A career change from ballet to dentistry seems an unusual leap, but for Rachel Brown, 28, the combination of mental and physical skills transferred in a way that prepared her for the challenge. Jason Zhang, 22, experimented in actuarial studies before following his dad into the dental world. The 2023 student presidents describe the unique experiences which have taught them the value of resilience and adaptability, continuous learning and communication.
🔵 Why dentistry?
After finishing a degree in medical science, Ms Brown extended her childhood love of ballet into a creative career, training at the National College of Dance in Newcastle.
“Ballet is a very demanding field,” Ms Brown explained. “Your body is your resume, so it’s important to listen to it and look after yourself to avoid injury”. She described her experience as not only physically taxing, but mentally challenging, juggling choreography, technique, posture, and coordination with other dancers.
From dance, Ms Brown moved to working in management within the university sector, where a colleague encouraged her direction toward dentistry. “Although it seemed a random suggestion at the time, it was actually a great fit, combining my interests of science, creativity and working with people,” she said.
Mr Zhang, whose father is a dentist, also went through a period of experimentation before deciding on dentistry as his career path. “I’d like to say I knew when I was little because my dad is a dentist, but when I got late into high school, I really wasn’t sure if it was for me.” Trying science programs and a year of actuarial studies after graduation helped him decide to give dentistry a shot.
🔵 An unexpected start
Both Ms Brown and Mr Zhang shared a rocky start to their studies, commencing their dental degrees with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.
“At the beginning of March, it was nice just going to lectures in person. But then when COVID hit, it was chaos,” Mr Zhang said. “Everyone was going home. Some of my peers went back to Canada and got stuck there. A couple of the subjects went online and then of course you can’t really do dentistry online because the practical skills are essential”. He described the experience as a “rush to catch up”.
“It was a pretty surreal experience,” Ms Brown agreed. “Going from a couple of weeks on campus, really excited to drill things and make a mess of plastic teeth, to all of a sudden being thrown into complete chaos.” Describing the unique challenges of online learning, she shared the example of soap carving to help develop hand skills.
“Students were asked to practice carving individual teeth to improve manual dexterity, gain a better understanding of tooth morphology and learn the nuances of occlusal anatomy,” she said. “My place smelt lovely, but it wasn’t quite the experience I envisioned at the start!”
🦷 Studying techniques and maintaining balance
Adapting studying habits to individual learning styles has been an effective way for both students to absorb information and stay motivated.
“I’m a very visual learner,” Ms Brown said. “I live and breathe through mind maps when I’m studying. For me, it’s been a great way to completely flesh out a topic and see if I can identify any gaps in my knowledge”.
Ms Brown also uses her partner to practice explaining dentistry concepts in a way that’s easy for non-dental people to understand, improving patient communication techniques while checking her own knowledge at the same time.
For Mr Zhang, regular study with a good friend keeps him focused, accountable and learning new things. “I have a really good friend in my year, Mathew. We try and keep each other in check week by week, choosing what to study and quizzing each other to get the information down pat,” he said.
“It’s nice to see where we can learn from each other and how often we can know the answer without checking.”
Ms Brown and Mr Zhang noted creative outlets, change of scenery and exercise as important factors in maintaining balance, with breaks for rest the most important restorative factor.
☑️ Goals for presidency and careers in dentistry
Having experienced COVID’s isolating effects, both Ms Brown and Mr Zhang are keen to increase opportunities to connect face-to-face during their time as Student Dental Association Presidents.
“I feel like in the past few years, through the pandemic, we haven’t got to know each other as well,” Mr Zhang said. “I’m really hoping to mend that, to get people going out, talking to and really supporting each other”.
Ms Brown said that getting social engagement back up and running has been a huge project of the Sydney University Dental Association (SUDA) too. “We have a community engagement project in the works called ‘Spreading Smiles’ where SUDA students go out to schools to teach students how to take care of their teeth,” she said.
Also, continuing the work of 2022 SUDA President Anushka Fernando, Ms Brown was excited to be getting Careers Night up and running again. She explained that this year, in response to the current DA shortage, they would be opening the event to all students to encourage DA work before leaving dental school. “First year students could benefit from getting jobs as DAs that carry them through to graduation, maybe ending up as an associate, and continuing that trajectory in their career,” she said.
🍎 Crucial skills for dental graduates
In a world where technology is constantly changing, Ms Brown noted adaptability, flexibility and a willingness to learn as key skills dental graduates will need for the future workforce. However, patient communication was strongly emphasised by both presidents.
“Your one-six is heavily carious and heavily decayed’ isn’t going to make much sense to a patient,” she said. “However, if you can explain in words that they understand without being patronising, those are really key skills that patients can benefit from.”
“Sometimes it’s really overwhelming,” Mr Zhang agreed. “There’s always new research being published and new ways to do things. You need to continually learn, be curious and grow through your career, but when it comes to success in dental treatment, a lot is reliant on a patient’s understanding and ability to follow through with instructions.”
“The patient has their own thoughts and they have their own priorities and oral health may not necessarily be at the top of the list. It’s really interesting and challenging managing a patient’s individual needs”.
🥅 Goals for the future
Ms Brown, who is in her final year at The University of Sydney, is looking forward to some downtime and relaxation after a long degree. “I’m very excited to work as a general dentist and especially in family dentistry after I graduate,” she said.
With almost two years to go for Mr Zhang, graduation seems a way off, but career plans are in consideration. “I’d love to practice in a wide range of places,” he said. “Coming from CSU, there’s a big focus on rural and regional dentistry. It’s really obvious when we see patients that there is a big gap to fill in rural areas with a lack of access to healthcare in general, so I’d like to contribute here.”
