My career aspiration is to become a pediatric dentist. I am currently finishing up my internship experience at Pediatric Smiles Dentistry for Children.
I am a patient at the office and visit the office on the Southside regularly. Being a patient versus being the dentist is much different. When I first started working here, I already knew how the dentist and her assistants work. They have a specific routine that they never fail to follow. Since I was already familiar with the people working here and how they operated their workspace, I had an easy head start. I was able to easily catch onto the information that I was receiving, as well as the tasks that were given to me. It was cool seeing other people get the same treatments that I had to get done previously. I was able to see the process and the walk through of how to perform these treatments, which I would never understand as just the patient. I also got a chance to see the growth and development of patients’ teeth that have evolved due to their braces. I had braces a few years ago and didn’t really understand the process of them and how they would change my teeth, but working here and looking on the other side helped me to understand what I had to go through and why.
Overall, I am having a great time shadowing my mentor and learning how to operate and be successful in my future career. I am very grateful for this opportunity because now I will have a head start with knowing some things that I would be taught in dental school, and I will also be familiar with how to operate on a patient’s teeth. I appreciate both my mentor and the AnnieRuth Foundation as a whole for giving me such a great opportunity, which allowed me to not only gain some experience within my career choice, but also meet amazing people along the way!