People wonder why I took up dentistry since there is no dentist in the family. I can give a lot of reasons why but I dont want to fool myself because until now I still asked myself that same question. Maybe at first having a doctor affix in your name brings joy to me. Let's face it the word "doctor" gives a little bit of pride and respect.
If I will look at the future, it may look as if it's one of the most convenient career, convenient in a way that if you decide to have a clinic, people will just go to you and money comes easily. You are not obligated to please your coworkers. You dont take task from your immediate superior. You can make decisions without asking for approval from your bosses. For short, you are your own boss.
But is dentistry all about that?
Same with other courses dentistry have ups and downs. You cannot affix the word doctor in your name easily, you have to face the struggle first. You have to fight an endless battle, mostly the battle with yourself. I believe that the hardest part of being a dentistry student is not the prosthodontic, endodontic, oral surgery etc etc subject but the hardest is fighting your inner conflict. I almost gave up, having a 25- 30 units per sem is not easy. It's really draining, physically, mentally and emotionally as well. You have that usual routine wherein you go to school early, go back home tired, eat dinner, review up until midnight then sleep. And the cycle goes for whole 5 months. And the saddest thing is even if you review and attended all your classes you still fail the subject. Whenever you pass the school food court, you wonder why there are students who look refresh and here you are looking like a zombie, going to your hellhole.
Sometimes I wonder why I'm still in this journey. During my dmd 2 year I decided to shift into another course, maybe a lot easier than this, degree wherein I will not shed a lot of tears but I stop and look at my 4 yrs as dentistry student. Will I trade that 4 years to something easier than that? The reason why I continued the journey is because I dont want to be a soreloser. I want to prove that I can finish this. At this point GIVING UP IS NOT AN OPTION.
There are only 2 types of dentistry student when it comes to practical or laboratory works. The FAST LEARNER and the SLOW LEARNER. And I admit I'm the second one. Im not degrading myself, but sometimes you have to accept the truth, and it doesnt mean you will stop there, you have to do something about it. I believe skills can be improve through hardwork. through constant practice I'm improving, my work may not be the best but atleast Im learning something.
But let's not forget the joy dentistry gives. When I entered the clinic years, Im glad I didnt pursue my idea of shifting to other course. Sometimes, you do simple things that gives an impact to someone else life. That smile whenever you give a finish denture to patients I definitely will not trade that for an easier course. It's just so heartwarming whenever your patient appreciate your work. Maybe for some dent student, they do it for requirements sake but for all those patient, that work is really something. Not everyone can afford a dental treatment, so a simple thank you is enough as a payment to all your hardworks. It's like you do something really good.
So to answer my question? Is dentistry course a really good choice? My answer is yes if your heart is really into it. If your dream is to become a dentist then you'll enjoy every bit of it. But if you're doing it for other reasons then maybe you're in between of liking or hating it.
