GRADUATION DAY

One last graduation post, sharing the actual day because is was a hectic hazy whirlwind. I had two separate graduation ceremonies (yes 2!) to attend all in one day, so it felt a little rushed to get everyone and everything organized. But we did it. 

grad school grad!

 I am so incredibly grateful for the overwhelming support from my family and friends throughout this long journey of achieving my childhood dream. I'm also grateful for the amazing teachers and dentists and staff and mentors and patients that encouraged me along the way. And believe it or not, I'm also grateful to all of you. Yes, you, the person reading this post right now.

I struggled and stumbled along this path more than once, but always found the resilience to keep going, and that is in major part thanks to everyone who supported me, including this online community. It sounds silly, but over the years of blogging, I have made some true friends that are also complete strangers. So to anyone who has been kind enough to read my rants, leave encouraging comments, and even reach out to me directly, thank you for your support. 

Doctorate of Dental Medicine

Let's just take a moment and talk about this for a second because you guys, I have a doctorate degree! 

a day in the life of a dental student: mission trip

Since this week is all about practicing gratitude, I thought that I would share a little more about one of the experiences in my life that I am most thankful for... my Dominican Republic Dental Mission Trip. This mission gave me a chance to combine two of my greatest passions, my desire to serve others through dentistry and my love of travel and experiencing different cultures. 

Each day of our mission trip, we visited a new location. And each day we were greeted by thankful hearts, as evidenced by the fact that the governor gave us his personal bus (featured above) to aid in our transportation. Below, I'm sharing just a glimpse into what a day on this mission trip was like. 

hanging up my dental loupes

How is it not Friday yet? 

Clinic this week has involved an emergency root canal, all the restorations, extractions, dentures, too much SRP for my liking, and treating kiddos. 

my last month at the dental school

I returned to the dental school yesterday to deliver a few last cases and it felt like a different world. It's hard to believe that I've only been on my away rotations for a little over a week. It got me reminiscing about my crazy hectic productive busy last month at the dental school. 

At a glance, I completed my graduation exam requirements on patients for root canals, emergency dentistry, dentures, assessing outcomes of care, and periodontal (gum) disease. It was a busy busy busy month. To top things off, I finally got to sell off all of my practice models because I only drill on real teeth these days. It was seriously the best feeling E-V-E-R to know that I am capable enough to leave the protection of the dental school and spend the next 7 months rotating through various clinics across the state to gain as much experience as possible with so many different patient populations. Graduation is so close, I can feel it. 

drowning in dentures

Be careful what you wish for. For months, I was feeling upset that I hadn't yet had the opportunity to fabricate any dentures for patients. I was really starting to get worried about it because at my dental school, dentures are one of those procedures that slows people down with being able to graduate. 

PASSED!

I’ve been waiting and hoping to share this post for months. 

medical dental mission trip

Nothing fuels the heart or feeds the soul quite like helping others, which is why I couldn't be more excited to announce that I'm headed off on a medical dental mission trip to the Dominican Republic! 

tooth be told...I love my patients

Last week, I didn't have a single lunch break. With being on an emergency dental rotation, I ended up seeing patients straight through. The cranky hungry side of me wanted to do nothing but complain. And I won't lie, I may have whined a little. But at the end of it all, I'll skip lunch any day because I love what I do, I love why I do it, and I love my patients. It's the only way that I am able be at dental school right now, making so many sacrifices---far beyond missing a few lunches. 

studying for boards...by the numbers

For the weeks leading up to my dental school boards, I spent as much of my time as possible sitting here...at this very desk. There was so much material to cover and so little time to do it in. Honestly, this was a really rough time for me with being constantly overwhelmed. 

I love sharing the good sides of dental school here and with all the procedures and work that I get to do. But studying for this exam wasn't exciting and it wasn't easy. It was just constant stress and exhaustion. But I think it's important to share this side as well with all the real work that goes into pursuing this crazy career. Here's a glimpse of what studying for boards part 2...by the numbers was like. 

a day in the life of a dental student: boards study

The hardest part about prepping for boards wasn't the content, it was time management. My dental school runs on a very unique schedule where we get more clinical hours than anyone else in the country. But an unfortunate side effect of that is that we also get significantly less time off. 

So while most dental schools give their students anywhere from a few weeks to a month of uninterrupted study time-I got 3 days. As you might imagine, that doesn't even begin to make a dent in preparing for a 12 hour exam. So the name of the game became squeezing as much time as possible out of each day to make time for studying. Here's a glimpse of what my average day has looked like these past couple of months. 

girl scout dentistry merit badge

Last weekend I had the chance to volunteer with the Girl Scouts. Things have certainly changed a lot from when I was in a troupe, but it's still true to its mission of supporting and encouraging the growth of young women. 

a year of treating patients

And just like that, it’s June, which made me realize that I’ve been treating patients for a little over a year now. Some days I feel like an actual dentist, like yesterday when I did a perfectly filled root canal. Then there are days like today where my pediatric patient has a total meltdown to the point where I have to delay treatment. 

the pharmacy museum

I love museums because I'll never turn down a chance to learn something new. While we were in New Orleans, I realized that it was home to The Pharmacy Museum and I knew that we had to go. 

Having spent so many hours of my life agonizing over learning and understanding the many pharmaceutical agents we use today, it was nice to see this side of medicine from a fun historical side. I assumed that this little one room museum would be a quick visit, but we ended up spending almost 4 hours here. We loved the tour-it's a must. And it was so interesting to learn about all the medications and techniques that have been used over the years. If you have a chance to visit this museum, DO. It's filled with medical history that ranges from the mundane to the truly bizarre. But the best part is that everyone can appreciate this museum, whether you're in the medical field or not. 

this week of dental school

Orange 🍊you glad that it's finally the weekend? And a 3 day weekend at that. Honestly, I don't know what I'm soooo excited about, seeing as my plans for this weekend involve catching up on lab-work at the dental school. Ha! 

After this crazy busy week of dental school, I'm just happy to have a little more dominion over my schedule. Here's a peak at this crazy week I've had. 

a day in the life of a dental student: pulling teeth

Sharing another day in the life as a dental student. This one is all about pulling teeth! It's exhausting and hard work, but incredibly rewarding and I love it.  

As a dental student, I have my own set of patients that I'm responsible for, but every 2-3 weeks I do a week-long rotation within one of the specialty dental clinics at the school...emergency, pediatrics, orthodontics, etc. Today's rotation is in the Oral and Maxillofacial Clinic (OMS), extracting teeth. Let's take a glimpse at my day, shall we? Don't worry though-no graphic photos. 

dental school lately: vol. 5

One of the (many) reasons that I chose dentistry as a career is the flexibility. What other medical career offers such great hours? Even as a student, I've managed to make time to travel and see the world and really enjoy life on my schedule. 

the last year of dental school

All smiles because today was my last first day of dental school with kicking off my senior year. It's finally here! 

I remember thinking that this past week before becoming a senior was such a hectic one because last week, I extracted 10 teeth with an alveoplasty and continuous locking sutures, delivered my first completed denture and started 3 more, did a pulpectomy (type of root canal) on a pediatric patient, and saw emergency patients too--all while studying as much as possible for my national board dental exam. Yet, all of that was a drop in the bucket compared to how crazy things are about to be. I'm terrified and excited all in one for this final year of dental school. There have been so many moments during the process where I doubted if I could make it through. But getting to this point is proof that I am worthy and I am capable of becoming a dentist. Now, there are only 366 more days left and I better get to it because there is a lot to do. 

extractions

Sorry. I know this pic is a bit graphic. GROSS were Husband's exact words. Ha! But it's what I do and I'm extremely proud of it. I was up early this Saturday volunteering at a free dental clinic extracting teeth.  

All the volunteers put in an 8 hour day and even though I was exhausted, it was literally the best possible way to spend my weekend. It's indescribable how amazing it feels to provide medical care to so many people who really need it and couldn't afford it otherwise. Nothing that I could have possibly done with my Saturday was as important as volunteering today with relieving so much pain and getting rid of disease. I truly feel so lucky to be a dental student and to be honing skills that are valued. I cannot wait for my next opportunity to volunteer this summer when I'll be headed on a medical mission trip! 

happy weekending.