1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,800 Hey everyone, welcome to the first episode of the Dose to Dental Podcast. 2 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:12,840 The focus of this podcast is to share undergraduate and dental school experiences from dental 3 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:16,160 students and dental professionals through valuable discussions. 4 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:19,760 Through sharing the journeys and stories of current dental students and dental professionals, 5 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:23,880 our goals are to help you find answers or guidance for your own pre-dental dreams. 6 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:26,880 We are very excited to have dental student Zaid Ramon as our guest today. 7 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:28,280 Good on everyone. 8 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:31,760 Zaid graduated from Sonia Brook University, the degree in biochemistry. 9 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:35,920 He's now an incoming D3 student at the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine. 10 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:38,200 He's planning to specialize in orthodontics. 11 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:42,400 As an undergraduate, Zaid was heavily involved in the pre-dental society at Sonia Brook University, 12 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:45,520 conducted research at the Sonia Brook School of Dental Medicine, and served as a teaching 13 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:47,000 assistant for organic chemistry. 14 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:48,600 Hey Zaid, welcome to the podcast. 15 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:49,720 We're so happy to have you. 16 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:53,160 How does it feel to complete your second year of dental school so far? 17 00:00:53,160 --> 00:00:54,160 It's exciting. 18 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:58,320 A little nerve-wracking too because at the end of your second year, going into your third 19 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:01,720 year, you begin seeing patients. 20 00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:07,080 You go into clinic and you put everything you learned into practice. 21 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:09,920 So Zaid, of course, welcome to the podcast. 22 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:14,080 I've known you for a couple, I guess a couple of months now. 23 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:19,840 You used to be the president of the pre-dental society here at Sonia Brook, so welcome back. 24 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:23,040 So why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself, where you are, where you're from, 25 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:25,360 you know, how you come from. 26 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:26,600 Sure, sure. 27 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:30,640 So I've lived on in Long Island, New York my whole life. 28 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:36,920 Like you guys said, I went to Sonia Brook University for undergrad, close to home. 29 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:37,920 I commuted there. 30 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:44,240 I was a biochemistry major, I minored in French. 31 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:48,960 And I mean, you guys gave me the whole intro already, but I'm really into basketball. 32 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:53,240 We could talk basketball anytime if you ever meet me. 33 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:57,240 Yeah, big into video games. 34 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:02,840 Right now, I live in Washington Heights in New York City, which is where the campus is. 35 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:03,840 Yeah. 36 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:07,920 So Zaid, of course, I have to ask you this. 37 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:09,480 What got you into dentistry? 38 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:13,640 What ignited that spark that you said that, okay, this is the thing I want to pursue? 39 00:02:13,640 --> 00:02:17,560 Yeah, I mean, it's a combination of a lot of different things. 40 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:19,440 I'm growing up. 41 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:27,680 I was always interested in health, medicine, science, just STEM, like that general field. 42 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:34,880 I guess like middle school is when I started getting into career searching and what I should 43 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:38,040 be doing when I grow up. 44 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:39,280 And I went to the dentist. 45 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:42,680 I had a new dentist when I was in middle school and I was like, oh, well, this could be a 46 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:43,680 cool career. 47 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:44,680 They help people out. 48 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:45,840 They're business people. 49 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:50,440 They have their own hours. 50 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:52,360 It's a cool field. 51 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:55,720 And I thought about it over the years into high school. 52 00:02:55,720 --> 00:03:00,160 I started shadowing a dentist. 53 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:02,080 Really enjoyed that experience. 54 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:09,760 And I think what really solidified it was one, pre-dental society, which we could go into 55 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:10,960 for a while. 56 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:15,960 And two, I went to a dental conference in New York, the Greater New York Dental Meeting. 57 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:21,680 And I saw thousands of dentists super passionate about their field, talking about dental technology, 58 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:24,960 different dental diseases, what they're doing to treat patients. 59 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:31,680 And I was just so inspired by how passionate these people are and how progressed with the 60 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:34,840 field is, how it's evolving every day. 61 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:37,720 And that really lured me towards dentistry. 62 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:44,080 So you talked about the pre-dental society and the kind of role that I played. 63 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:48,760 What about it really made you attracted to dentistry? 64 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:50,360 Was it the community that they had there? 65 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:52,080 Something you guys did? 66 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:53,520 Events, stuff like that. 67 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:54,880 You can go more into that. 68 00:03:54,880 --> 00:04:00,200 So when I was an undergrad, the pre-dental society was super involved with the dental 69 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:01,280 school. 70 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:07,760 And from the start, we would visit the dental school and do hands-on activities. 71 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:13,680 And I saw that dental students themselves took time out of the day to show their field 72 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:14,680 to us. 73 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:18,600 And that really, I was really motivating to me and dental faculty too. 74 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:23,120 They took time out of their busy days to show us different procedures, make us more interested 75 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:25,360 about the field. 76 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:31,880 And having that support system and going to a school, an undergrad that had a dental school, 77 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:39,480 was super helpful and really solidified my positive opinion about dentistry and maybe 78 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:41,080 want to pursue it even more. 79 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:42,760 Yeah, that sounds great. 80 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:44,000 I mean, I think it's really cool. 81 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:47,800 You found a community of people that you really looked up to in the pre-dental society. 82 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:52,920 And even at Sony Brook right now, I'm in the pre-dental society and it's just a really 83 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:58,280 good, tight-knit community of people and so very fortunate for that. 84 00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:01,040 So you mentioned you shadowed a little bit before we got started here. 85 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:05,240 I was wondering if there was a certain event or sort of experience that really got the 86 00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:07,880 ball rolling for you? 87 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:12,840 Yeah, I mean, I started shadowing in high school and to college. 88 00:05:12,840 --> 00:05:18,200 It was at like a family, friends office. 89 00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:22,040 The procedures themselves, like shadowing the dentist was like, it was like cool and 90 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:30,480 cool, but I really liked how the dental hygienists there really mentored me and showed me how 91 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:31,880 to do different things. 92 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:40,120 And I don't know, I'm just really attracted to people and fields where they're very welcoming. 93 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:46,960 And I also went on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic for volunteers around the world, the 94 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:48,680 organization. 95 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:53,200 We went to the Dominican Republic and to see that dentists from that country volunteering 96 00:05:53,200 --> 00:06:00,160 their own time to help their own community and to allow us to be involved, it was also 97 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:04,400 a very positive experience for me that I really value. 98 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:11,240 Yeah, me personally, I went to Guatemala from May 27th to June 9th of this year. 99 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:17,640 And when I tell you, I work as a dental assistant here in Manorville. 100 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:22,160 We're into a third world country and seeing how lucky we are here to even have access 101 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:25,160 to simple dental care compared to what they have. 102 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:29,040 Patients would come in, they have an abscess, infections, this and that. 103 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:32,880 We can only do so much because we're only going to see them for maybe a day, one appointment. 104 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:37,200 So that was a little bit frustrating that we couldn't help them more, but the fact that 105 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:41,080 we could impact them a little bit just giving them a little bit of a simple cleaning or 106 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:44,840 a filling or an extraction if they needed it felt really good. 107 00:06:44,840 --> 00:06:52,880 But it really opened my eyes to the struggle of dental care around the world. 108 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:56,080 So was that something that you found too? 109 00:06:56,080 --> 00:07:01,600 Did you see that discrepancy between how fortunate we are here and how less fortunate they are? 110 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:08,440 Did that propel you to solidify your placement in dentistry even more? 111 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:09,440 Definitely, for sure. 112 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:16,600 I encourage anyone, if you have the opportunity to serve in the underserved community, whether 113 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:21,840 that's outside of yours or within the US, there's a lot of errors, rural errors in the 114 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:27,000 country that lack dental health care. 115 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:32,360 I encourage anyone to go out there and see the humanity in the field and it really puts 116 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:39,760 perspective on the work and contribution you can do in your career. 117 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:42,560 It's a very altruistic career if you want it to be one. 118 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:44,200 Exactly, for sure. 119 00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:48,240 So I wanted to ask, how did you organize your experiences during undergrad? 120 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:50,120 What activities did you focus on getting involved with? 121 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:55,840 Did you give an order of importance and which activities you prefer to do with the others? 122 00:07:55,840 --> 00:08:03,040 How did you structure your extracurricular activities during undergraduate? 123 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:11,280 Yeah, we talked about it briefly, but it all starts with pre-dental society. 124 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:16,360 It differs by every university, but St. Annaberks is so strong and so supportive. 125 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:21,720 They really gave me guidance on what exactly I should be doing if I want to go into dental 126 00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:24,800 school, if I want to become a dentist. 127 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:28,040 I get involved with pre-dental society if you have one at your school. 128 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:35,080 If you don't, maybe you could be the one to start your pre-dental society. 129 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:36,080 That took priority. 130 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:41,960 That was the main activity I did in undergrad and it kind of branched out from there. 131 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:44,040 From there I learned about volunteers around the world. 132 00:08:44,040 --> 00:08:49,960 From there I was able to find a research position at the dental school. 133 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:55,120 One thing I really enjoyed during undergrad was being a TA. 134 00:08:55,120 --> 00:09:01,800 I TA'd for organic chemistry for two and a half years. 135 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:06,760 There's something just so rewarding about teaching other students about a subject that 136 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:14,880 you yourself struggled in at one point and allowing people to overcome the mental block 137 00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:19,080 that is organic chemistry and making things easier for other people. 138 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:23,760 I think that's super rewarding. 139 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:29,840 So yeah, you kind of touched upon being an organic chemistry teaching assistant. 140 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:32,920 I actually was able to be one last semester. 141 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:39,720 In addition to helping it, relearning the material for like DAT or something, to even 142 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:43,440 like help a struggling student that much, it's really valuable. 143 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:49,960 Something I wanted to ask, what kind of skills did you develop through all these electrocleric 144 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:57,880 activities that you feel really helped you now that you're in dental school? 145 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:00,440 I would say leadership. 146 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:06,520 A combination of leadership, TAing really helped me build discipline knowing that there 147 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:14,040 are deadlines that I need to meet, being able to delegate roles among other people in dental 148 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:19,080 school now that I'm in clinic at the report to faculty at the work with other students. 149 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:26,560 It's a lot of coordination at the work with people at the front desk. 150 00:10:26,560 --> 00:10:33,240 That type of dedication and I guess it's a combination of different things that you 151 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:41,120 pick up, discipline from TAing, anything specific. 152 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:46,840 I don't know, just the fact that I always kept myself busy and undergrad and knew that 153 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:53,160 there are deadlines that I needed to meet and that there are consequences to these deadlines, 154 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:57,600 really put into perspective of the importance of me doing my job and that's translated into 155 00:10:57,600 --> 00:10:59,200 dental school, to be honest. 156 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:04,640 So yeah, it sounds like you really had a good order of your commitments and your priorities 157 00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:05,640 and check. 158 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:09,680 It's something that's really important even as most of these free dental students transition 159 00:11:09,680 --> 00:11:11,040 to the dental school process. 160 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:17,360 So I want to ask along those lines, how was that time management aspect of it? 161 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:19,880 Was it also something you had to tackle? 162 00:11:19,880 --> 00:11:23,640 It started with my own personal situation. 163 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:29,320 So I mentioned that I was a commuter at Stony Brook. 164 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:35,880 Fortunately, I lived five or 10 minutes away from home or away from school. 165 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:41,760 But my father worked at the university and I would always coordinate my schedule with 166 00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:42,760 his meaning. 167 00:11:42,760 --> 00:11:49,040 I would have to go to school at seven in the morning and leave five in the afternoon. 168 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:58,120 So it really taught me to prioritize what I need to get done at school and then do whatever 169 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:08,280 else I can at home, whatever those tasks may be, and it really organized my day throughout. 170 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:15,840 And balancing that with friends, I mean, knowing that by 5pm, I think a lot of things done. 171 00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:18,560 It left me with a lot of free time in the evening. 172 00:12:18,560 --> 00:12:23,480 If I need to say after I could hang out with my friends, do other things, go to do other 173 00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:24,480 activities. 174 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:31,280 But I don't know, I was on a strict schedule at Serum Points and undergrad that really 175 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:34,560 straightened me out. 176 00:12:34,560 --> 00:12:37,400 So I kind of want to go back to your why. 177 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:43,080 Like a big issue, not issue, but dilemma that a lot of pre-dentalists face is once we find 178 00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:52,280 our why, or if we have found our why, how do we maintain that motivation and not lose 179 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:53,280 focus of your goal? 180 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:59,120 Not only do you do undergrad, but like in dental school because, at least for me, shadowing 181 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:01,000 or something kind of reignites that flame. 182 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:02,000 I want to do this. 183 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:05,240 When you're stuck in the books, it's a little bit different. 184 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:08,320 For sure, like during school, you can find yourself kind of thinking like, do I still 185 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:09,320 want to do this? 186 00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:10,320 I still want to do this. 187 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:14,080 How did you maintain that passion? 188 00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:17,520 Yeah, I definitely understand that concern. 189 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:24,640 I mean, once you find your why, I feel like that answers a lot of the question. 190 00:13:24,640 --> 00:13:30,480 But I say keep yourself involved in dentistry and whatever way possible. 191 00:13:30,480 --> 00:13:32,520 You said to Faraj that you're a dental assistant. 192 00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:33,520 That keeps you in the field. 193 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:37,840 You know the ins and outs of that field and you're involved every day and you see your 194 00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:41,640 dentist and you're like, I want to be him or her one day, you know? 195 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:44,320 I'm working towards that goal every day. 196 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:49,160 That's why I was in pre-dental society because I met so many dental students and they inspired 197 00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:50,160 me to keep going. 198 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:55,400 I look at where they are in life and then I keep telling myself I want to be there and 199 00:13:55,400 --> 00:14:05,680 if I keep in mind my why and keep myself involved, there's no reason why I shouldn't 200 00:14:05,680 --> 00:14:06,680 make it, you know? 201 00:14:06,680 --> 00:14:10,360 Yeah, no, I work as a dental assistant. 202 00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:13,560 Last summer I worked full time but because school is starting, it's not that much time 203 00:14:13,560 --> 00:14:18,680 to work but I definitely try to dedicate at least one or two days to work because I feel 204 00:14:18,680 --> 00:14:25,200 like when I'm in that setting, I'm always more motivated to do my classes, to finish 205 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:29,960 my pre-dental coursework and whatever I got to do just because I know that that's where 206 00:14:29,960 --> 00:14:30,960 I want to be, right? 207 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:36,040 It reminds me every time I go away and why I'm doing this. 208 00:14:36,040 --> 00:14:42,200 Even though I know why, it just serves as another little bit of motivation and a little 209 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:48,400 bit like a reminder of why you're doing this and that's where you want to be in the future 210 00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:51,760 so I think that's definitely what's feeling my why as I continue this process myself and 211 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:55,400 I'm pretty sure it's doing the same for a lot of other students as well. 212 00:14:55,400 --> 00:15:00,360 So Zed, you mentioned you did a little bit of research during undergrad. 213 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:04,000 If you'd like to elaborate on exactly what you did, how did you get it, how did that 214 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:05,160 kind of work out for you? 215 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:08,600 Yeah, I mean, I was never inclined towards research. 216 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:14,200 I did some research in high school that was based on physics and I had really no idea 217 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:17,040 what was going on. 218 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:21,360 And then I didn't do any other research until the end of my junior year. 219 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:22,560 It was an anthropology. 220 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:29,120 It was somewhat related to dental, something like that, ancient teeth, fossils and trying 221 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:38,560 to make connections to how ones had the teeth shape related to the diet in ancient times. 222 00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:44,400 And then during my senior year of undergrad is when I found a position at the dental school 223 00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:53,040 that was in implantology and kind of material science, but it's very related to dentistry. 224 00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:55,240 It was super interesting. 225 00:15:55,240 --> 00:16:01,960 I mean, I would never tell someone to pursue research in a field that they're not interested 226 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:05,680 in because it's going to be like a living nightmare every day. 227 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:09,320 Like you're going to be there for several hours a day, not enjoying what you're doing, 228 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:12,120 wishing you could be doing other things. 229 00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:19,320 And it's not doing justice to the work that you put in and to the mentor that you're working 230 00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:20,320 under. 231 00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:23,560 You're not doing anyone justice by doing that. 232 00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:26,760 I wouldn't say it's necessary to do research at all against the dental school. 233 00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:33,360 Maybe certain schools like Columbia are research focused and they have a big research system 234 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:38,520 at the school, but I know plenty of my classmates who didn't do research and they're there with 235 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:42,200 me at Columbia. 236 00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:43,680 It's always a plus though. 237 00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:49,200 It shows that you're able to commit to a certain field. 238 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:54,480 This doesn't have to be dentistry, but you're able to commit time, produce tangible work 239 00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:59,200 and contribute to the field of science or the world of science, which is always a good 240 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:01,880 thing. 241 00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:09,600 So just bouncing off that, how can pre-dentals choose a topic for research and how can they 242 00:17:09,600 --> 00:17:10,600 find it? 243 00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:16,520 Because I know everyone's just email a bunch of people, throw a dart at the board, see 244 00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:18,720 what happens. 245 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:21,120 Is there a secret formula? 246 00:17:21,120 --> 00:17:24,960 Is it something like that? 247 00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:31,600 I mean, at the most basic level, it's always email a professor, first look at the research 248 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:36,760 papers, see if it's an interesting topic, and then shoot your shot and see if they'll 249 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:37,760 respond. 250 00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:42,120 I feel like that's, I don't know, you really don't know what you're getting into if you 251 00:17:42,120 --> 00:17:43,120 do that, right? 252 00:17:43,120 --> 00:17:44,120 You're not actually like it. 253 00:17:44,120 --> 00:17:50,840 I think the best thing to do is find some undergraduate student or some dental student 254 00:17:50,840 --> 00:17:58,920 who is working under some research mentor, ask them about their research, and then try 255 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:06,800 to sneak your way into joining that lab or wait till whatever student graduates or something 256 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:09,080 and try to pick it up from there. 257 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:14,000 But I think the best thing to do is talk to students who are actively involved in research, 258 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:19,160 be intimate, I'm asking everything about it, ask them, is it something you're really interested 259 00:18:19,160 --> 00:18:23,720 in or is it just something you're doing for your resume? 260 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:28,360 And the, the students more often than that will give you an honest answer. 261 00:18:28,360 --> 00:18:32,280 And they'll tell you the best professors to go to, the most, the ones that are most enjoyable 262 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:33,760 to work under. 263 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:39,760 I mean, that is also the look of your job too, you might not know someone like that, 264 00:18:39,760 --> 00:18:45,480 but if you want the best results, always best to network, branch out, find other people 265 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:48,600 that are already in research. 266 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:50,440 So just like a quick follow up question. 267 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:56,640 Were you able to publish after all the research or did you kind of just, you know, did it 268 00:18:56,640 --> 00:19:01,320 show up in your interviews to Columbia like you're so ongoing, you're doing it continually? 269 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:02,320 Yeah. 270 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:07,720 So I mentioned that I started my research during my senior year at the dental school 271 00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:10,320 and that was also while I was interviewing. 272 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:16,880 So I didn't have much tangible work done at that time, but I, if it ever came up in the 273 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:23,640 interview, I told them the interview or what I was working on, how the progress is going. 274 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:29,320 I didn't, I didn't really pivot my application or my resume towards research. 275 00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:30,680 I just mentioned it. 276 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:32,960 I told them I was working on it. 277 00:19:32,960 --> 00:19:37,000 I did end up publishing, but that was actually a few months ago. 278 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:41,960 It was like years after I graduated, partially because of the pandemic, but partially because 279 00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:47,760 I was just getting into the research field at the time while I was interviewing. 280 00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:49,880 So it wasn't really a big part of my application. 281 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:50,880 Yeah. 282 00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:54,720 And I think that's a, that's a really interesting perspective because I know a lot of students 283 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:58,040 feel like they need to do research, you know, before, you know, they bought dental school 284 00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:01,880 and the application, but I feel like even I didn't know that, that you could just put 285 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:03,200 that down as your application. 286 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:07,080 They weren't really questioned that much, but they, they, I guess they'd appreciate that, 287 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:11,200 you know, you're still working towards your goal even after you've applied and in a way, 288 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:16,280 you're kind of trusting the school that, you know, that they'll, they'll trust you and 289 00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:20,720 that you're going to finish your research during your senior year. 290 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:21,720 So that's just something really interesting. 291 00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:24,800 I didn't really think about it that way, but yeah. 292 00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:26,720 So how, how has Columbia been? 293 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:29,280 How's, you know, I know you're going to incoming D three. 294 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:34,120 So how, you know, how's the clinic's been, how the class has been, how is just the entire 295 00:20:34,120 --> 00:20:35,920 vibe of Columbia, Delvin? 296 00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:36,920 Yeah. 297 00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:40,040 I could give you like a quick rundown of the first two years. 298 00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:43,840 Just so you students or undergrad have an expectation of what goes on. 299 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:49,920 It's different at every school, but Columbia is one of the few schools where your curriculum 300 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:52,520 is integrated with the medical school. 301 00:20:52,520 --> 00:20:58,560 So the first year and a half, you're taking mostly medical school courses, you know, like 302 00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:04,640 biochemistry, anatomy, stuff like that, alongside the medical students, which is super cool. 303 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:08,240 You get to know everything about the human body, which I think is super important for 304 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:11,120 the next generation of dentists. 305 00:21:11,120 --> 00:21:16,240 And then they sprinkle in dental courses throughout the first year. 306 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:17,600 And you start your hand skills. 307 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:24,360 The second semester, you go into a sim lab, work on procedures on mannequins and type of 308 00:21:24,360 --> 00:21:30,080 stuff, and then into the fourth semester, so after a year and a half of mostly medical 309 00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:35,560 school classes as when you're fully quote unquote a dental student, you're taking all 310 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:39,760 these different types of dental courses, you're taking each specialty one at a time, we started 311 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:45,080 orthodontics, then we had to pediatrics, oral surgery. 312 00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:52,040 And then towards the end of the second year is when you start ramping up for clinic. 313 00:21:52,040 --> 00:21:58,840 You're performing all doing hand skills like all the time. 314 00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:03,720 And you get a lot of you're been barred in with information on how to work with patients, 315 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:09,400 how to manage the electronic health record, what to do when you're inside the actual clinic, 316 00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:11,320 what to expect how to set up a chair. 317 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:15,840 And it comes out you fast kind of in the last month or two. 318 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:19,560 That's what that's what I've been doing. 319 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:24,280 One thing I will say about dental school that some people may not know is that courses can 320 00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:26,960 start and end at any point in time. 321 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:31,840 It's not like a semester based schedule where you're taking one class at a certain time 322 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:35,480 certain days a week throughout the whole semester. 323 00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:41,080 Classes can span like for example like three weeks long, and it's like four hours a day 324 00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:42,640 every day of the week. 325 00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:46,720 And then you have a final like in the middle of the semester like in April or March or 326 00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:48,760 something. 327 00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:54,480 Just a heads up on that one because kind of it can be it can be kind of fast paced. 328 00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:59,720 Yeah, I think that change of pace like from undergrad to like, you know, I just actually 329 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:01,200 just learned that myself like dental school. 330 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:04,600 That's kind of crazy because, you know, as undergrad your whole schedule is predicated 331 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:06,960 on when your classes start and stuff like that. 332 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:10,480 But dental school gets you out of your brain for everything. 333 00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:14,520 So like I just wanted to ask you like, how did you choose Columbia? 334 00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:15,760 Did you apply to other schools? 335 00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:19,520 Like was there something about Columbia that really stood out to you? 336 00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:20,520 Yeah. 337 00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:21,520 Yeah. 338 00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:26,040 So I applied to I think six schools all in Northeast. 339 00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:29,600 I want to say somewhat close to home. 340 00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:36,360 My priority in choosing a dental school was going somewhere where I would be the most 341 00:23:36,360 --> 00:23:39,680 happy and the least stressed. 342 00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:42,280 So Stonerbrook was a fantastic school. 343 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:48,440 It was one of my final choices is between Stonerbrook and Columbia. 344 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:52,680 What I really loved about Columbia, I'm sure a lot of people already know is that the curriculum 345 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:54,920 is past fail. 346 00:23:54,920 --> 00:24:00,520 And not only that, it's it's a very supportive system. 347 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:05,160 Failure doesn't mean you're going to kick that a dental school failure is an opportunity 348 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:12,440 to learn and refocus your skills and understand where you need more guidance. 349 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:13,440 Right. 350 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:15,800 That's what they really emphasize at our school. 351 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:19,720 And I feel like that produces a really low stress environment. 352 00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:26,160 You're able to learn to become a dentist at your own pace. 353 00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:31,240 And the vibe at the school when I interviewed was amazing. 354 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:36,600 It was the most of the entry process was led by students themselves. 355 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:42,440 Everyone was super upbeat, super happy to be there, always complimentary of the school. 356 00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:49,600 And I want to go somewhere where like everyone is just everyone enjoys doing what they do 357 00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:51,120 of being there every day. 358 00:24:51,120 --> 00:24:55,760 And I thought Columbia stood out more than any other school. 359 00:24:55,760 --> 00:25:00,040 And I know it's a very expensive school to go to. 360 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:04,320 But my philosophy is I'm in my 20s. 361 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:07,440 I'm at the peak of my life. 362 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:09,440 I want to be as happy and least stressed as possible. 363 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:15,680 And no matter the cost, I'll pay I'll pay out the loans when I'm older. 364 00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:19,400 But I just I need to be as the least stressed as possible. 365 00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:20,960 And Columbia offered that. 366 00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:24,560 Yeah, I think that's another very important factor to consider that, you know, you have 367 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:27,160 this past fail curriculum and some of these schools, I know. 368 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:32,280 So you mentioned Columbia has it that definitely probably reduces a lot of stress, as you said, 369 00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:36,600 from being this rigorous dental school process that everyone has to go through. 370 00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:41,720 And definitely something to consider for, you know, those applying this cycle or, you 371 00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:44,200 know, an obviously in future cycles. 372 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:48,920 So on that note, like the low stress, how has the social life been in Columbia? 373 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:51,280 How, you know, how have you felt it? 374 00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:52,520 How have you felt fitting and so far? 375 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:57,560 Do you feel like about your classmates and, you know, what kind of events are you involved in there? 376 00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:02,760 Yeah, I mean, involvement for me, I'm not really involved in too many things right now. 377 00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:09,160 I've for the first couple of years, I was involved in as the district to only mainly 378 00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:13,720 to give back because as has done so much during my undergrad years to support pre dental students 379 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:17,080 and I wanted to carry that on. 380 00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:23,320 I'm part of the orthodontic society, which is super cool because we get speakers, 381 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:29,480 previous alum, orthodontists to come give us advice on what the field is like, super cool. 382 00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:32,280 I'm sure every school has that. 383 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:37,880 But I think we have so many cool different clubs like we have a club called CD, CD, 384 00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:42,040 um, Columbia dental, um, which is all about like professors and other people like 385 00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:46,360 showing us how to cook different recipes and cool stuff like that. 386 00:26:46,360 --> 00:26:47,640 Like it's all about food. 387 00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:52,760 I think we have a social class chairs. 388 00:26:52,760 --> 00:26:55,560 They organize the coolest events for us last week. 389 00:26:56,280 --> 00:27:02,200 Our class won on a boat cruise just to celebrate the end of the first two years of dental school. 390 00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:07,160 A month before we had previous alum who became our class parents, 391 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:09,240 sponsored a whole dinner for our class. 392 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:11,480 We went out to a restaurant, had a great time. 393 00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:17,400 Um, and the Columbia, Columbia alum really look out for us. 394 00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:20,840 And that's also something I really love about the school, how, um, 395 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:23,400 your involvement with the school doesn't always end when you graduate. 396 00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:29,640 They're very active, um, and they want to see a success and, and they see us succeed and, and, uh, 397 00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:31,160 allow us to have fun. 398 00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:33,080 That's actually kind of nice to hear. 399 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:37,000 That means like, you know, Columbia is a really good, you know, it does good things for people there. 400 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:37,880 Yeah. 401 00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:39,640 Sounds like a really good, you know, experience. 402 00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:45,560 Um, I know I saw on your social media page that you, you were certified to do cleanings now. 403 00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:46,520 Is that what that was? 404 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:52,280 Oh, no, no, it was, um, so for those we don't know, um, at the end of your first two years of 405 00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:57,400 dental school, um, or at least at Columbia, there's a ceremony called the clinician, 406 00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:05,320 clinician ceremony that commemorates the, um, uh, the introduction of dental students into the clinic. 407 00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:12,920 So it was just, there's just a ceremony, um, uh, before we started seeing patients for the first time. 408 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:16,920 Uh, kind of going back to, you know, the pre-dental experience, 409 00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:21,480 what are some things that pre-dental students should really focus on to look attractive, 410 00:28:22,120 --> 00:28:24,040 um, to different schools like a unique way? 411 00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:27,400 Um, I know definitely grades are like 50% of it. 412 00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:28,440 Definitely. 413 00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:33,400 Like, what are the things, you know, maybe, maybe even about grades, like, 414 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:36,120 how do you maintain all these things? 415 00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:41,240 Yeah, I mean, the first thing is having a good GPA and good DAT score. 416 00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:46,840 That's like getting one step into the door, um, right, on your application. 417 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:54,680 Um, unique dental experiences would be great if you have, you're involved in a summer 418 00:28:54,680 --> 00:28:55,800 summer dental program. 419 00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:57,720 I know Stonerberg has one. 420 00:28:57,720 --> 00:29:00,600 There's something called, um, SHPEP, I think. 421 00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:06,040 Um, summer health scholars, something along those lines. 422 00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:12,920 Um, I think any experience that, um, shows your involvement in dentistry specifically 423 00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:14,520 is super helpful. 424 00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:18,200 Example, uh, outreach in the dental field. 425 00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:22,520 If you have significant hours, if you've committed months or years into that, 426 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:28,680 I think whatever you do, if it's dental related, uh, if it's a long-term commitment, 427 00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:34,040 that's like a really positive, like, um, that's a real big plus on your application 428 00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:40,440 because it shows that, okay, this kid is, hey, you smart, cool, but he's also really 429 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:41,720 committed to the field already. 430 00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:43,800 He's not even in dental school yet, you know? 431 00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:47,400 Um, those are the biggest things to me. 432 00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:55,320 And I think a lot of, a lot of pre-dental students think they have to major in some 433 00:29:55,320 --> 00:29:57,800 science, like biology or biochemistry. 434 00:29:57,800 --> 00:30:00,760 I've come to realize that's not at all. 435 00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:03,000 You don't have to major in, in a hard science. 436 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:10,120 Uh, there's, one of my classmates was, uh, in finance for like years before you switched 437 00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:11,240 over to dentistry. 438 00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:15,560 Another one, um, was in a whole different field. 439 00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:20,040 I, uh, I don't want to say specifically, I don't want to talk about people's personal lives, 440 00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:23,800 but, um, you can major in anything, anything that interests you. 441 00:30:23,800 --> 00:30:26,600 That's why I majored in French because there's a personal interest in mine, 442 00:30:26,600 --> 00:30:31,240 even though I majored in biochemistry, I, I spent the time, um, doing things that I was 443 00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:32,200 super interested in. 444 00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:35,400 So if you're committed to dentistry and you know you want to be a dentist, 445 00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:37,160 it doesn't matter what major you're in. 446 00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:38,600 Have fun with it while you're in undergrad. 447 00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:39,480 Yeah. 448 00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:42,280 And I think another really important point right there is, uh, you know, you don't have 449 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:48,040 to major in like a biology or biochemistry or some of these more STEM related, uh, 450 00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:52,120 majors, you can definitely just do whatever you like, like business, law, uh, you know, 451 00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:52,840 things like that. 452 00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:56,920 Uh, so, 453 00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:05,960 so yeah, I want to, let's, let's talk about the DAT, right? 454 00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:11,320 And dental application as a whole now, um, something that every pre-dental student is, 455 00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:13,400 is, uh, it's just something they have to face. 456 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:14,920 You got to face it that way. 457 00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:18,280 Um, so can you run us through your application, like how that go? 458 00:31:18,280 --> 00:31:19,240 How'd you feel about it? 459 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:24,760 Uh, you know, how'd you kind of overcame this, this, this gigantic monster of an application? 460 00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:25,960 Yeah. 461 00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:32,600 Um, so I took my DAT the winter of my junior year. 462 00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:37,560 My initial plan was to take it between sophomore and junior year. 463 00:31:37,560 --> 00:31:40,920 So I started studying that summer between sophomore and junior. 464 00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:46,440 Um, and I wasn't really taking the studying very seriously. 465 00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:53,880 Um, I studied chem, general chemistry and organic chemistry during that summer and that consumed 466 00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:54,600 all of my time. 467 00:31:55,080 --> 00:32:02,040 Um, I think the best thing to do before you started studying for the DAT itself, 468 00:32:02,760 --> 00:32:06,920 wonder you're taking these pre-work as a classes that are correlated to the DAT. 469 00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:13,400 I have that perspective that not only do I need to do well, um, in this class to get a good grade, 470 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:19,960 but I also have to really understand the material in the future so that when I study for the DAT, 471 00:32:19,960 --> 00:32:21,080 it'll come easy to me. 472 00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:28,120 Um, keep that perspective while you're taking those classes and really understand the material. 473 00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:33,080 Um, I think TAing really helped me with the chemistry section. 474 00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:42,200 Um, because also I think the best, best way to learn something is, uh, to learn something to the 475 00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:44,760 point where you could teach it back to someone else. 476 00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:51,160 Because then at that point, you really understand the material and it, it, it makes logical sense 477 00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:51,960 in your head, right? 478 00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:57,960 You're not just memorizing bullet points or facts to be able to explain it back to someone means you, 479 00:32:57,960 --> 00:32:59,800 you really know your stuff in that field. 480 00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:06,040 That's the, I mean, you can't do that for every single subject, but, um, as much as you can for 481 00:33:06,040 --> 00:33:12,040 whatever, for bio, for Jen Ken, one of those, it'll go a long way. 482 00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:19,400 So during my winters, when I really started, um, cramming the books, I think it was five or six 483 00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:20,120 weeks. 484 00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:21,480 I used DAT Bootcamp. 485 00:33:22,440 --> 00:33:26,360 I heard DAT Booster is also very, very good. 486 00:33:26,360 --> 00:33:30,280 Like maybe even better than the Bootcamp nowadays, but I took my DAT like three years ago. 487 00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:36,680 DAT Bootcamp was more than enough to help me, um, do well on the exam. 488 00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:44,120 And another thing is for the PAT, the Perceptual Abilities Test, that's the most intimidating 489 00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:51,640 to me because it's the one subject where you don't have previous experience or exposure to 490 00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:54,920 until you start studying for the Perceptual Ability, um, part of the exam. 491 00:33:54,920 --> 00:34:01,720 So I recommend months before you start really studying for the DAT, treat, do some practice 492 00:34:01,720 --> 00:34:05,400 problems every single day, 15 minutes, and treat it like a puzzle. 493 00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:11,880 Treat it like the daily word or something, you know, um, just make it a habit, keep doing it 494 00:34:11,880 --> 00:34:12,840 little by little. 495 00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:16,840 And by the time you start really studying for the DAT, it's like, it's like a fun little 496 00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:18,520 like game to you at that point. 497 00:34:19,240 --> 00:34:19,800 Sounds great. 498 00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:20,040 Yeah. 499 00:34:20,040 --> 00:34:20,360 I know. 500 00:34:20,360 --> 00:34:26,280 I'm, you know, I was, I wanted to take it, you know, like do it this summer, um, but decided 501 00:34:26,280 --> 00:34:27,480 to do some research instead. 502 00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:28,840 So I'm kind of focusing on that. 503 00:34:28,840 --> 00:34:34,600 And yeah, um, planning on doing it, like I study, you know, during the fall semester 504 00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:35,800 and take it next year early. 505 00:34:36,360 --> 00:34:36,680 Yeah. 506 00:34:36,680 --> 00:34:40,200 Of course we, we both, I think we're both going to apply, you know, the June, the June cycle. 507 00:34:40,200 --> 00:34:40,920 So next summer. 508 00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:42,760 Oh, so right, right. 509 00:34:42,760 --> 00:34:45,320 So, so no gap here you're saying? 510 00:34:45,320 --> 00:34:47,400 Uh, I don't think, yeah. 511 00:34:47,400 --> 00:34:49,080 I mean, it sounds like fun. 512 00:34:49,080 --> 00:34:49,720 Yeah. 513 00:34:49,720 --> 00:34:56,360 Um, so you mentioned that you specialize, you want to specialize in epidemics, right? 514 00:34:56,360 --> 00:34:57,000 Yeah. 515 00:34:57,000 --> 00:35:03,560 So, um, did this come from when you were shadowing or was it kind of like a, did it grow on you 516 00:35:03,560 --> 00:35:04,760 as you started dental school? 517 00:35:05,400 --> 00:35:07,880 Um, so it was always in the back of my mind. 518 00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:10,120 I had braces when I was a kid in middle school. 519 00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:12,760 I thought it was really cool that worth a dent is like their job. 520 00:35:13,560 --> 00:35:14,200 Um, I don't know. 521 00:35:14,200 --> 00:35:20,520 I was like, Oh, it seems like a relaxing career like laid back, but you're also helping people, um, 522 00:35:20,520 --> 00:35:21,720 at the same time. 523 00:35:21,720 --> 00:35:23,160 So that was in the back of my head. 524 00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:29,720 And then during dental school, we had like a two or three week block of orthodontics. 525 00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:36,440 Um, and I found that super fascinating when we, um, that orthodontics is more than just 526 00:35:36,440 --> 00:35:38,440 putting on braces and calling it a day. 527 00:35:38,440 --> 00:35:43,800 It's about treatment planning, your patient years in advance, um, understanding 528 00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:49,560 jaw relationships, um, in patients and how that might affect, um, how the teeth, um, 529 00:35:49,560 --> 00:35:51,400 set and how they are positioned. 530 00:35:52,040 --> 00:35:53,160 Um, and I don't know. 531 00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:55,400 I'm, I'm someone who likes to plan ahead. 532 00:35:56,040 --> 00:36:03,000 Um, and, and really like, uh, work with someone over a long period of time to, to see themselves 533 00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:08,440 that, uh, their treatment at completion, uh, work alongside a patient is super cool over time. 534 00:36:08,440 --> 00:36:13,320 And I just love that, that age group like that young teen, young adult group, 535 00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:14,760 they're just so fun to be around. 536 00:36:14,760 --> 00:36:18,200 You get, I mean, me right now, I could really relate to them because I'm, I'm still kind of young, 537 00:36:18,200 --> 00:36:19,000 right? 538 00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:24,440 Um, but I mean, those people are always like, I don't know, they, they're so, uh, they, they 539 00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:26,280 have a lot of light in them, you know? 540 00:36:27,720 --> 00:36:30,680 And that kind of gives you more light when you, you work with them, you know, kind of 541 00:36:30,680 --> 00:36:35,880 like reduce battery things aren't going well, you know, make it, make it, make a joke or 542 00:36:35,880 --> 00:36:36,840 something, light you up. 543 00:36:38,280 --> 00:36:38,600 Yeah. 544 00:36:38,600 --> 00:36:43,160 So, um, you know, from here, where do you see yourself in the next two years? 545 00:36:43,160 --> 00:36:45,400 Three years, four years, like what are your future goals? 546 00:36:45,400 --> 00:36:49,320 Maybe not only for the next step of your life, but you know, for dental school. 547 00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:50,280 Yeah. 548 00:36:50,280 --> 00:36:57,160 I mean, I'm trying to be the most, um, dedicated dental student I can be by being in the clinic 549 00:36:57,160 --> 00:36:57,960 as much as I can. 550 00:36:58,520 --> 00:37:03,640 I realized that they, uh, you really get your handheld throughout this process in dental 551 00:37:03,640 --> 00:37:04,360 school, right? 552 00:37:04,360 --> 00:37:07,800 Once you graduate, there's no one there to tell you that you did something wrong. 553 00:37:07,800 --> 00:37:09,560 There's no one there to tell you, oh, you did something. 554 00:37:10,200 --> 00:37:11,960 Oh, if you did something well, right? 555 00:37:11,960 --> 00:37:14,040 There's just, there's no guidance like that. 556 00:37:14,040 --> 00:37:18,120 So I want to take advantage of my faculty as much as I can, learn as much as I can in 557 00:37:18,120 --> 00:37:22,680 these next two years because, um, that's what I'm paying for and, and it'll only help me 558 00:37:22,680 --> 00:37:23,400 in the long run. 559 00:37:24,120 --> 00:37:29,960 Um, just being a really dedicated dental student is, is on my mind doing anything I can 560 00:37:29,960 --> 00:37:31,080 to get into orthodontics. 561 00:37:31,080 --> 00:37:36,120 I mean, I'm open to other specialties actually at the moment, like orthodontics is a dead 562 00:37:36,120 --> 00:37:40,920 set, um, because I just haven't had enough experience in the other fields to really, 563 00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:42,680 really know what I want to do, right? 564 00:37:42,680 --> 00:37:44,440 I've not done an actual orthodontic case. 565 00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:46,200 I've not done an actual denture case. 566 00:37:46,200 --> 00:37:49,960 Maybe I'll really, I'll really like dentures in the future, but, um, I really just want 567 00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:54,520 to take my time exploring the different fields, um, hopefully get into some type of residency 568 00:37:54,520 --> 00:37:59,160 program, um, in these next couple of years and just enjoy life in the meantime. 569 00:37:59,160 --> 00:38:00,280 I'm in New York City. 570 00:38:00,280 --> 00:38:03,320 Um, you know, there's, things are opening up. 571 00:38:03,320 --> 00:38:08,840 I want to enjoy my time, have friends over and like explore the city together and have 572 00:38:08,840 --> 00:38:09,800 a good time, you know? 573 00:38:09,800 --> 00:38:11,480 I'm very sure of that. 574 00:38:11,480 --> 00:38:13,480 I think that you're going to do great things in the future. 575 00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:16,920 So why don't you leave us with a little bit of advice for our, uh, pre-dental listeners, 576 00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:19,480 as they continue on their own journeys? 577 00:38:20,040 --> 00:38:23,080 I would say don't get lost in the sauce. 578 00:38:24,120 --> 00:38:30,120 Um, there's, there's been times where I've just been so focused on school and so focused 579 00:38:30,120 --> 00:38:36,280 on getting into dental school that I forget that like I'm young and I'm in college and 580 00:38:36,280 --> 00:38:40,840 I, I should be spending some time hanging out with my friends, playing basketball, doing 581 00:38:40,840 --> 00:38:41,480 other things. 582 00:38:42,360 --> 00:38:46,280 Um, and not everything in life is so serious all the time. 583 00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:54,200 So definitely learn to, uh, pace yourself, learn to have some type of discipline, but 584 00:38:54,200 --> 00:38:58,680 never forget that you're young and you have a life to live at the same time, you know? 585 00:39:00,920 --> 00:39:03,960 That's something my mom always tells me like, shoot, why are you working so much? 586 00:39:03,960 --> 00:39:06,280 Like just relax and enjoy life, stuff like that. 587 00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:10,600 Um, but yeah, definitely next time you come back to Sonny Burke, I would need that one V1. 588 00:39:11,240 --> 00:39:11,800 Well, it's down. 589 00:39:11,800 --> 00:39:14,200 We got, you know, they just redid the recreation center. 590 00:39:14,200 --> 00:39:15,960 So we really, okay. 591 00:39:15,960 --> 00:39:17,480 I'm down to play at any time. 592 00:39:17,480 --> 00:39:19,320 I'll definitely be praying for the New York Knicks. 593 00:39:19,320 --> 00:39:21,480 I don't know what they're doing, but praying for them always. 594 00:39:21,480 --> 00:39:21,720 Please. 595 00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:23,560 We'll make the playhouses here. 596 00:39:23,560 --> 00:39:24,360 I promise. 597 00:39:24,360 --> 00:39:24,760 Hopefully. 598 00:39:24,760 --> 00:39:25,000 Yeah. 599 00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:26,920 I mean, yeah, I'm not going to say anything. 600 00:39:27,800 --> 00:39:28,120 All right. 601 00:39:28,120 --> 00:39:30,520 So that concludes this episode of the Dose of Dental Podcast. 602 00:39:30,520 --> 00:39:33,080 Thank you, Zaid, for joining me and sharing your experiences and advice. 603 00:39:33,080 --> 00:39:37,320 Your insight was definitely valuable and I hope that it will be the same for pre-dental listeners. 604 00:39:37,880 --> 00:39:40,120 Everyone, please feel free to reach out to Zaid at his socials. 605 00:39:40,120 --> 00:39:42,760 If you have any further questions, lastly, I thank everyone for listening. 606 00:39:42,760 --> 00:39:45,960 And if you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to follow us on Instagram and Spotify. 607 00:39:45,960 --> 00:40:09,320 And we will see you next time for another Dose of Dental.