Hi All,
I need some sound advice! I am a first year dental student and I feel like I made a bad choice going into dentistry. I thought I would love it, but I haven't so far. When school was about to start I didn't have any excitement, I knew then that I wouldn't enjoy it, but thought that because I put so much effort into keeping my grades up, applying, and going to interviews that I should just suck it up.
I don't know what to do. I am very confused and scared at this time. I am also 1,000 miles away from my girlfriend who I've been with for 5 years, who I spent almost everyday with.
OP-
I'm also a first year, and I
mostly like it. At times it sucks- especially with next to zero pt interactions during 1st year (@ my school anyway). It can turn a well-intentioned future dentist into a robot of memorization for NDBE-I...
On the
academic side, one thing to remember is that with all the didactic med science of first yr, dental school isn't anything like practice. We have virtually 0 clinic hrs, the human element is missing from your work (staff and pt interactions)...it can just really suck.
And that
human side...that can really suck. It's a big part of why I chose this career. A bright part of my day to fill that void has been interactions with fellow students, professors, the DA's in the lab/clinic (sweet ladies, seriously, you should get to know them)... Your colleagues - classmates, professors - want to see you succeed! Lean on them when you need to. Classmates can bond over some of the miserable items, and for the remaining 3/4 of this academic year I feel like there will be many more bitching sessions.
Another thing is
hobbies. I would go nuts if I just memorized content all day, plus that inkling of lab work. Go do things you enjoy. Get outside, exercise, build something, break things, whatever you do. Distract yourself for an hour or so each day from the misery that is didactic lectures for 7+ hours/day. If the med science of 1st year has taught me anything, it's that the human body cannot sit in lecture halls passively absorbing content for that much time each day, and still remain sane.
And after you've studied, AFTER you've shared in a bitching session with classmates, distracted yourself with your hobbies, had dinner, memorized all that **** for tomorrow's exam....THEN you call your friends, your family, sit with your spouse, whatever it is, as a calm and sane person.
[Personal experience: Keep the complaints with family/non-dent friends to a minimum- they want to know you're doing well. Complain with classmates, not girlfriend.]
Hope first year picks up for you OP.