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Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Dental Student Podcast.
The focus of this podcast is to share undergraduate and dental school experiences of dental students
and dental professionals through valuable discussions.
Appreciate the stories of current dentists and dental professionals, or go so be fun
to answer the guidance for your own pre-dental journeys.
I'm very excited to have Omi Kaksarfar, a current D2 Tufts University School of Dental
Medicine student with me today.
What's up man, welcome to the podcast, how's everything going?
Well, first thanks for setting this up.
It's pretty cool to be on here and so far so good, you know.
I forget every year has its own challenges, but you know, D2 is heavily on the aspects
of dentistry, different aspects of dentistry, so we're getting to learn the ins and outs
of it and you know, with the theory portion and the hands-on portion with lab.
So overall, it's a dream come true and definitely enjoying it.
Sounds good.
So why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself, like where you're from, where you
grew up, what you like to do fun.
Yes, so I'm born in Toronto, Canada.
I moved from Toronto to Northern Virginia when I was about like six years old.
So I pretty much grew up in Northern Virginia and did my undergrad there in Richmond, Virginia
in the capital.
But other than school, you know, I definitely enjoyed the gym, travel, stuff like that.
I moved to Miami for my masters and Miami was a really awesome experience for a couple
years there and now ended up in Boston.
But so far, you know, the journey has always been, you know, as you know yourself, like
it's very academic based, so you, your life pretty much is around school and what cities
you go to and stuff like that.
But it's always nice to do some extra career for stuff too.
I wish you, I bet you wish you were still in Miami right now because I think the finals
are there.
The weather here is, yeah, the finals too.
Pretty awesome.
Yeah.
It's an awesome atmosphere down there for the games.
But you know, it's nice.
You have to have a life.
You know what I mean?
Right.
It's a nice thing, but you only have as good to really like, you know, gym or activities
or hanging out with friends just to reset, refresh and get back to work.
So yeah.
Yes.
I'm just going to hit you with a question right now while we're at it, like the interview
rate.
So why dentistry?
Why did you decide to go into this field?
Honestly, I couldn't tell you why, like what started it, but no one in my family is like
a dentist.
I didn't have any influence to be in this field, but it's the only thing I ever wanted
to do ever.
And I don't know why, but at first it was just like a cool thing to do.
You know, we had dentists in my mind.
It was interesting.
And actually my younger brother and I grew up with two other brothers in a sense.
We went to this, you know, how some people have Sunday service.
Well, I'm Muslim.
So we went to the school of Islamic Supism and one of the brothers was, you know, went
from like being on the wrestling team to all these things to all of a sudden, you know,
a pint at dental school and out of nowhere.
And I was like, okay, that's pretty cool.
You know, and I was young at this, like I was, you know, sorry, high school, I think.
So in high school, we had this class junior year.
It was called Academy and it did different courses in the Academy class, one of them
being dental assisting.
So I tried out for one year, I went to dental assisting class and, you know, I loved it.
I was so, like really involved in it.
I used that experience to build a resume and I started assisting a pediatric office, not
even assisting, I was a sterilization tech.
I didn't pay like $9 an hour sterilizing tools at a pedo office during like high school,
you know, and then going into summer.
And I really enjoyed it and from then on, I got to another assisting job and oral surgery
office and then a general office and then I didn't stop working at dental offices.
And that ignited my curiosity and I felt like I found my why early.
I found my love for this field early and it's the only thing I ever wanted to do ever since.
So all the steps taken from that moment were pretty much geared to reaching that moment
of getting accepted in dental school, you know, early on, you really don't know the
difficulty, like especially in high school, you don't know that, you know, you got to
do things, but you don't know how much energy and effort it takes.
You don't know like how hard the biochemistry is and the biology courses are, the orgo is.
You don't know how hard that stuff is.
You don't know how difficult DAT is.
And these are all challenges, you know, so, but you know, you want to be a dentist, you
know, this is your end result and you got to buckle in and do whatever it takes to get
it.
So that's pretty much the story.
That's how it started.
And I always say go into like, you know, each step of the way later on.
So how long would you say you've been in, you know, the dental field like working as
a dental assistant or shadowing and stuff like that?
Like from what age or, you know, early on was that?
So junior year of high school, I took a dental assistant class, that academy class.
After that year, got the resume down, built it and ever since then.
So like a senior in high school, I've been working at offices, you know, but that's a
short answer to your question.
Yeah.
That's perfect.
I mean, I mean, learning, knowing that you want to do it before you even start high, start
college, that already puts you like a step ahead of everybody else in terms of, you
know, during your application, your experiences are under read that way.
So that's pretty awesome.
So you know, let's go into college a little bit now.
So you know that you want to do dentistry starting at freshman year.
So what kind of experiences and what kind of, how'd you kind of melt, start forming application
from freshman year?
Like what kind of stuff did you start doing?
What kind of classes did you know that you had to do well in and stuff like that?
Honestly, it's, look, the requirements and everything are the same across the nation.
All right.
We all know what we got to do.
Okay.
There's certain class you got to take.
You got to take this exam, this DAT and you apply.
You know, you get your letters of recommendation, obviously, your personal statement, your
shadowing, your, all that good stuff, but application is application and that's great.
But look, every person is extremely different.
Everyone has a different story, different circumstances, different backgrounds.
And it's honestly an unfair game, but it is what it is.
For me personally, I was very, I never really went through parties ever until I went to
undergrad.
I never had like the amount of exposure to people and not that I was anti-social.
I was definitely anti-social.
It was just, you know, my parents were more conservative and that's the kind of household
I've been raised in.
So there were a lot of distractions freshman year, a lot of distractions.
And I knew I wanted to be going to dental school, but I didn't know how to manage my
time, manage like my, I didn't know how to prioritize because I was so, I was so into
the social aspect of college, to be honest with you, that I didn't really prioritize
my academics.
Right.
And I honestly was very naive to the fact that there are thousands of other students
that are going to apply to dental school, who guess what, have four rows, have three
nine, have three eights, have amazing DAT scores.
And I found out, you know, I definitely, I'm a huge believer in what's meant to be and
at the right time, you know, I switched my attention and really buckled down.
It was definitely late.
You know, I definitely finished undergrad with like a two seven, like bottom of the bottom
man, like both signs and overall were in the 2.9 and 2.7.
Right.
It was too late to change it.
I even switched to business like junior year and then switched back to biology because
I didn't want to track what to like delay my graduation.
I wasn't trying to delay graduation.
I want to finish four years and get out of there.
So, and that's where, you know, I looked into different options and went from there.
I mean, that's pretty interesting.
So, you know, you were working, you were still working throughout college, right?
Were you still working as dental assistant throughout college too?
Or did you just kind of go on and on for?
You know, yeah, when I went, like looking back, even though my grades weren't great,
it wasn't like I was wasting my time to be honest with you.
I was in offices every summer.
Right.
And not only that, but every summer I got a better opportunity with more responsibilities.
Right.
At the end of the whole dental assisting like career that I had, it got to a point where
prior to me even coming into Tufts, I landed like two big jobs.
One was like being a marketing manager for a brand new office, setting up their whole
marketing system.
And the other one was a great opportunity to work in a lab.
You know?
So, every summer since 18 years old, I've been in offices, getting that patient interaction,
getting that touch, that feel for different procedures.
I was working in Pito heavily doing profis, scalings, taking bite wings, taking panos.
You know, it's not my first exposure to mouths like coming to dental schools.
It's not my first time working in the mouth.
So you know, when clinic's coming up in less than a month now, I've already sort of broken
that ice, you know what I mean?
And there's so many things that we don't know as pre-dents.
There's so many things.
Like once you're across the line, there's so many things you don't, you realize you
don't know.
And my largest piece of advice, to be honest, is get exposed to offices as much as possible.
You know, make your rounds and go learn.
Be curious.
Because one, when you're working from like 7 a.m. when the office opens to 7 p.m., long
days, nonstop patients, you get home and you ask yourself, like, is this really for me?
Like, do I want to spend these long days and like give it my all every single day for the
rest of my life within this career?
You know what I mean, Brett?
So getting like shadowing and also you develop some crazy awesome mentors.
We're talking about like, if you're working for a multi-million dollar practice, you know,
there's a leader behind that and you become close to that person.
You work for that person and you start learning and getting advice from that person.
And that person ends up being your mentor and you keep those connections.
So it's not just building relationships, write my letter of recommendation and buy.
Like no, that's not a relationship.
You got to develop some great relationships who also let you write your letters of rec
with application process, but help you along the way too, you know?
So I can't stress enough, like working prior to coming to school is awesome.
It's like one of the best investments one can make, to be honest.
Because ultimately, if you think about it, man, grades are great, of course.
But any dentist is like they're known, their reputation is built off of the work that they
do after clinic.
And I've met with like some of the, we have some of the great really good instructors
here for the business aspects of things.
And they tell me all the time, like your business can be amazing, your foundation, everything
can be set, but if you don't back it up clinically, doesn't mean anything.
Of course.
You know what I mean?
So it's highly important.
And I think that you bring up a really good point about the eight or the seven to seven
thing, right?
So I mean, I work in an office and we have eight to seven days, so like 11 hour days,
four days a week.
And like, you don't know how dedicated you are to the field until you hit like five,
six o'clock.
You're like, damn, it's been a long day.
And then you see all these patients go by, you're just like, when like the really big
extraction procedure that was at like nine a.m. becomes like a blur to you.
That's like when you got to just think about like, damn, I'm really in this.
And like that's where you start to like test your love for dentistry.
That's how, like if you're, if we're one of those people that like can, can get to five
o'clock, but you just start kind of burning out and you just don't like want to be there
anymore.
That's like when you got to reevaluate these things.
Cause you got to have like, you got, yeah, you're, look, the whole like saying, you know,
saying about love what you do.
Honestly, this is not like people don't, I feel like, oh, love what you do, love what
you do.
But like everyone says, love what you do.
But when things get tough, when things get like days are long, assignments are projects
are difficult, you're failing, you're not, you know, doing what you like producing what
you want to produce.
You're not accomplishing things the way you thought you wanted to like get them done.
You're being tested every single day.
Your patience is being tested.
Everything is being tested.
And to get up every single day and keep that level of enthusiasm, enthusiasm to learn not
being tired, not, you know, go into like rotation or all these classes that we have in coming
out early or not wanting to be here.
I think people quickly forget once they're accepted to school that once upon a time you
were praying to be here, you really wanted it badly.
And now that you're here, you've sort of lost the word of what it means to be here.
Because you're very privileged to be here and you're very lucky, not lucky, but like
you're in a great position that a lot of people wish they were in.
You know what I mean?
Thousands of people.
Thousands.
Thousands of people a year are applying to be in these schools and we're the lucky few
to make it.
Of course.
You know what I mean?
Ultimately, even past all this, and this is like very important that I think people got
to think about.
It's when you have a love for something, like how come you don't get, you know, named
it like something you love to do.
I'd say like video games.
How can we just sit there for hours with full enthusiasm and literally like play Xbox or
PlayStation or whatever that, you know, people are playing.
How come we can do that?
But you are tired when you do something you're setting your life to like your whole dedication
or your life to something, right?
It's the same mentality.
Like you got to be in something that you really enjoy.
Don't get tired doing because that curiosity, that energy will make you the best at what
you do.
It's that love.
It's that drive that gets that you wake up every single day, give it your all and become
better and better each and every day.
And I honestly love what I'm doing.
I really, really do.
I will do this for free.
And I'm not just really would do what I do for free.
When D1s come in, I love giving them my time if they need it or projects regarding like
operative or hands on.
I mean, I'm so happy that I took the time to really see if this was for me because I've
been in offices for so long and day in and day out seeing patients, difficult cases.
And as a dentist, you don't have time to have a dull moment.
You're dealing with like human beings.
You're dealing with cases.
I mean, one little slip of a hand, that's unacceptable.
You can't have that stuff.
So these are all things that one needs to take in consideration, but as a pre-dent,
you're so stuck with the requirements and the grades that you forget.
You forget like the magnitude of how much the other things really weigh.
Right.
100%.
You know what I'm saying?
So everyone's smart here, they didn't get here because everyone's smart.
Everyone is manageable to have their grades, but very few have the skills to be like where
they need to be.
And it's crazy.
The one field, like this is a career with all hand skills, right?
It's heavily on the hands, on the eye for detail, on the diagnosis, but it all comes
together as an art.
There's so many balls to play with.
Like you're juggling a lot of different things, but in the application process, they never
once test you on your skills with your hands.
Never.
So people find out how they really are when they enter school.
And guess what?
It's a little bit too late because you're already 150,000 in the hole or $100,000 in
the hole and you can't really go back at this point.
Yeah.
And it's extremely discouraging.
So take the time.
Take the time to find out if this is really for you.
Right.
I think the biggest thing that I have in application, I just finished the application a couple days
ago, I submitted everything, whatever.
Congratulations, that's big.
I know.
It feels weird because I feel like more have to go back and add something else or double
check it again, but that's just a part of the process, I guess.
And they just have the one question, like what are your mail, like what email, the mail
to XRD question they have.
That's kind of like the only thing that they use or that they have about you about your
hands skills, I feel like.
In my opinion, it's very unfortunate that there is no physical testing center or something
that test is a student's hand skills to come in because it is, well, it's, there's nothing
like it.
You can replicate a student picking up a hand piece and drilling and creating beautiful
work.
Yeah.
And there's so much that goes behind dentistry that as an assistant, you'll never understand
because you're not knowledgeable enough.
You don't know what to look for.
You don't have a mentor or a teacher that's spending time and teach you things.
You know what I mean?
You're there as an assistant or you're literally like standing in the corner and shadowing.
Yeah.
And because of COVID, they cut down those shadowing hours too for obvious reasons.
So this is a huge part of everything.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
And in every class, whether it's like 200 kids like us or 60 kids, I mean, that's still,
there's a lot of people.
So that's, I mean, the downside of the application, I believe, but ultimately, again, it goes
back to why it's important to get exposed early on.
Yeah.
What do I mean?
And that's actually very important to get into arts and crafts or things that test your
hand skills and your eye for detail.
And I mean, that's very, very important because subconsciously you have these skills that
start coming to the surface when you start working on like your operative one class or
operative two and so on and so forth.
Right.
I mean, I wish the DAT, I mean, they did the PhD section, but I feel like it's not.
It's nothing.
It's nothing compared to like what?
Nothing.
An actual dental student.
Because I mean, when I was studying, I would sit there like I'm DT Bukin, but just look
at the, like what I'm doing and just step back for a second.
I'm like, what exactly is counting cubes on all these sides going to do for me in the
future exactly?
Like I'm not really physically using like indirect vision or something like that on
a test, right?
So 100% like, so we, yeah, we did indirect vision.
It's you're right.
Yeah.
Right.
100%.
So when you're doing a test like that, when you really just started studying and stuff,
you're just kind of stepping and you're like, what is, I feel like I'm just checking off
a box for them.
You know what I mean?
Just so you can, just so they can compare me to other people and make a decision that
way.
But like we said, a lot of people apply and these are different ways that they filter
out people.
Yeah.
This is like, how many, I know so many friends of mine who even an undergrad quit pre dental
because of organic chemistry one or organic chemistry two or the DAT they couldn't pass
or whatever, you know, these are just ways to filter out people.
I mean, that's why they're in place.
You know what I mean?
And it's a test to obviously test your knowledge for basic sciences, but ultimately not, you
know, not everyone can.
So I mean, so yeah, so I mean, let's talk a little bit about how you can tackle all
these things.
So, you know, so can you give us a little like a timeline of, you know, one took the DAT
and then when you kind of went about getting letters of rec, for example, personal statement,
or did you kind of place all these important things to get into school during undergrad?
Yeah.
So let's run it back.
Honestly, like when I even started making content, I did it because I was Googling,
I'm sorry, I was YouTubing, trying to find people who were in the same spot as I was.
All right.
2729 low GPA undergrad, is still possible.
Honestly, basic question.
Is it possible?
Zero, like things out there.
People were just talking about like 24, 26, 22, like, all right, cool.
Not relatable.
I graduated 2017 from undergrad.
All right.
Like I said, I had a really low GPA low again, 29, 2.7.
In 2017, like I'm very hard headed and very like optimistic.
So I was like, it's fine.
I'll counteract it with my DAT.
So apply with a low GPA.
I have a great resume.
I have good letters of recommendations.
I have assisting hours.
Everything else is like great, except for the grade.
So it was like May of 2017.
Like I took, later on that summer of July, I took my DAT.
I got a 16 on it.
Right.
PAT, I did like great.
It was like 24.
Took it again, PAT 26, sciences 16.
So then I was like, all right, I gotta literally have one more shot at the DAT.
Not one, but you can take it more than three times.
Honestly, if you request, you can.
But you know, three times already took it twice.
What do I do?
I felt like I wasn't going anywhere.
Okay.
At this point in my life, I was very, I was still working, but I was very focused on the
exam and what I needed to do.
I had a 30 schools, by the way.
Like I graduated, applied to 30 schools without the DAT, with the grades I got from undergrad.
Very optimistic.
Took the DAT, did awful.
So like got zero acceptances.
Took the DAT again, 16.
All right.
Now what do I do?
Through like some talking, I found out about, and that was also like a very hard time in
my life, man.
Honestly, like this is the only thing I've ever wanted to do.
And it's not happening.
You know what I mean?
And it's very discouraging.
And it wasn't like really a, it was very hard time for me, but you know what?
So what?
You got to find a different like option.
I always believe if like one door is not opening, let's try another one.
Right?
Let's keep knocking.
So I found out Barry's Biomedical Masters program.
And this is where I started like sharing my story and sharing, you know, like when I watch
content, I want someone to tell me what the situation is and what's the answer.
Yeah.
And I was just taught like what do I have to do?
So Biomedical Masters program, okay, bet.
Like there was other things like these other programs around my hometown, like I, you know,
Georgetown or GW, but they were a Masters programs.
And Barry, their reputation, like their stats were legit.
Like 60 kids a year were going to dental schools from the same backgrounds as I was.
So I applied.
I'm so sure I applied.
I don't wait list it because my grades were so low.
And I just called.
I called and called and they were like, listen, literally she calls me.
She's like, Oh, me, do we have your application?
We'll let you know by like this date.
If you get accepted, we know you're interested, whatever.
I was like, okay.
You know, God willing, I got in.
I was the last like I got in and I completely was even I was going to Miami, you know, the
league could be very distracting, but I was locked in bro.
I was like, this is the last opportunity.
If I don't get through this, we're not going to, you know, it's not good.
So got all A's kept on pushing, got the A after A after A.
And I'm not saying that to like, you know, brag about it.
I'm saying that because you, I, it's possible.
Like whoever watches this who's in the situation, if you really switch your mind and prioritize
and well, I'm in Northern Virginia.
And that was the first time like when I literally put my clothes in my car with my dog and I
drove to Florida with no apartment.
School started in a week and a half.
And it was the first time where I started, I actually cried leaving because I've never
taken such a risk in my life this big going to a school where I don't know if I'm going
to get in because nothing's guaranteed.
Nothing is guaranteed.
I had nowhere to live.
I figured everything out, but it was a huge move.
You know, it wasn't like easy.
Yeah.
But even more like that pressure, I love pressure.
I'll take pressure any day.
Like I love it because I thrive in it.
And when you're backs against the wall, you either got to make it or you just break.
And I'm not here to like break.
So I got the grades locked in, got everything, put the DAT again in like 20, I think 19.
And my third DAT attempt from a 15 went to a 16.
Well, devastating.
It was like the tried boot camp.
I tried like different programs and the program I took was actually very good.
Like it wasn't very helpful.
It was just, it wasn't my favorite, you know, but because my GPA and my master's program
was so high, the admissions committee, especially here at Tufts, because they, a lot of it,
and people should know this, like I bury people, admissions directors come to the school in
person and you have meetings with them.
So you actually get to know the person from the beginning and they get to grow with you
in a sense.
You keep them updated.
They really care.
You know what I mean?
And the director here, Dr. Casper, you know, and he really believed in like, in me, he
really believed in my potential and last thing he told me was, oh, me, you're going to get
this interview.
Just, just don't let us down.
Don't let me down.
And I was like, you got it.
I got the interview, got accepted.
And it was like a full circle moment.
Well, like doing the white coat ceremony came up, talked to my parents and, you know, I
try to represent myself and my school the best way I can, you know what I mean?
And, but overall, it was a very long process, a lot of obstacles.
But like we were talking about earlier, you're going to be tested.
Either you're going to go through and figure this stuff out or you're going to be like,
this is too much for me and this is not my path, which is completely fine.
Right.
That's 100% fine.
But I just believe if you want to really be the best at anything in this world, not my
mom always has, like, has told me nothing in life is ever easy.
Nothing great in this world will come easy.
And I really want to make an impact in my field.
I really want to be the best at what I do.
And that like mentality, you know, of always, of not being good enough, like academically
and also working hard and always, you know, wanting to push to the next level because
of my curiosity and my drive.
I really think that's in everyone.
That's 100% every human being and everyone is capable.
It's just we limit ourselves and we're scared or fearful.
So you name it, man.
I've experienced it with this path, at least with coming into like school.
And now, I mean, God's so great, man.
Like I'm at the one of the most competitive schools, one of the best clinical schools
in the country.
Like hands down.
So that's the whole gist in the beginning to at least right now.
That is insane.
I mean, like, just driving, like you don't know where you're going to live down there
and you just kind of just taking it as it goes.
Just to get into dental school.
Which is just, I mean, it'd be one thing if it's like, like, if you're a dentist already
and you know where you're going to go, but like, you're just walking off a cliff right
now basically with your dog.
Oh, 100% was a blind fate.
I'm a huge man of faith, man.
I think like whatever's meant to be will be.
But you also got to work for it.
You can't just pray to God, like, God, give me this, give me that, or...
You got to work for it, you know?
And now in dental school, that mentality, because you've been through so many hurdles...
Continues, with you.
100% it continues.
Like, nothing phases me.
Nothing is hard.
Nothing ever is hard.
You're just not good enough.
So get good.
You know what I mean?
Honestly, we're not at that level.
Every in dental school, every week, if not every day, we're learning something new.
No exaggeration.
And guess what?
In the beginning, you're like, like, right now I left lab.
I was extremely frustrated because I didn't get like the result of what I wanted on this
project and I want to accomplish.
But it's okay because I've had that feeling before and we're going to figure it out.
You know what I mean?
So you got to keep pushing.
And personally, I could either settle for average work, average pre-clinical work, but
I'm not average.
I don't want to do that.
You know what I mean?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So that's how we got to think, you know?
That's like what dental school is like.
They want something that's not going to break.
You know what I mean?
They want something that's gone through things and they've been able to overcome them.
When you see something that, I guess in your case, when you see them that's probably been
harder than doing a practical or something, then you know that you can do it.
Like, what do you experience it like that?
Yeah, I mean, I'm just happy that, like I said, like Dr. Casper at the time, I'm just
happy one.
He told my parents all it took was one person.
And I told him straight out, if it wasn't because of you, I wouldn't even be here.
So it just took one person to bring me in.
And that's like with anyone.
It takes one opportunity, one person, one acceptance between like you accomplishing this and you
not.
And that all has to do with, well, I've never rejected it from multiple schools many years
in a row.
Yeah.
So when someone calls me, it's like, oh, I've been like, you know, they accepted this cycle.
Like, so what?
Honestly, like, the next cycle.
You know what I mean?
Like, I'll say like, but like getting, you know, hopefully I get in, but you know, in
the case, I think I would see it as like an opportunity even to get even better because
you have another whole year to just keep going.
Bro, how much do you want?
If you don't want it, really don't want it.
You'll stop.
You'll just do something else.
You can do something else.
But in like, you took the DAT like what this three times total or four times?
I've been in school all together for 10 years when I graduated with 10 years.
And you're as crazy.
Like, I didn't see three times about to be a fourth.
I signed up, but I signed up and they accepted me a month before I was about to take it.
I was, I was not playing.
I spent thousands of dollars on DAT material, thousands of dollars on the exam itself, thousands
of dollars for the master's program, all to like, it's not cheap.
It's not cheap, but you know what?
Like you got to figure out a way and you got to be completely committed.
You got to be like your life.
Those parties, your friends are not like understanding what you're about.
You only know what you're about and you got to do what's best for you.
So we're talking about like very mature things at a young age.
So it's very difficult to, you know, and don't tell me age is a factor because it's not our
class to average age in Tufts is 24 to 26 years old, like more than 26 side.
So you just have to keep on pushing and keep on doing it.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
And like those are the people, the people that are like reaching 26, those people that
have more, they've seen more, more stuff in their life.
And those are the people who are more, they're battle tested.
They're seasoned, you know, they're seasoned and they're mature.
They know what they want.
Yeah.
Oh, we've had like, we have women that have, you know, gave birth in our class.
We have family, like people who have families.
We have people in their 40s.
Right.
Like there is no excuse if you really love it, you're going to get it.
And it's just a matter of the right time.
That's why even in dental school in life, never compare, never look at your next door
neighbor because it doesn't matter.
Their life is completely separate and their path is completely separate than yours.
We're destined for something completely different than they are.
Right.
And that's something super like in the pre dental community, bro, like comparison is
the first step towards, I'm sorry, it's, it's stupid devastation.
Yeah.
It's completely stupid to ever combine your grades with anyone to compare your grades,
thinking you're better or worse.
It's the most idiotic thing ever.
Cause guess what?
Now looking back, I don't even, who cares about, I don't even remember these conversations
anymore.
Like who cares?
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
Nothing matters.
You're so busy and doing your own thing and building your own life and career.
This matters.
Yeah.
It doesn't, but guess why at that stage, you're so caught up in it, you think it does, right?
So it's important to have a clear mindset and the right mentors and the right people
around you, honestly.
And sometimes that requires to let go of people that you have been with in order to make room
for new ones.
You get you to where you need to be for sure.
You know what I mean?
I mean, all it takes is once.
So I mean, even in my case, like I had, you know, one doctor, we resale our social media
actually, and I still work at his practices this day, like just him dude on Long Island.
So it's just like, I mean, I could have reached out to, but the fact that he had a social
media account and then I reached out to him and he reached out back and then we just kind
of went back and forth and now I'm working as practice.
It's just, and then now I'm meeting all the other doctors that were there.
It's just like a domino effect from one person.
Well, like these relationships, whoever's watching this as well, who goes to offices
and shadows and stuff, keep the relationships open, keep in touch, because you never know
what can happen later on.
You never know why you met that person and what it can bring later on the future.
So I think the skill of, is a huge maturity as well, like keeping relationships open,
you know, with individuals that have impacted and helped you along the way, like your mentors
and different job opportunities that you're talking about.
You never know, you graduate, guess what, you might want to work in a place that you
already are familiar with, that is a great mentor, can teach you and excel you in your
skills.
So you know what I mean?
That's important.
And I mean, like, I guess the thing is that you never know who somebody knows.
So like, you know, you never want to burn bridges when you're leaving somewhere.
Also, you don't want to, you know, if you're shadowing as a pre-dental, they know that
you're there to get ours at some point, right?
They know that.
Yeah, like, listen, these guys are not dumb.
No.
They're not dumb.
And they can tell someone, they can tell a difference between a student who really is
about this craft and someone who's just trying to fill up some hours.
100%.
And they will know who to give their energy and really give you like deeper information
because, you know, a master never gives all the secrets away.
They'll give you some things, but you got to create your own, you know, art.
And make it into the tools, but they won't tell you how to use them properly because
that takes years of mastery.
But if you got a really passionate person, a kid who really wants it, that's so evident.
It shows that they're here for more than a paycheck, more just like the application
purposes are here because they really are interested in this art and this field.
And that's completely different.
You know, those are the kids that will come back after they've applied to dental school,
after they've done all these things like those are the kids that really want.
100%.
And during dental school, guess who you need advice?
You call, you make a phone call right off the bat.
They'll be there for you.
You know, that's amazing.
Not a lot of people have that.
You know what I mean?
And overall, I think that you really need to build an internal self-confidence in who
you are.
And you got to stay true to that because, and you shouldn't change that when you come to
dental school.
You understand what I'm saying?
When you come to who you are and your heart and your principles and don't get affected
by everyone else's energies and what they're doing.
You know what I mean?
Because you're not going to be friends with everyone in the family.
It's impossible.
Yeah.
You see what I'm saying?
But you stay true to who you are and what you're about.
And that because that's what got you here and that's what people love about you.
Don't be apologetic.
Do the right thing.
Bring that energy every day.
Don't be apologetic and be true to who you are.
And that will get you really, really far here.
No, for sure.
But I guess the biggest hurdle for the pre-dental now is that because like the DAT preparation
stuff is getting so advanced, like the scores are going up, the GPAs are going up.
Right.
I think for this cycle, I've been looking at the averages now, they're like 21s or maybe
last for last class, but like 20, 21s, maybe 22s for some schools.
I know like Harvard would be like 24.
Columbia is like 24.
So everyone is kind of feeling some more pressure to do better and to like get over this.
Because I think before the general consensus was like, okay, the average is like an 18
and 19.
So I think that's there, but like everything's going up and everyone's actually getting
more clinical experience.
People are assisting a lot more.
People are shouting a lot more.
So the biggest thing for pre-dentals right now is to not get sucked in to be like thinking
that they're like everybody else.
I guess like staying in true to themselves.
I think people are now trying to check more boxes off because they think that's going
to separate them more.
I don't know what you see, but that's kind of what I've been saying lately.
And I'm not sure.
In a couple of years, I might even be even more crazy at the competition and all that.
Honestly, that's insane.
It's getting...
I'd be a key score to shoot that high is a lot of pressure.
It's crazy.
That's a lot of...
You know, it's funny.
And no disrespect to any...
I don't know.
I feel like I would never...
Even for...
I would never say something that I haven't been through.
And I would...
Because I don't like to do that.
I want to talk about things that I have in walk to walk.
You know what I mean?
Yeah, of course.
Even with my work on Instagram that I post and the operas or just the hands-on stuff
I do, I never post it without getting it run through the professors.
You know what I mean?
So, it's just...
That's why I post the grade on it too is just to show like...
I don't think it's just whatever.
You know what?
It's acceptable.
But...
I think that's the beauty of the masters is because you take yourself away from this
ocean of applicants and you're more into like a pond.
A pond that has a lot more attention.
You know what I mean?
That people from these schools are coming to get to know you a bit more than just an
application on paper.
Like personally, just by my grades, I wouldn't have been here.
It took someone to get to know me and know my...
I did obviously there were grades as well.
But there was a relationship there with the backing up of my grades and my application.
And I mean, I'm doing great here.
Yeah.
You're honestly...
Like you're honestly...
It's doing great.
I love where I am.
And so, you can't get cut up with the grades.
The grades are there.
The test scores need to be there for a certain reason because a lot of people are trying to
go to dental school nowadays a lot.
They don't want...
They don't like the med life.
They don't want to work those long hours.
They want to have a life outside of the profession.
And dentistry is one of the most appealing medical professions in the world.
You know what I mean?
And it's definitely honorable to be in this profession.
It's dope.
It's awesome.
And by regarding the exam scores, if you got it, great.
If you can get it, that's awesome.
But more than that, it's important to know the things that we're talking about.
You know what I mean?
You can't get lost with just checking off boxes and filling out requirements.
You're not a robot.
If you're a human being that adds a style to everything they do, you have your own personal
touch and you definitely need to understand that.
And I think more than anything, that why that motor that runs you, that drive needs to be
there because if it's not, you're going to quit when things get hard, when you don't
get the exam scores you thought you would get.
And guess what?
These numbers don't define who you are.
I guarantee you that.
And never let a grade define who you are as a person.
Unfortunately, coming up as a kid, all we do are study hard for exam.
If we get an A, we're happy.
If we get an F, we're destroyed.
That's how weak we've become to let a grade dictate our emotions.
For more than that, you know what I mean?
And also, I think a huge piece of advice or insight, whatever you want to call it, to
pre-dense, they got to understand the name of the school.
Doesn't matter.
You got to look at the clinical experience that that school gives.
You got to understand how great of professors they have there.
And obviously, you don't know the behind the scenes.
There's an extent to information you know, but look at the graduation rates.
Look how many people from the school, from the undergrad, let the dental school get jobs.
What are the salaries looking like?
What's the demographics they're working for?
Because a lot of these schools, and I could name a bunch off the top of my head that undergrads
would think are prestigious, they're heavily based in students who want to do specialty.
So guess what?
When you're in specializing, all you're worried about even in the other schools are grades,
so guess where you're spending less time in?
In a clinic.
You're spending less time in your hand skills.
You're spending less time in pre-clinics.
You're spending less time in clinic.
You're worried about the OMFS exam, you're worried about applications again, you're
worried about getting high grades, high grades, high grades.
You're not investing in your hand skills, you're not investing in your diagnostic skills,
your eye for detail.
You're not getting the exposure you need.
to be ready to work in the real world.
And never come into school set that she wanna specialize.
Don't do that.
Cause you don't know how hard the classes aren't yet here.
And you don't even know anything about OMAFAS.
I don't care if you've told me you've worked
for an assistant OMAFAS, there's always those people.
I worked at OMAFAS, my dad's more of a,
this is like, so what?
That's not you.
Yeah.
That's not you.
You stand academically in dental school.
You don't know where you stand with your hands.
So you don't even know maybe if you would love
to discover another specialty.
Yeah.
You might find you love something else in dentistry.
Right.
So setting expectations is a worst thing possible.
Expectations and standards are different.
If you're expecting something
and it doesn't happen that way,
you're extremely disappointed.
But setting a standard for yourself
that you as a person perform and want to give it your all
in everything that you do,
that's a contract you sign with yourself.
And that's something that you can never let down on yourself
cause that's who you are.
You understand what I'm saying?
So these are the little differences
that one needs to understand.
The prestigious names,
maybe an undergrad, those names are, you know, prestigious.
They have a history, they have great,
like when I was working at a restaurant before coming
to school here, when I,
when people ask me what am I doing?
What a tough, I mean, I like the reaction
like I was saying from strangers.
You know, that's, they awesome.
So to honestly, with the luck of the draw and like some,
you know, I ended up at a great school.
And, but honestly, that wouldn't mean anything.
Well, I don't back it up.
If I don't utilize what the school has to offer.
Every specialty in house,
we have an amazing research department.
And man, our like clinics,
I mean, our patients that we see,
the doctors that we have,
the different residents that are here,
that are teaching us and guiding us
and literally putting us in the best position possible
for us to learn.
And I'm not kidding at all.
Like I'm not exaggerating.
It's amazing.
You know, and that's what I'm here for.
And the money, that's another thing.
Money, it's so expensive.
I do interviews for like kids in the breakout rooms
for the, and they ask me questions.
And one of the biggest questions always is money,
you know, for Tufts at least or school in Boston.
You can't put price on your career.
This is like an investment you're making in yourself.
You can't put price on that.
Yeah.
While I want to go to a school
that's not well, you know, really respected
and doesn't really have the clinical,
you know, history to back it up.
Yeah.
And you know, I don't know if you know,
but I've seen it in my own eyes when I work
in like a private high end practice
and we hire a new associated Dennis,
it didn't click back then, but it clicks now.
Why there is a 90 day grace period of working
because you're being tested, you're seeing how great,
not only your clinical skills are your diagnosis skills,
your people skills, how you present treatment,
how you carry yourself.
Right.
The aspects and approaches you take to things.
There's so many things that dentistry involves.
They're gonna be good and great.
You gotta be great at all of them.
Yeah.
So go to a school that really gets you right,
that really has the resources in place
that you can go and ask questions and go see,
you know, add more to your bucket in a sense,
invest in yourself.
So these are all important things to keep in mind.
I think like even going back to the prestigious
undergraduates thing, I watched a YouTube video the other day
and this kid went to a community college for undergrad
just because he had to,
but ended up getting to Columbia
from a community college.
So like, where you go to undergrad doesn't really define
where you're gonna go over down to school.
Like honestly dude, honestly, like if I'm being honest,
like going to a community college,
I feel like they put, you have more,
you might have an even greater focus
in someone that goes to Ivy League for undergrad
because you're so much more motivated
to do certain things and you like seek out opportunities.
They probably even have like better faculty to mentor you
and like get you through to where you wanna go.
100% right.
I'll do grad where you go.
Those not matter.
It doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter at all.
Zero.
No.
It matters on what you feel that you got out of it.
What you get out of it matters,
but you can get out of any school to be honest.
Yeah.
100% and if you're applying to dental school, guess what?
It's a huge investment
and you gotta really understand where you're going.
You wanna be placed in a right position to succeed.
You really do.
So instead of being so worried and caught up with the application,
if you have the grade and you have everything in place
and you're ready to shoot,
aim for the great targets,
aim for places that you've done extensive research in.
Reach out to students on social media like that are there.
And listen, I've been,
I just told my whole story here really.
First generation parents or immigrants
came from a family of zero doctors,
been through hell and back academically, everything.
You've been through.
Well, I know how these people feel.
Like I understand individuals who are in these positions
and I have no problem ever getting like
five or 10 minutes of my time.
That's the crazy part.
And I feel like any pre-dental,
literally look at any of,
I guess you were like a dental influencer.
You consider like a dental influencer on Instagram yet?
That's what they call them now.
So I don't, a dental student on Instagram.
I am a dental like, yeah.
I mean, people come up to me and say what you just said,
like an influencer.
Yeah.
But I don't see myself as a former.
I don't like, I don't really let social,
I don't do social media.
I don't let it control me.
I'm not doing it because of clout.
Yeah.
Like I said, I came to dental school
and if you notice, the only thing I post on social media
is dentals, originally my work.
Yeah.
I saw that no dental student in the country,
dental student in the country, post their work at no school.
Day in the life, that's great.
No disrespect.
That's cute.
That's awesome.
Like you're getting your Starbucks,
you're going to your SimClin.
That's awesome.
But what are you producing?
You know, I didn't like, why aren't you posting your work?
I don't know.
But I love my work.
I love the things that we are doing.
I love that history is art.
And that's what I post.
I post my work and it just so happens
that people enjoy seeing that.
And ultimately, you know, I took the, not the risk
or coming out of my comfort zone
because I really have no shame of explaining my story,
explaining my grades.
And turns out there are a lot of people who feel the same way.
And it's great that I have been a part of their journey.
And that's awesome.
I think that's the biggest compliment I could ever
get from someone is that I was part of their journey.
And I'm really humbled by that to be honest.
I had that mentality with everything.
We do work.
We do our stuff.
And then on to the next one.
And on to the next one.
I don't want to just be good at one thing.
I wanted to keep that excellence.
And when G1s come here and we meet, they're hungry as well.
And I would love to, and I love to,
like share that knowledge with them too.
So on Instagram is cool.
It's definitely awesome.
I love content creation.
Like now I'm starting this whole new, just
reels back to back of just like asking dental students
what people want to know.
Yeah.
Yeah, I thought that was pretty cool too.
It's like inside.
Because I mean, that's just like direct to the point, right?
It's not looking through someone else's like Instagram posts.
It's just a person.
Yeah, I mean, it's just been.
People realize soon enough through the interviews,
because I'm going to do one every night.
We got people from all backgrounds, all walks of life,
all situations.
Like this is not a far-fetched accomplishment.
This is 100% doable, man.
It's 100% doable.
And guess what?
Now more than ever, actually the admissions team
told us this before the pre-download that we
have once a year.
Because of COVID and how they required all schools
required less shadowing and less assisting,
now on top of the grades, expectation of the grades,
they are expecting high shadowing hours now
and high experience, because they just really values that.
I'm sure a lot of dental schools nowadays value that.
But that's a huge thing.
We want to build a sense of community
where you do care about everything outside of dental
school, that you care about your community,
that you care about the underserved,
you care about your experience, your exposure.
So these all really do matter.
And when you come into a new environment at school,
hopefully this is an application process now,
and students are going to start getting accepted into school,
you cannot be like, I mean, you can if you want.
But if you want to really push it,
you can't be like, all right, my job is done now.
I'm here.
Now let's just walk through these steps.
No.
Can't do that.
My mom, she's told me again, she told me,
this is just the beginning.
You did all this, this is just the start.
And I say that, so we have a pre-neural society
that's not broken out.
I always tell kids who are asking about the pre-neural process
of freshman and sophomores, I'm like,
the goal isn't really to get into dental school.
Like the goal is to become a dentist in the future.
So a lot of kids will just get into dental school
and they'll just stop.
They won't, I mean, I don't know, I don't know this.
I don't know that.
Look, I think, like do you want to be great
at what you do, honest to God?
Like if we weren't doing this podcast, we're just talking.
Did you, like where is your mindset?
Like what is your expectation for,
like what's your standard for yourself?
What are you, what's your vision, I guess?
Oh, for the podcast?
No, for yourself.
Oh, like myself, I mean, I-
In this field.
In this field, I want to become like,
I want to become a great dentist,
but also become a great like patient.
I want to have really good patient care skills.
Cause I realized through my experiences as a dental assistant,
how important that is.
Like honestly, that's 50% of dentistry.
Oh, 50% is filled.
It's 75, if not 80% of dentistry.
And you just hit it on the head.
We're in the business of hospitality.
And that's exactly what my like life goal honestly is.
Is to not only clinically be excellent,
but to also create an experience
that is unforgettable for each and every one of my patients.
Honest to God.
And unfortunately, there are not a lot of people
that have the hospitality aspect of things
because not only do you have to be good with people,
you got to communicate in ways where people understand,
but you also have to create an environment
where people are comfortable.
Trust you.
And that's just like what interests me so much
about dentistry.
It's like an all encompassing field.
You got to bring a patient who's in pain
or whatever discomfort, they're not happy with aesthetics.
You got to not sell your treatment plan,
but you have to like make them join you on this journey.
Cause you guys are on this journey together,
patient and doctor to fix them, fix their issues.
So wherever they are.
100%
It's saying like it's such a great thing
and like it's so much more,
it is also very like hand skill based and stuff like that.
You'll get there if you really dedicate yourself to it.
But the other side is you're not seeing a mannequin anymore,
right?
You're seeing a person who's like,
you got to adhere to their needs and everything.
So that's kind of what is so interesting about dentistry
to me is that like, you know,
when I wrote my personal statement, I wrote like,
I said, I want to be able to restore the oral cavity,
but the oral cavity is also a vessel for dialogue.
And that's where dentistry becomes,
is why I love dentistry so much.
So like, and I see it every day,
where you probably see it,
you're probably going to see it,
you probably seen it a lot.
So that's just what's insane of me.
And that goes away for them,
then checking off a box or going to orgo to for a class
or taking a test.
So that's like, it's crazy.
They're always, you got to have a vision,
but you also have to give it your all
at what you have in front of you today
to get you to the next step.
You have to have a vision of what you're aiming towards,
but you also have to be excellent in the little things.
Yeah.
So when you're excellent at little things,
the littlest things, being organized,
doing the work to the fullest,
your brain starts developing this,
what excellence looks like.
And that all carries on to your patients.
You know, waking up, having your routine, being clean,
having a clean area, setting your bed,
making your bed, washing your dishes,
these little things,
that's how little I'm talking about.
Make, why are you in a way
where you're not going to take shortcuts
and you really give it your all to everything you do?
And that translates into your profession.
The way you dress, the way you look,
the way you smell, the way your clothes are,
is a representation of you at all aspects.
Like people look at you,
and based on how you look
and how you present yourself,
that's a representation of your life, your work.
You don't understand what I'm saying?
At least that's how I think, that's my mentality.
You know what I mean?
So if one doesn't take care of all aspects of their life,
that I've been taught by my parents,
how are you gonna have,
how are you gonna be great at other things in your life?
If you can't make a simple, like your bed,
or whatever the case may be, right?
So these are all things that come in play,
and when you come in dental school,
it's academically, people are different,
like playing fields, 100% they are,
but overall, no one's ever picked up a handpiece,
no one's ever been in clinic before, so it's game on.
You know what I mean?
In a good way.
And if you're yourself, where you stand, where you are,
and like you said, you said something important,
like if you stick to it with the right guidance,
and we believe, like how they tell you,
like we believe in perfect practice.
Remember, they just practice,
you repeat the same thing over and over again,
and get the same result.
Strive for perfection, have the right guidance,
and also that ethic, that work ethic,
and you stay at it,
and you can definitely be clinically like excellent.
You know what I mean?
So there's so many things you could talk about, you know?
And but that's why I wanted to ask you early on,
what's the biggest thing right now
that pre-dense are like really worried about?
So, but also one thing, man, like don't be set
on a school either.
Right.
Keep your options open.
And because if they accept you,
at the end of the day, you're gonna be a doctor.
You know what I mean?
Yeah, every school, all that matters.
Every school's gonna get the degree if you get through it.
So.
Yeah man, the first person in the class,
the last person in the class will be a doctor.
It's all like undergrad, you know what I mean?
Yeah.
So.
There are things to do with the mind.
Of course.
And I think that's, you know,
pre-dials might go to undergraduate school
and the undergraduate school has a dental school
associated with it.
And that's like, from day one,
they're probably like attracted to that school
that they have to go there, you know what I mean?
But when the day comes, like you wanna keep it open
because you never know.
You might get like a better opportunity somewhere else
and you might know people there
that you really think that you can succeed in that environment.
You never wanna, you never wanna like close off your mind
in certain situations and you know,
whatever route you take,
you're gonna have maybe a different journey, you know?
So.
It's never a good idea to close an opportunity.
It's always great to keep it open and also explore it.
Explore it, take time, do your research.
If you're lucky enough to get accepted
within the first, you know, round in a sense,
that first early on in December,
research, look at your options,
go visit, invest in visiting the school,
go visit the school, go be there in person, you know,
walk around, see if you belong here.
Is this the school for me?
You know?
Yeah.
These are all important things
that I wanted to take into consideration I think.
For sure.
I mean, so let's talk a little bit about like dental school.
So, you know, you get the tufts.
What are your initial impressions of that?
Did you ever visit it beforehand or no?
I came for my interview in person, time,
but it was like literally for a night
and I'll leave early the next day.
But that's the only school I ever got accepted to.
So it was just, you know, that was where I'm going.
So, but tufts specifically, not me,
I'm not being biased honestly at all.
There's a great sense of community here.
I think that's a good place to start.
You want to have a good community.
You want to go to a place that has great resources
and also instructors that really love what they're doing
and to connect and find those instructors
that are really passionate about their craft.
And I think, you know, I don't really know
how other schools do their academics,
but we are the only school in the country that as a D1,
we have a mind, like body and wellness type class,
like a meditation type class that's required for us to take.
The only school in the country.
So not only that, but you're not hit
with all your classes all at once.
It's like you start anatomy with the mind, body,
wellness class with this other like that elective,
but this other sort of elective type class
that complements your anatomy course, right?
You do that for a couple of weeks,
and then anatomy dies down and starts to wrap up
and then you start your next course.
You see what I'm saying?
So it transitions class into class into class.
And then when you got the hang of things,
then things slowly start to pick up,
but you're ready to handle it.
I think that's huge.
I think the system of like how the school is set up
is a huge part of your success, right?
Because before you had X amount of time
and full time to study for your exams,
but now, bro, we have times where we're taking exams
every week, if not two a week,
plus the competencies for our hands on work.
You see what I'm saying?
So resources in place if the students so chooses to utilize them.
Mind, body, wellness, meditation,
there's confidential like private meetings you could have
with a staff member here if anything's going like,
you know, difficult in your life
or the mental health aspect of things.
It's here.
You know, we have that like covered.
I think that's awesome.
I mean, what's the law?
What's the law of meditation course?
No school, no school.
Not only that, we're extremely diverse.
Matter of fact, with the most on paper
and obviously person diverse school in the country, 100%.
And why is that awesome?
Because you get to meet cultures
like you're saying the hospitality aspect of things, right?
How can you connect with your patients
who are gonna be cultured and diverse
if you have never met a Persian person,
an Asian person, an Indian person, an African person,
a Caribbean, a Latin American.
You know what I'm saying?
That's a great point.
I actually never thought about that.
How your own classmates, how your own classmates
can shape who you are.
On the first side, that's where you're talking to a patient.
And oh my God, yeah, I've tried that food before.
Boom.
I've been to Thailand.
I've been to, I know someone from Korea.
Right.
So I'm gonna say a little word in Korean.
That one little connect, like when someone speaks
your language, even knows one word.
Yeah.
Like oh, that's awesome.
Yeah, he's always like connection.
Yeah.
So it's a huge investment.
I mean, that's the opportunity to have the most diverse class
in the whole United States at a professional dental school
where you can connect, have the opportunity to connect
and get to know different people from all over the world.
Right.
That's a huge investment.
Where are you gonna get that at?
You know what I mean?
So that's another huge plus, right?
And then ultimately Tufts is really known for their clinic.
Mm-hmm.
And their pre-exit and their clinic specifically.
And now that I'm here, I see why.
The level of excellence that they hold students to
is amazing.
Amazing.
Our requirements are just where they need to be.
You know, they're appropriate.
We have the facility, we have everything that we need here.
I mean, and also guess what?
No, we call UG like the upper grad, you know,
the residents, like we have specialties in-house.
All the specialties are pretty much in-house.
You can go on different floors
and you can ask them, can I shadow?
Can I assist on an implant case?
Can I assist on a perio case?
Can I assist on a prost case or a oral surgery case?
Whatever the case may be.
You understand what I'm saying?
So to have these resources right there,
it's a huge investment.
It's a huge plus, you know what I mean?
It's huge.
So like I said, from the community to the resources,
to the institution, all the opportunities,
the exposure that you're getting,
the exposure you're getting alone is everything, I think.
You know what I mean?
And then at a third year, when you're third year,
you have a course, a business course,
with one of the most amazing, honest to God,
she's the best professor.
She is not a doctor, but she, her husband,
if I'm not mistaken, her three, her niece,
one of her children just graduated,
but the other two have already graduated
and she owns, she runs, I mean, they all own practices.
So first hand, you get to learn about practice management.
Yeah.
With all the Excel software and sheets that you need
to navigate your expenses and what you need,
how much you can save up, yada, yada, yada.
It's huge.
So basically like kind of prepping you
for private practice.
When you wanna own your own practice or work in it,
you know, it's crazy.
I mean, I gain you in that mentality,
like what it really takes.
And you start seeing what it takes and we,
you don't have time, four years is not a lot of time.
No, not really.
It's not at all, nothing.
Every dentist I've talked to is like,
oh, man, you're not even gonna be running any more.
It's like a bare minute and they're right.
But you can try to do your best to set yourself up
and work extremely hard for a couple of years
to be at the very least above average when you graduate.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
That's important, I think.
Yeah.
I mean, that's crazy.
I mean, so where do you see your, like you're a D2 now,
you're a finishing D2 year.
So.
Yeah.
So like when you, so in during D3 year,
do you have to start applying to residency
during that year?
Kind of like how college is or.
The end of your D3 year, you're gonna start applying.
Like it's like your junior year.
Yeah.
You see what I'm saying?
Your junior year, you start applying to see where you're at
so you could match or not match,
but get accepted to if you wanna go ahead and do.
But you start realizing a general dentist
can do so much nowadays.
Oh yeah, yeah.
It's like meaning they can if they wanted to do really
a lot of things that special she does,
but do you really wanna go do three more years?
Like, you know, do you really wanna spend like four more years
for oral surgery, for example,
or like three more years or two more years
on top of what you've already done?
Maybe.
But that's honestly, like I said,
it's a case by case basis.
Everyone has different vision, different paths,
different like goals, you know?
So it's important to keep your options open though
when you come in as a pre-dead, be like a sponge.
Really get to know everything about everything.
See your options, see what you love,
see where you're passionate.
Don't just go into all my fests
because you think it's something special, you know?
It's a great specialty,
but don't just go into all my fests
because someone's told you or you don't know anything yet.
Yeah.
Take a second, take a year, two years maybe,
maybe even three years.
Some students decided to do it like their last,
like, you know, last minute.
Yeah, a lot.
So that's important to think about.
I mean, that's crazy.
So what kind of stuff are you,
so it was do you want, when does Tufts
put you guys into like clinics or not clinics,
but like, when do you guys start working on hand skills?
That's Tufts.
So your first semester, you have a course called,
at least how it's set up right now,
dental anatomy, that's your first exposure to hand skills.
Okay, it's a theory portion of dental anatomy,
but then you also have like three wax up projects.
So you gotta start waxing.
Okay, you wax up different things
at different levels of difficulty,
different teeth at different levels of difficulty.
But obviously you're learning about the line angle,
the line angles, the anatomy of the tooth,
what you gotta look for.
And then you go ahead and replicate,
you know, what the tooth is supposed to look like.
You build it up.
That's your first exposure.
Then Operative One starts in the spring.
You go out once you break, you come back.
That's where you get your high speed,
your low speed hand piece, your instruments,
all your materials and boom.
You got an X amount of projects
to start learning every week.
You get introduced to a new project
that requires a new approach.
And that's the first set.
And then you obviously go into your second year
and you do Operative Two,
which for us, Operative One is more like Class One,
restoration, Class One prep, Class One restoration,
Class Two prep, Class Two restoration, Class Three prep.
Same thing, it goes on and on and on and on
on all the preps, all the classes.
Class One, Two, Three, Four, Five,
and then a mix of, you know, you do a malgum,
we learn how to do a malgum,
and in that recvision obviously on different teeth
of the mouth to really challenge you and all that stuff.
And then there's a theory portion as well to that class.
There's a practical and a theory portion.
Then you go into Operative Two.
Now what we're doing for us,
at least we did like diastomaclosures,
aesthetics, like veneers,
preps rebuilding like a, you know,
like a mesial distal and occlusal
or building up a mesial occlusal
and the galingual cuss out of, you know,
so it gets more challenging.
Rightfully so, I mean, it has to.
Then your spring semester of your second year,
which is what I'm finishing up now,
you got your complete denture classes,
your removable partial denture classes,
your fixed props implant dentistry.
You have an ortho class,
but we don't really have a project part of that.
So, you know, Endo, Endo's huge.
You get into more classes like that
and the different Aepido.
Yeah.
You know, so it's all of these now that we do.
And then we start going into now less than a month in July,
we can start seeing patients.
And I think one of the,
also one of the coolest things that we do have here
at Tufts is a big little system.
So when you come in as a D1, you have a D2 big,
you have a D3 big,
and you also have a D4 big.
Grand big or something.
Like a G big, yeah.
And then like, so what happens is you already have
sort of someone that can guide you along the way
and give you a heads up because the fourth year big,
those patients will eventually become your patients
under that roster.
Yeah.
And you can like, you can like shadow on the system
while they're doing their stuff.
Right.
It's on like different classes, heads up on like,
what's the difficult classes, the patients, what to expect.
So I'm really, you know, I had a great relationship with my big
prior to coming into school, but I also match it with
someone like from your area or maybe, you know, somewhere
that you guys connect as well.
Like, you know, so it's a great system for support.
And they help you a lot, especially when you go to clinic
to get you going.
Great.
I mean, that's great.
Still, I mean, so you're gonna be seeing patients,
you said July.
So do you know like the process of how that starts up?
Or like, do you have to find your patients?
Like, do they just get passed out?
What's the deal logistics of all that?
Yeah, right now, actually, it's pretty cool.
So like, what is it?
Yeah.
So in the May early, like June, we see, we can see
patients on July 5th.
Okay.
Right now, what's happening?
Yeah.
So what's happening is the fourth year is just graduated.
Yeah.
So the third years will be, it's this like weird phase right
now.
Like the third years are about to be fourth years.
Right.
And like in the year, they're about to be third years.
So what happens is the fourth years, they pass their patients
down to the third years.
Now, when you get patients, at least here, we have certain
requirements, let's say like 10 crowns, we've got to do,
like hypothetically, that's not an actual amount, but let's
just say for this conversation, 10 crowns, hypothetically, we
have to do, and we got to do, you know, 20 operative procedures
before we graduate, for example, and perio and whatever.
But those patients will get passed down to the third year,
you know, because we got to all graduate.
So whatever that, you know, that third year is low on,
they'll pretty much keep those patients and then pass down
the rest to the second year who has nothing and get them
going.
So at least for, and in the whole class is divided into six
different group practices, which means like the second floor
here at Tufts, the third floor and the fourth floor are like
the dental school, like we call the UG undergrad, like which
is dental school, the UG floors.
That's where we work on our patients and anything else that
we need, like that's more extensive, we send them up to the
specialty departments, right?
So the whole class of 200 and some change is divided into
six different group practices, so two on each floor, which
have their own like head instructors pretty much, but then
all the faculty and the different specialties rotate upon
these floors to help students on there every day, if that
makes sense.
So we're all divided different floors, different group
practices we call it.
And then so now I'll have a roster of about, I'll start with
five and I believe I can go up to like 35 or 30 or 35 patients,
but, and that's a lot, honestly.
Then obviously if you have patients who don't come, we have
this whole system, this protocol that we go by that we can
dismiss them if they have an answer, but my point is you can
always bring fresh patients, say like new patients, and
there's opportunities for that, to be honest.
So it's a great system.
So then I was, we're now a patient of like roster of five,
just to get me going, you know, because I gotta learn Axiom,
I gotta learn the computer, I gotta learn some things too
that I haven't been really exposed to.
So ease our way in and then we can go ahead and do our thing.
So, and this is all up to you.
So now we don't have a fixed schedule.
We still have certain exams that we got to take in classes in
our third year, but regarding seeing patients, that's on you.
You schedule your own patients, you call your own patients,
you set them up, everything is on you.
We're not like, I don't know how other schools do it or
anywhere else, but nothing is set up for you.
Like assigned.
Yeah.
So if you're not getting your requirements down in a timely
manner, then that's on you and you're not going to graduate.
You know what I mean?
And in the mix of your third years, not only are you seeing
patients, but you're starting your rotations.
You're starting your externship, right?
You got to your boards.
This all takes time.
Yeah.
So scheduling really comes into play strategically planning it.
And at the end of the day, just getting it done.
And have you seen, so you said D2 could get some patients, right?
Defending on what D3s don't need, I guess.
Right.
Have you seen patients already or where are you in that process?
Yes.
So I've been assisting often.
Like I've been in the, my whole mentality right now is I've been
a lot on the pre-execlins side.
I haven't seen patients like as a provider.
I haven't seen patients as like a provider yet.
So I will be seeing them in July as a provider.
Yeah.
But my whole mentality is like my brain, I think is so used to
right now exams and pre-clin projects that I'm really getting
like back to how I was before like dental school in a sense,
like the whole assisting and stuff.
Yeah.
You know, getting that patient interaction back and flowing,
which will connect, you know, for me, at least it's very good
and organic, I feel like.
But also being extremely curious in the different tabs and buttons
and forms that need to be filled out and consents that need to be
signed and how the process works.
Because in schools completely, everything needs to be monitored.
Every step needs to be signed off on and they got their old protocol
that I would love to get ahead on and start understanding before
I actually see my first like patient, you know.
Yeah.
I think like so many Dallas students from cyber, they basically
just said like every little thing that you do there, you know,
it's like just a check on a patient.
You have to like get a very good job.
So like it just takes forever.
Like appointments take like three hours for that reason.
Oh yeah.
Our appointments are three hours, morning, afternoon, and evening.
So you got your 9 a.m. to 12.
Yeah.
One to four and four to seven.
Right.
So pretty much three hour appointments vary.
Everything is longer, but you know, it's fine because at the
end of the day, you could be organized, you can set yourself up.
You can do a lot of things, do it well.
And three hours, honestly, it seems like a long time, but it's not.
Learning.
Yeah.
You know, half the time you're just like filling out forms.
Being out.
Sure.
You may not feel confident in your hand skills yet.
Right.
You know what I mean?
And it might take you longer to do things.
And there's no shame in that.
You know, so that's our system.
It's at least so far.
I mean, obviously there's a lot more depth into things.
And we could talk about it, you know, for hours, to be honest, but I
think from a pre-dentalist perspective, for the school I go to,
this is how the system is like set up, you know, and I call
it, like culture and community is really important.
You know what I mean?
And you got to be in a place that sets you up for success.
Right.
I think that's, that's, I mean, maybe it's a pre-dental, it might be hard
to visualize what that is until you step in the building and you see
some stuff.
But like, I guess as best you can.
I mean, do you recommend just like looking up the school's website,
kind of getting a feel of talking to students?
I guess is the best way, obviously.
But.
Yeah.
I mean, even if you get it, like, let's say you're just applying to
school as you want to just be accepted somewhere.
Let's say you get like two acceptances.
Contact your admissions office, ask questions, go there in person if
you can, and they're more than happy to give you stats.
I mean, in our presentation day for our interview, because we have a
presentation day and then we also used to be all one day, like when
we were in person for interviews, you have your presentation and then
you have lunch and then you have your one-on-one interview.
Right?
Now it's like a presentation day, but my point is during that day,
they told us their graduation race, they told us like what's going on,
the diversity in the class, and these things matter.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
So, ask the right questions.
I guess you got to know what questions to ask too, because as a
people, I didn't know what to, like, well, I just want to get it.
You know, worried about like, oh, I'm going to get it.
I'm going to be like, oh, what did you do three years?
Yeah, because honestly, in any school from, you know, the Northeast to the
West Coast to the South, we have the same science courses.
We're going to learn the same procedures.
It's just the systems that are set in place.
Which school can maximize you as a person?
Every person is different, right?
Every person is looking for different things.
So, find what you're looking for.
Know what you sort of want to do just to get your, you know, curiosity
going and your skills go in and see what school best is tailored towards you.
Yeah.
I mean, that's the same as the game, I guess.
You know, if you...
You guys think about like, when you graduate too, right?
You have a lot of debt.
Yeah.
I was thinking of podcasts.
It's pretty interesting.
It was like, the guy was like, I'm very curious to see what this generation
of dental students are going to be doing, because they have a level of debt
that has never been experienced before.
The dentist working today did not have a debt we have, meaning are they going to pay it
off?
What are they going to do in different ways?
They're going to navigate to pay this debt off.
So, it all starts from the beginning.
It starts from the moment you step into school, what you're doing to invest in yourself
to ultimately do amazing work, take care of your community and your patients at the
highest level.
Right.
And then you do rightfully so, get compensated for it.
So, if you go to a well-respected school and your skills are great, there's no reason
you should...
Like, the money is a great representation in a sense of what you have to offer, right?
Especially when you go in for an associate position.
So, the name, the respect, I guess, matters at the institution to go to.
Yeah.
It's a very well-respected school.
Yeah.
So, and that's not easy.
No.
But these are all things to keep in mind.
For sure.
I mean...
This has been great.
I mean, I feel like this is like a really good insight.
A little different.
You usually like when I have...
When we talk about dental school and stuff, it's more like step by step by step by step.
This has been more of like a...
What do you call it?
I mean, it's just been more of like a real...
Like, you know, it's just been real, I guess, is the way to say it.
Yeah.
I mean, behind...
Because I mean, yeah, because when you look, when I'm looking at you, right, I just see
that, oh, you're in tough saddle.
But I'm not seeing what it took to get there and like how hard it was and all the stuff
you went through and like...
Like, now it just encompasses the entire...
Well, what you worked for, you know what I mean?
Honestly, I guess I was talking to you this way because I didn't really analyze or look
back at why I'm smoking like this, but I feel like...
I feel like we don't know why we do things sometimes.
You know, I feel like we don't know the whole big picture.
Yeah.
Why am I doing this?
Why am I doing these steps for what?
Okay, then I find out later on, but you know, from the back time I come from and the things
that I've been through, I just feel like I can share some of the things and bring it all
together.
You know, if this is really for you and if Dennis, he's really for you, find out first,
what it is, honestly, how you're working at real offices, getting that exposure, see
if it's for you.
See if you really love this game because this is not a team sport.
This is an individual sport.
It's you and the patient.
It's you, your tools.
I'm not going to be drilling while you're drilling.
You know what I mean?
It's all you.
It's an individual sport, but you have a community of people that you become close with that
are on the same mindset as you and you guys work together in a sense.
You build this like community of excellence.
So if you're pre-dead watching this, decided this is, this feel is really for you and you
love it because there are going to be moments that will test that love for the game.
And you're going to have to make a decision that, no, this is really what I want to do
and I'm going to go through these failures.
There's a lot of money involved, a lot of time involved, and a lot of adversity involved,
and you have to go through all of it.
You know what I mean?
Because when you're here, you're going to be paying a lot of money.
You can't go back honestly because if you leave school, guess what?
You're a hundred and some thousand dollars and that's a lot of money for any average
person.
For me, that's a lot of money as well.
So surround yourself with people that are also driven and serious about their business.
Have a balance of life as well, but try to do your best to get across that line.
And once you're there, don't stop running.
Be extremely humble, grateful, and hardworking for what you want.
You see what I'm saying?
And it's really that simple.
So, and I say, if I can do it, you can do it 100%.
You know, there's no doubt.
This has been a really cool opportunity to do a great interview.
Yeah, it was super cool.
I mean, I feel like everyone that listens to this is just going to be like, we're going
to do a brick wash or after this.
That's the goal, right?
Yeah, like my message is to read dental's knowledge.
Just kind of like, around yourself.
Don't look at SDN or Reddit or whatever the hell.
Oh, wait.
And those are the worst places to get advice.
Like, yeah, but what?
Ground myself.
Reach out to dental students.
You have Instagram, probably.
Reach out to dental students, ask them questions, ask them real questions, maybe like call them
if they were, if you're close with them.
Look, and build the right connections.
Yeah.
Build, build genuine connections, genuine, excuse me, connection with people that can
help you get to the next step.
Those people for me were literally, remember how I told you that woman at the, like Barry's
biomedical masters program on fall week?
That woman and the staff and the teachers and the relationship that I built there have
got me, have been a huge part of where I am today.
Good relationships that matter, that are valuable and that will get you to where you need to
be.
And honestly, sacrifice everything.
If you want to be in this field to get in, sacrifice all the other, start from the light
of the BS that doesn't contribute to your end result.
You shouldn't be doing things that aren't geared towards where you need to be.
Ask yourself a simple question before you want to make a decision.
Should I study tonight or should I go out tonight?
I can probably study tonight because that's where I get me to where I need to be.
Everything else can wait.
That club will always be there.
That event will happen every year.
These things will always be there, but this opportunity really is just a window and I
need to really get in.
You see what I'm saying?
So that takes a level of maturity and I think all is put together full circle.
I feel like this is everything someone really needs to get in because the resources are
there, the programs are online.
You just got to buckle down and do it.
And I think that love is really important because you can listen to this interview and
hopefully it gives you motivation and it boosts your energy and you go through.
But there's always so many times you listen to this over and over again or have those
phone calls or have those.
You got to have the motivation yourself.
That fire has to always be lit.
You got to be there.
And once you go through yourself because of this, hopefully, that's when you'll know,
that's when you'll have your foundation.
And when you get your foundation, that's just going to make you successful.
Yeah, man.
And listen, this is not easy.
I really was like gamer-stressed game and I know right now you're pining and that's
huge.
There's so much you have done to get to just this step.
And you have so much more hopefully coming your way.
You know what I mean?
So lock in, set your priorities.
This takes a certain level of maturity and do not listen to what anyone has to say about
what you want.
My parents, because of my stress, even they've always supported me.
But they're always like, you don't got to do this.
Even bro, look at this.
Actually, I have this like, look at this letter.
It says my name on it.
It's like my mom.
She slipped this in like underneath my door after my first EAT I took.
I didn't talk to anyone for a month.
I was so upset.
But I still keep this there because-
Don't remind her.
100%.
That's crazy.
You still have that.
Still have it.
So long.
She's like three in the morning, very worried.
But my whole point is like they've also seen what this has done to me at certain moments
and but I still wanted it.
Right.
So don't block out unnecessary stuff.
Stay locked in.
Stay focused.
Don't worry about temporary money, like job and stuff.
There are always ways to get loans.
They are loans.
You got to pay it back, but you're in a field that thankfully you can pay it back.
So get to the finish line.
Just a process.
100% every day.
And listen, build self-confidence.
Yeah.
Because guess what?
When you're here, you're going to need as much like obviously always say humble, but
be extremely confident in who you are and what your identity is and what you're all
about.
And you're going to be apologetic because you are who you are.
You're doing the right thing.
You got to go ahead on your shoulders.
And that's all that matters.
You know, if you make mistakes, you learn from them and you try not to do it again.
So always being humble allows you to learn more, engage in more knowledge and be more
curious and build great relationships and be great at what you do.
So all comes full circle.
Because you don't see it now, it doesn't mean you won't understand why it happened later.
So be around long enough to understand why things happen.
And you look back and you're like, oh, I see it.
Yeah.
And that's just the name of the game, I guess.
So whatever it's like.
I mean, dude, thanks for coming on.
It's been like really eye-opening, just refreshing to get this perspective that you have.
And that's awesome.
So, only thanks for coming on, I really appreciate it, and while we talk soon, I'm thinking we're
in talks.
I don't know if that's that.
What's up?
What's up, mom?
What's up?