Dr. VanderWall attended Kalamazoo College, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Health Sciences. He spent a semester doing research at the Dental Research Center of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill where he wrote his Senior Individualized Project (SIP). He furthered his studies at the University of Detroit-Mercy School of Dentistry, receiving his Doctor of Dental Surgery in 1999. He graduated with honors and was inducted into the national dental honor society, Omicron Kappa Upsilon (OKU). He also received the Pierre Fauchard Academy Student Award and was a recipient of the Health Professions Scholarship from the United States Navy.
Dr. VanderWall attended a three-year, post-doctoral orthodontic residency at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, PA where he earned his orthodontic specialty certificate. The Einstein residency was the first fully accredited hospital-based orthodontic program in the United States.