Putting It All Together

By Lavannia Raguthu

Putting it all together. That is what much of my D2 year has come to entail. While D1 was extremely didactic heavy, I find D2 to be more of a balance between all the skills dental school has to offer; Didactics, clinical work, patient care, bedside manners, etc. With more exposure to specialty clinic rotations such as periodontics, endodontics, and orofacial pain - I’ve seen residents and upperclassmen alike, depict their skills and knowledge. These shadowing experiences have increased my awareness on how much closer I am to providing care to patients soon, versus just fulfilling assignments in the lab to get checked off. The feeling, while exciting and surreal, is also daunting and nerve wracking. There seems to be an underlying buzzing sensation of something many pre-health professional students have undergone; imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome comes out in ways such as stuttering on words while dealing with my first solo patient in admissions clinic, messing up last minute during a practical on a prep I had practiced and completed successfully numerous times prior, or maybe even second guessing what was initially a correct answer on a multiple-choice question during an exam. While I certainly feel my skills and knowledge expanding as I progress throughout dental school, this sensation of imposter-syndrome comes and goes in waves.

While D2 came with a plethora of changes such as more than twice the amount of time spent in lab per week compared to D1 year, much more exposure to patient care, and more in person testaments of our skills such as pediatric outreaches and competencies, this change is necessary. While uncomfortable, throwing oneself into the unknown is part of what is necessary to grow. As cliché as it is, a bird must fall out of its nest in order to learn how to fly. While D2 has been challenging in many ways, I trust that like most hardships, it is all part of the process. I feel especially optimistic. I will continue to keep gaining confidence in my abilities during my clinical and didactic sessions of D2 to D3 transition, as I will start seeing patients in the clinic when I begin my D3 year. With a bit of perseverance, hard work, commitment, and luck, I hope to mold myself into a great clinician.