There comes several occasions in an individual’s life when they regret or at least at some point question their earlier decisions. For me, the one thing in life I will always be proud of is choosing the BDS programme. Everybody is different, and we celebrate this individualism. Similarly, choosing a career appropriately follows the same principle of individuality. We can make it easier by following some simple steps that will lead you towards YOUR right career choice. This starts with the hardest simple question: what does one want in life?
This question is mind-boggling but if answered correctly, the person finds his purpose in life, which makes success inevitable. Once you find your answer, you can easily find the pathway leading to the right career. It is different for everyone and leads to opening and closing of different doors. For instance, if somebody decides to have money and fame in life, they may go for the fields like media and politics, but also medicine, law and arts, depending on which type of fame one wants.
The next step is to be specific about what we are asking for. Being specific will help you have better focus and determination. Both along with persistence are the keys for success in life.
Now, coming to BDS, the best part of it is even if you are not sure about it, this decision can hardly turn into any disappointment, at least that is how it is for me.
Once you graduate you are called a doctor. The course being of four years and after house job of one year, you are ready to either practice on your own or become an academician.
Dentists are “needed” by everyone. Once somebody gets to know you are a dentist, probability of that taking over other conversations is very high, giving you the sense of being wanted.
Dentistry, as a profession, is a fusion of various sciences, like medicine, mathematics, psychology, fine arts, marketing and so on. It can help you be the doctor you always wanted to be, serving humanity, with much lesser chances of risking a human life. The engineer, constructing bridges and designing the dentures. The counselor, helping people feel better about themselves specially by providing them with better smiles. The artist by contouring and designing the cavities and restorations. It helps one to be a complete individual possessing different skills. It has many sub-fields, and a short intro is in order here:
Orthodontics: it deals with braces and misaligned teeth. Prosthodontics: also known as dental prosthetics or prosthetic dentistry, it is the area of dentistry that focuses on dental prostheses, in other words this field deals with dentures, bridges and crowns.
Operative Dentistry: it takes care of cavities, restorations and the famous root canal treatments.
Periodontics: This specialty deas with scaling and gum problems.
Paedodontics: as the name suggests, it deals with children’s dentistry.
Oral Surgery: The name saying it all. Oral maxillofacial surgeon being one of the world’s highest paid people.
And there is a lot more! For example, research, the one field needing much help in our country. Public health sciences and medical education will help make things better for rest of us on a much bigger scale. Pharmaceuticals and NGOs also recruit dentists for handsome packages. And all this without risking your social life or troubling you much! So, go bring that smile on yourself and others sooner!
The writer is a BDS graduate, working as lecturer and consultant dental surgeon in a private clinic. Also studying for post graduation, she is a part of a research project.