Being Unsure

By Alyssa LeClair

Prior to coming to dental school at NYU I tried to find students that went here, so I could understand what life was like as a dental student. We always post the exciting and fun things we do at school on social media, and rarely the failures and stress that we undergo.

I knew that dental school was going to be difficult and a huge workload, but really didn’t comprehend to what extent. I was figuring out how to study, and trying different methods. None of them were working for me. When I first started the summer semester and took my first round of exams, I never thought that specializing would even be an option for me. I felt defeated compared to the students around me who were thriving. At that point, my mindset was only to pass.

It wasn’t until I made friends and started studying in groups that my grades started to improve drastically. I moved from a frame of mind of only wanting to pass to striving for straight A’s. I am currently in a position academically where I could specialize if I felt a passion for a certain specialty and that is truly an incredible feeling.

There are multiple factors as to why I haven’t chosen if I want to specialize or not. As a D1’s, we are only assigned to clinical observations for general dentistry. It is not until our second year that we will have more exposure and learn about the various specialities. I believe that I will have a better understanding as to what I will be interested in next year. If I do become intrigued and want to pursue a specialty, the issue that will arise will be the cost of the program. Debt is a huge factor for me, even though I shouldn’t limit myself if it is something that I know I will be happy in. I have struggled with financial stress since I was a child. Knowing myself, I would only decide to specialize if I could justify it truly being a financial investment.

I was able to commute to my undergraduate university to save on costs, so I started dental school with little debt. The cost of dental school itself is astronomical. Since the tuition for dental school at NYU will accumulate as a huge debt after four years, the thought of having more debt if specializing may sway my decision to stick with general dentistry.

I am from New Hampshire, which is a state where there is a massive need for dentists. There may not be an option to refer out a case, because there are not many specialists, especially in the rural part of the state. My plan after graduation is to move back to New Hampshire, whether this be after completing dental school or a residency program. A concern of staying with general dentistry would be completing a procedure of which I do not feel comfortable or confident with.

An expert in a field comes with a high demand and prestige. With this comes a possibility of a higher salary. Specialists have the ability to limit the type of procedures that they are performing. This can make the work more predictable than general, and these procedures are restricted to a small group of individuals within the field.

Although I do not have a particular plan right now as to what I will do after graduation, my goal is to not put myself in a position academically to limit my options. Balancing school, life, and extracurriculars can be extremely difficult and is something I am still navigating. I am hopeful that by the end of D2 I will have more clarity, because not having a life plan does put some stress on my personal life. I am stuck with saying that I truly don’t know. My answers are very vague stating that I want to move back to New Hampshire and that I am trying my hardest to do well in my classes to not confine myself to only doing general dentistry. As a D1, I am genuinely undecided on my career path within dentistry.