pursuing a career in dentistry while coping with anxiety

[meant4dent]

This is not a troll thread. I'm looking for honest insight / suggestions from dental students, associates, and established dentists.

I am fascinated and enamoured by the dentistry profession. I can really see myself being happy as a dentist.

However, I have been known to be naive in the past. I am now aware of, and trying to overcome, anxiety issues without medication.

I am your typical type-A perfectionist. I am slowly trying to learn that it's ok not to be perfect and that life is far from what you expect it to be. I stress over small things and lose sleep due to worry. It does have an impact on my functioning. However, I like to think that if I want something enough, that I should just go out and do it and let things come as they do.

Am I really getting myself into a potential mess by pursuing dentistry? I know that school is particularly demanding. Associateship can be extremely stressful, and starting up (and running) a practice is beyond anything I can imagine handling at this point.

But then again, anything worth pursuing in life is stressful nowadays, no?

What are your thoughts? Am I just feeding my anxiety by worrying too much about what's to come, when I haven't even be accepted yet - or are these legitimate concerns that should outweigh my passion for dentistry?

Thanks for your input.

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[meant4dent]

And almost forgot to mention the added stress from a seemingly insurmountable volume of debt...

 

[MechZZ]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOBIq0R4iQY

 

[ename1]

Your concerns are legitimate, but these are concerns that every dentist faces. Sure there is a lot of debt, but it is possible to pay it off. I heard a good quote once, "Difficulty is one excuse that history will not accept". Just because something is hard doesn't mean you should not do it. If it is your dream then go for it.

 

[DrRoyal Pains]

I agree with ename1. Also, I too consider myself to have a Type-A personality as well (just because I like things done in a particular fashion). I consider it to be a good thing because I am very organized and focus all my time and energy into something I truly want, such as getting good grades for example. If your feeling stressed out, just go to the gym and lift, or go for a run. It can do wonders. You can clear your head and get jacked in the process ha. Best of luck to you.

 

[dentalWorks]

This is not a troll thread. I'm looking for honest insight / suggestions from dental students, associates, and established dentists.

I am fascinated and enamoured by the dentistry profession. I can really see myself being happy as a dentist.

However, I have been known to be naive in the past. I am now aware of, and trying to overcome, anxiety issues without medication.

I am your typical type-A perfectionist. I am slowly trying to learn that it's ok not to be perfect and that life is far from what you expect it to be. I stress over small things and lose sleep due to worry. It does have an impact on my functioning. However, I like to think that if I want something enough, that I should just go out and do it and let things come as they do.

Am I really getting myself into a potential mess by pursuing dentistry? I know that school is particularly demanding. Associateship can be extremely stressful, and starting up (and running) a practice is beyond anything I can imagine handling at this point.

But then again, anything worth pursuing in life is stressful nowadays, no?

What are your thoughts? Am I just feeding my anxiety by worrying too much about what's to come, when I haven't even be accepted yet - or are these legitimate concerns that should outweigh my passion for dentistry?

Thanks for your input.

I am not sure what it means to be a type-A personality or... if its a disorder or what not...

But let me put ur mind at ease.... Most of us freak out from time to time. And many times, its over silly things. The usual pre-dental student freaks out over... pretty much everything:
-earn a single C (or lower grade) and you start losing sleep
-heyyyyy what about the night before the DAT? You guys remember that night? I couldn't sleep, I went to bed super early (9PM), never fell asleep till 8AM
-How about when you finally get your GPA calculated by aadsas and you look at it and.... it doesn't impress you? thats another "freak-out" moment
-Worrying about your LORs and if they are "gud-enuf"
-Shadowing hours ~ "do I have enough?"
-Shadowing specialists ~ "I didn't shadow any specialists... AM I DOOMED?"
-Volunteering hours "omg I heard only people with 1000+ volunteer hours get in"
-Applying to X-amount of schools and.... worrying if ur going to land any interviews

This list goes on and on and on... and you know what? You haven't even started dental school yet

So as you can see, welcome to a stressful (but hopefully worth it) period of your life.

 

[meant4dent]

Thanks everyone,

Fantastic insight.

Keep the encouragement coming, please!

 

[dentalpath]

Thanks everyone,

Fantastic insight.

Keep the encouragement coming, please!

meantfordent...you just gotto suck it up this time. Be strong and think that almost everything in life comes with a little risk. Anxiety is a part of dental school, but if you keep up with your studies like you are supposed to, exams shouldn't be too much of a problem for you. Being a a perfectionist doesnt mean everything in life has to go according to how you plan it (thats more like an idealist), stuff happens every now and then that is beyond your control, we all make mistakes and after all we are human beings. Perfection is of no use when your anxiety overshadows every minute of life. Look far ahead and see yourself as a successful dentist, be optimistic about the good things in life and just work hard to achieve your goal. Results will follow. By the way am a rosy eyed optimist and have been in trouble many times because of it...but nothing can stop me!

 

[Spit]

The answer is pedo! Become a pediatric dentist if you want the least amount of stress possible. I know its kinda bad to say, but if you F up its not that bad, because at least your not causing permanent damage to permanent teeth! I know that pedo-donts patients can have permanent teeth, blah blah blah, but talking to one of the faculty members at the clinic I work at, he says he likes pediatrics because he is not constantly worried that he will mess up some patients grill for the rest of their life.

Yes I'm making a lot of generalizations, and yes there are stresses to pedo (parents ) BUT you can just say MOM! GTFO! And yes you have to get into a pedo program too, but ya... Thats what I have to say on the issue of decreasing anxiety as a dentist.

Oh, and I've spent some 400 hours in a pediatric clinic with pedo-residents and faculty members from the local uni, so thats where I get my insight.

 

[meant4dent]

Thanks dentalpath and spit; that's some uplifting stuff.

I know that there's already lots of info on this forum in regards to stats and chances, but I was hoping one of you could comment about whether or not this is a realistic endeavour for me - based on your experiences with Canadians at US Schools:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=801919

thanks for checking it out and potentially commenting.

Cheers.

 

[youknowthedrill]

Life is stressful. I'd rather have a dentist that is a perfectionist than one who doesn't care. Now if you truly suffer from anxiety, perhaps you should see a therapist. They may be able to teach you some easy tricks to stay calm and focused.