DrStudentDentist

I think this vacation is making me soft. So, in my attempt to get back into the dentistry mindset, I found this depressing little article “Who Would Ever Go Into Dentistry“. It’s got all sorts of nuggets of motivation perfect for me to feel like I’ve made the right career choice to throw my heart and soul into for my short stay on this planet.

She starts off with,

The joy of changing a person`s life by creating a beautiful, healthy smile is one of the intangible rewards of being a dentist that can`t be measured.

But then goes onto,

Anyone who thinks dentistry is not physically taxing is greatly mistaken. While the fatigue that comes from a day of physical labor generally can be overcome by a good night`s sleep, the fatigue that arises from the mental and physical stress of producing dentistry seems to be cumulative. Carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic back problems, and hypertension abound with dentists. Some days, you feel as if you are swimming against the current all day.

Awesome.

Some people have a very limited “opening” capacity; some have tongues the size of car hoods …

Ah, the lovely use of metaphor.

The depression deepens

You’re a positive one, Mr. Grinch.

Could you imagine her as dean of a dental school? She’d give some awesome speeches. “I know you guys have all heard the rumors about dentists and suicide rate because well, it’s true. Every. Single. Word of it. And I’m not trying to depress you guys but you should really be depressed already because well, you know, some patients have tongues the size of car hoods and if that isn’t enough to scare you then how about carpal tunnel? or back problems and add hypertension to your soup of possible crippling ailments that’ll befoul you. There! But don’t let that scare you now.”

But then she’s like, “Enough! Enough” and has this Dr. Thibodeau bring in a possible ray of hope for the profession.

As a private-practice dentist, assuming you have not entered into any indentured servitude contracts with some insurance behemoth …

Okay, don’t sign any papers with those wily insurance companies. They don’t really love me. They just love my hands of gold and dental license. Got it.

You decide whether to be a nice person or an SOB.

This one I like. Alright, I pick B! B! Latter, please. Thank the heavens I chose dentistry.

I think the article was meant to inspire but I’m not really getting that from it. Fortunately, I’m going to a beautiful dental school with good lunches and big chocolate chip cookies, where the sim lab is gorgeous and the students are happy. I get to live in San Francisco and, and, and there’s a chocolate waterfall surrounded by giant marshmallows in the main lobby. Okay, so that last one is a fabrication but whatever, it’s keeping my dream of going to the perfect dental school alive. Alright, I’m going to get a head start on the carpal tunnel and hypertension - even before dental school! I ooze dedication.

34 more days and counting!

Oh and seems the 1st years were assigned their little sibs. It’s their last week as 1st years as well. I’m excited for them! I’m curious to see who I was assigned to. Hopefully it’s someone easy going and down to earth. I made some silly comment on my preference form in the additional comments section about wanting someone with a sense of humor and proceeded to display my own sense of humor by ending it with: Thank you Match.com Big Bro/Big Sis Coordinators. Hilarious, I know. Then I failed to specify whether I wanted a guy or a girl because I was supposed to get back to that but never did and then left out my phone number so to avoid any chance of clarification. So it’s going to be a surprise. Well, gender isn’t important so long as they’re healthy. Right?

Dental school starts in a month! O em gee. There isn’t much going on for school. Some of the first years have put together and mailed out a welcome manual. It’s all spiral bound with pictures and detailed descriptions of everything from administrative boring stuff to what to do around town. They even have a hand drawn map with local eateries. The whole thing is very professional looking and super cool.

The financial aid office (love them. seriously.) has been working to get us our aid information. They’ve accommodated me and my ever changing mind without any hint of exasperation on their voices. As far as hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt, well, I’m not without hesitation to sign my way into so much of it but I know it looks and sounds scarier than it really will be when I graduate. I’m not religious, but I guess what I feel likens to what Christians like to say “God will provide”.

Since I last wrote, I’ve moved into my apartment which is about a mile from school. I’m giving up my car and plan on commuting by bike. I’ve found myself a beautiful fixed gear on craigslist. It’s my first fixie and having taken it out for a spin to get used to the constant peddling, I’m excited to give it a try on the hills of Frisco - not on California Avenue though; I don’t think my knees would love me if I did. Anyone I’ve told this plan to has given me the disapproving, sucks-to-be-you looks but well, I’ll see if it really sucks to be me in a month. And I suppose even if it does, I’d be too proud to say anything anyways.

I don’t have internet access and I’m leaning towards not getting it as it’ll cost close to $50 every month. That and I won’t really get to use it since I’ll be in the dental school building except when I go home to sleep. I think that’s an expense I can spare at the moment. Nothing but emails and my social life on the web anyways and I know that’s going out of the window when school starts; I exaggerate, of course.

I have yet to furnish my apartment. I currently sleep on an aerobed and all my worldly possessions are lying on my floor except my new bike. That gets a nice spot in the hallway, with the six pairs of shoes I never wear but have out for show. This isn’t quite the way I envisioned finally living on my own but well, it’s only been a week.

Other than that, I’m incredibly grateful to have a place to live in SF. I’ve spent the past few months reflecting without the stresses of school looming over my head and I can’t help but think how fortunate I am to have a roof over my head and the opportunity to chase my dreams and accomplish my goals. And sometimes, as scary as it have to have school start, I’m excited for this new chapter in my life to begin. No rush though.

About three weeks ago, I planned a spontaneous trip to Germany and Austria. With the start of school a few months away, I knew there wasn’t going to be a better time than this summer. It would be the first time I traveled alone to a foreign country and now that I’m back, I can tell you it was awesome! I have to agree with the advice given by others before me that traveling will change your views on life. Being the super nerd I am, I’ve read books and watched shows about travel and it wasn’t until a good friend chided me that I was living a second hand life that I realized, that’s exactly what I was doing. Well, no more of that.

Traveling is a bizarre thing. Besides the beautiful sight seeing and feeling of independence, it opened my eyes to what I was like in a new and strange environment. For example, there were 3 days I was so homesick, I wanted nothing more than to go home. With just a week left of my trip, I was ready to buy a plane ticket home … (see? independent!).

So for those who want to travel for whatever reason, you might want to check out CouchSurfing. It’s exactly what it sounds like: you message potential hosts about the availability of their couch or mattress or whatever they have. If they do and are okay with hosting, you stay there for some agreed upon number of days. Some hosts are cool with you leaving them to do your own thing, while others may want you to spend time, talk and get to know them. I had intended on couch surfing only a few days of my trip but enjoyed the experience so much, I ended up ditching my hotel plans and couch surfed the entire time. Of course, this isn’t the path for everyone. It takes a pretty open-minded person to go for it, I admit. Still it’s a great way to meet people and maybe even save a few bucks since that’s one less hostel night.

In the world of pre-dental school happenings (so you guys can keep up with the time line of all this): Financial aid award letters were mailed out a while ago. I didn’t get them until I got back to the States. They’re due back in the financial aid office next week. Also, Big Bro/Big Sis applications were e-mailed out. I printed that and snail mailed it back to the coordinators.

Yesterday was Pacific Pride Day at UOP Dental School. I joined in the festivities and I’m glad I did. It was a good chance to meet some future classmates and tour the grounds again. The day included getting to know a handful of future classmates, talking to a few pre-dents about my own pre-dental experience, and even waiting on the Dr. Dugoni and Dean Ferrillo sign-my-book line and yes, I did get them to sign my book.

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I started this post earlier this morning and just couldn’t bring myself to finish it. I thought it might have been writer’s block but after some thought, it’s become apparent to me what it was.

Pacific Pride Day was just like any other day touring a dental school, which is exciting all by itself. The school does everything to put its best foot forward and it succeeded, though I may be biased since I love Pacific and all that is Pacific. Everything about yesterday was great. I walked into the whole thing super pumped and super excited. I met some professors, some actual dental students, and about 10 of my future classmates. Everyone was totally easy going and nice. Aside from my antics and characteristic foot in my mouth moments, things went peachy.

By the night’s end, I made it to my new apartment in San Francisco. Maybe it was the bare rooms or that it was so silent in my new apartment while the city was alive around me or that I just came back from whirlwind meet and greet but I found myself exhausted. And right then, it hit me like a mack-truck that I was going to start school in a little under 3 months. Again, that could just be my typical jump-the-gun and start freaking out many months too early; I’d like to think I’m preparing myself emotionally for the transition. Whatever it is, my no-good, self-serving emotions got the best of me all night and into this morning, tainting my otherwise, pleasant PPD experience.

Here are some pictures of the events here:

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Breakfast superstar style.

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Pacific’s gorgeous Sim lab

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Dean Ferrillo giving a speech.

Those boxes hold some good lunches. This isn’t your run of run-of-the-mill dental school, you know. And yes, I can be bought for a good sandwich and a chocolate chip cookie.

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Classroom

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Presentation for the SCOPE program at UOP. Looks like fun.

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This was not part of PPD but took this in passing. A shot of the Pacific Apartments from afar. Aesthetically, not the prettiest building but financially, some good housing.

I didn’t get a chance to blog about my last visit shadowing experience at the oral surgeon so it’s looking like a 2 post day.

This past Friday was exceptionally busy, as Fridays tend to be or so I’m told. There were back to back surgeries starting from 8am to 1pm. The run down I was present for is as follows:

1. 4 wisdom tooth extraction
2. 4 wisdom tooth extraction
3. bond and bracket
4. extraction of an elderly woman’s nub of a tooth
5. 4 wisdom tooth extraction
6. distal wedge surgery

I wish I could have but didn’t get to see the bond and bracketing, just the end result.

Matriculation day this year falls on Friday, July 11th. That’s in 3 months but recently things have started to pick up. Let me catch you guys up to date on the happenings since I got accepted.

Right after the call on November 30th, I received a letter in the mail congratulating me on my acceptance to the fine institution that is UOP Dental. I signed the papers saying I would be taking the offer to be a part of the class of 2011 as well as their request for a piece of my bank account. A flick of my pen, a lick of the envelope and off went my $1000 non-refundable deposit to reserve a seat in the incoming class. That was due back in January (15th, to be exact), which feels like ages ago. Around that time, I also filled out my FAFSA. Shortly after receipt of my first check, I was mailed some forms about financial aid. When I first filled out my FAFSA, there was no way for me to enter values for some of the fields so I left them empty. Now that my 2007 taxes are done, I will be inputting what I had earlier omitted.

Then around March, I got another packet with more paperwork. However, it was mailed to my residence in New York where my mother received it and held onto it without telling me until she forwarded it to California exactly 5 days before it was due in the admissions office - love you Mom! This time they wanted me to:

• sign a professional personal health responsibility form
• sign a kit deferment form
• fill out the Pacific housing and/or Presidio application (to be downloaded online)
• fill out and submit a lab coat and glove order form (also online)
• and last but not least, submit $2000 for an enrollment deposit

This was all due on Tuesday, April 1st. I will also have to submit a completed medical exam form but that isn’t due until Friday, June 13th. I had blood work done around August for my Certificate Masters at PCOM so I’ll only need to go in for a skin test. Here are the details from the UOP website:

Health Requirements, Medical, and Disability Insurance: Prior to matriculation, health requirements must be met and documentation submitted to the Admissions Office, as follows:

• Medical Examination: Submit the school’s “Clinical Examination Form,” signed by a physician confirming that a medical examination was completed within one year of the date of matriculation.
• Measles, Rubella (German Measles), and Mumps: Provide documentation of presence of positive titers. Documented vaccination with live attenuated measles and rubella virus is adequate. A history of measles and rubella as childhood diseases is not sufficient.
• Tuberculosis: Submit the report of a Mantoux tuberculosis skin test. With a history of tuberculosis OR a positive skin test, submit the physician’s report of a chest X-ray taken within the year prior to matriculation. Chest X-rays may be required at intervals, and suppressive medication may be recommended.
• Hepatitis B: Every dental student is required to submit documented proof of presence of antibodies to the Hepatitis B virus or to complete the Hepatitis B vaccination series. It is recommended that this be done prior to matriculation; in all cases, however, it must be done before a student is allowed to treat patients. If a student does not have documented proof of having antibodies to this virus, the vaccination series is available at the school for a fee.

While writing this, I went back through my UOP folder and realized I failed to send back my check-off list form which I needed to sign and return. Yikes.

In addition to what I needed to submit in the near future, I also got some more characters on paper about the things (money) I get to look forward to submitting for the next 3 years. For example, come July 11th, “the final estimated payment of $9,008.00 for [my] student kit is due …” The $3000 deposit that I had paid so far will be applied towards the total estimated doctoral kit cost of $12,008.00 to get the nice even sum of $9,008. I’m not complaining. In fact, I’m surprisingly detached (coping mechanism? perhaps) but I’ll let you know again when matriculation day comes around.

We did also get the username and password to UOP’s Accepted Students site. I remember being a pre-dent and clicking on that link, pretending/wishing I could be part of that elite club. It’s not that cool on the other side. Maybe just a little.

These past two days my future classmates who filled out and submitted the Pacific housing application have started getting word back via phone call about their room assignment. I didn’t apply since I had the opportunity to have my own place. I did hear, after procuring my own housing, that Pacific housing wasn’t in the best of neighborhoods and that it can get rowdy which can be distracting. But, since I’ve never seen the place or know of that area, I can’t validate that piece of information from personal experience. Just for the record, there is an on-site gym and dental lab which, I admit, is very very enticing.

Now that we’re up to speed, this Saturday is Pacific Pride Day. There was a $20 registration fee but as an incoming student, that was credited back to me. I think it’ll be interesting to see the people I’ll be going to school with in July.

Today has been good. Woke up earlier than normal - 7:20am instead of 8am - in order to make it to the office to catch the 8:00am wisdom tooth extraction. I watched the female surgeon do an implant on the first patient. And on the second, she did an extraction of #2 and #3 and I got to see a fistula in the patient’s mouth. It looks like a pimple - had a little raised area with a white tip. After that was an extraction, I think #15, with bone graft for a future implant. Patient #4 was a wisdom tooth extraction and the last patient before lunch was a biopsy. The doctor cut out a small section of the inside of the patient’s cheek. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen a biopsy and it was weird but the little hole was sutured right up and that was that.

I did get to speak with the female oral surgeon and she works at the hospital Monday through Thursday since she can do the more serious surgeries there. Sigh, how cool is that?

Thursday - much better. Started off watching the first patient discharged after 3 wisdom teeth extractions. The patient was wheeled into the waiting area to rest with an IV drip. After that, I watched more extractions - #1, #16, #17, #18, #19 - with bone graft. Then, it was placement of an abutment on a third patient. Interesting stuff. Plus, the assistants are really cool.

Today, Monday, was a lot slower than last Friday. I was forewarned of this and told that I should probably come back on Thursday and Friday instead. I have to admit, it was pretty boring. Nothing to watch but consults and post-op checks. Of course, that was the whole point of shadowing: to see the good and the bad, the exciting and the boring. I mean, heck, I’d love to be in the thick of the action 24/7 but alas, that just isn’t to be and I am aware that slow comes with every occupation, specialty or not.

I did get to speak with the oral surgeon and his wife, who’s a general dentist. It was good to get some insight into why they picked the career choices they did, especially his wife’s since she’s pregnant and working. As a female, sometimes I wonder what the repercussions will be of delaying a family in favor of a career. I know “of” the repercussions but that’s not quite the same as waking up one day to the realization of the permanency of a decision I made years ago. That is one of the reasons I picked dentistry - the opportunity to balance family and career. No decision needs to be made yet since I haven’t even started dental school or have a significant other. I’m merely noting. Funny but I don’t think male students have thoughts like these cross their minds.

I’m interested in talking to the female oral surgeon on staff and get her opinion but she works one day a week. I wonder if that’s because she’s got a family.

It was so cool. Maybe it’s because everything is new but it was really awesome. Then again, I’m fairly easy to impress.

I’m sure you’d be impressed too if you watched the oral surgeon do 3 wisdom teeth extractions (1 full bony, 2 partial) in a matter of 20 minutes. 30 minutes total with IV sedation. I mean, the assistants had the routine down pat. The doctor was on top of everything - 100% control of the situation.

Well, I might be hooked as I’m going back Monday. We’ll see as the novelty of shadowing someone new wears off. But right now, I’d gladly sign away the next 9 years of my life if I get to do stuff like what I saw today.