Dr. Rushin received her undergraduate degree from North Carolina State University in 1988. She worked in biochemical research at the EPA and Brandeis University in Boston for two years. She returned to school in 1990 and graduated from the School of Dentistry at UNC-Chapel Hill in 1994. She has three children. Dr. Rushin received her sedation training at the New York Medical College Department of Oral Surgery. This course was implemented by the American Society for the Advancement of Anesthesia in Dentistry, approved by the Academy of General Dentistry and is given in cooperation with the American Dental Society of Anesthesiology. Since 1997, Dr. Rushin has been specializing in the use of sedation in general dentistry. She is a member of the American Dental Association, the North Carolina Dental Society, and the American Dental Society of Anesthesiology. Dr. Rushin has been appointed Adjunct Assistant in the School of Dentistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill since 2008. She has also donated her time to missions in Honduras and locally with Missions of Mercy.