have oral surgery at their general dentist’s office.” 

While his skills are the result of his hard work in college, he says that central to his success has been his open-minded personality. “A lot of oral surgeons operate out of their own practices or at least don’t travel as widely as I do,” Dr. Lewis states. “It’s a challenge to adapt to the specifications of different practices, but I have a flexible attitude and fit right in.” 

No matter whether he is working in a small town in New York or a major city in Connecticut, Dr. Lewis concentrates on radiating positivity. “I try to influence other people to reach their own greatness,” he reflects. “The patients I treat are at low points in their lives, and I try to help them through my skills as well as my positive mindset. I want them to find their own potential and achieve it.” 

His faith, he believes, has helped him through very difficult situations. “Sometimes I have hit a bumpy part of my business, or maybe it’s been a patient whose story really touched my heart,” Dr. Lewis says. “Either way, I have had to rely on my faith to keep me going at times. I also have an incredible team that supports me and makes our practice the success it is today. We work together, get along, and appreciate each other like family.” 

While his work as an oral surgeon takes much of his attention, Dr. Lewis has enjoyed taking on other projects, including the September 2017 film he executive-produced, A Question of Faith, which was released in theaters worldwide. 

“That was very special for me,” Dr. Lewis says. “I believe so strongly in faith, so it was a labor of love, so to speak, to executive produce this film. I am very happy that it did so well.” 

In July 2018, Dr. Lewis joined a committee to give back to the Mississippi Gulf Coast Autism Awareness. “I wanted more families with children with autism to receive primary healthcare and training so that they could live more fulfilling lives,” he says. “There are so many people in our own backyards who just need a little extra help.” 

As Dr. Lewis brings his oral surgery corporation to more towns in New York and Connecticut this summer, he plans to continue his legacy of giving back to the community. “I prioritize uplifting, encouraging, and empowering every person I meet, young or old, to persevere until they achieve their dreams,” he says. “Your dreams are well alive. You just have to believe it and go after them.”