Essay: A Career As A Dental Assistant

I previously applied to Nova Southeastern University College of Dental Medicine in 2014. Instead of rushing myself to apply the next cycle, I waited another year, reevaluating myself and strengthening my application to become a more competitive candidate. Although I already had more than 400 hours of shadowing experience, working at the dental offices for a year showed me a more realistic view of dentistry – the physical demands that dentists face everyday, the difficulties of managing a budget and administrative work, and the responsibilities of supervising a large number of staff.

Furthermore, I am more confident about my application now that I have strengthened my scientific background through an extra year of classes at UC Berkeley Extension. I took my studies even more seriously. Over time, I became more comfortable with the topics I must understand to be successful, both in dental school and in my future career as a dentist. By having pre-exposures to courses such as Human Anatomy, Human Physiology, and Cell Biology, I was able to not only develop my own study pattern for each class, but also prepare myself to learn more challenging

Every hour of shadowing experience I take on is still full of new lessons for me, unique to the dentists I am working with, the patients they are treating, and the type of treatment being performed. Each office I work for has its own distinct atmosphere, which allows me to adapt to different learning environments. These experiences continue to motivate me in my journey, pushing me to become a dentist who, like the dentists I have worked with, maintains professionalism in even unexpected circumstances and respects her patients regardless of their personal backgrounds. Now that I have spent the two years improving myself, I look forward to gaining professional skills and additional experiences in dental