Last week we had our white coat fitting for our upcoming
ceremony in June. As I stood in line with my classmates preparing to try on my
coat and deciding how I wanted my name to appear on it (to include my middle
name or not to include my middle name), I began to reflect on my last two years
in dental school. It seems like just yesterday when I received my acceptance
letter and made the biggest decision of my life to move half-way across the
country, away from all my friends and family, to attend the University of
Washington School of Dentistry. In that time, I have been through a
lot…Countless long lectures in freezing cold classrooms, waxing, drilling my
first tooth (and then many, many more), studying for the NBDE I, passing the
NBDE I, long nights in the lab working on Fixed Prosth projects, working on my
very first patient, and much more. I remember so many times doubting myself and
wondering whether this is really the right profession for me. I remember
doubting my abilities when I became frustrated in lab. However, I also look
back and remember how terrible my first wax up was and how sloppy my first
composite insertion was. Now, I can proudly say that with each challenge I may
have experienced along my dental school journey, I have overcome each of them
and have even surprised myself along the way. Every student in dental school
experiences challenges, but with time and constant practice (even if it does
mean staying in lab after class and on the weekends), those challenges will
become easy things that you can do quickly and easily every day. They may even
start becoming fun!! I always feel a little intimidated starting a new class or
doing a new procedure for the first time, but in these last two years, I have
gained a tremendous amount of knowledge and skill that I didn’t have walking
in. With the end of second year in sight and our white coat ceremony in just a
few months, I am very excited to put all of my hard work to good use and
treating actual patients! I know that there will be more challenges as I
transition into the clinic, but I hope to learn a lot in my last half of dental
school and to move on to private practice as a competent and confident dentist.