Now that I'm starting my 3rd year, becoming a dentist feels more real than before. In about half a year from now I would be treating real patients. Which makes me wonder how would that turn out to be. Will the patient understand what I tell them? Will I screw up and cause an emergency evacuation of the entire polyclinic? Will I kill somebody?
I spent quite a lot of time in dental clinics and hospitals during my recent holiday. I watched how the dentist go about his work effortlessly, how young nurses have no regard of patient's confidentiality(she told my mum that so-and-so is a HIV patient and that another so-and-so just died) and how older medical staff get lost in life's chaos and lose the passion of working.
I used to think that I want to do this because I think I can. But watching the dentist at work made me realize what sort of dentist I'd want to be. One that makes patients happy. He issued a new set of full dentures to this old lady and seeing her happy about it gave satisfaction to me, even though I had nothing to do with it.
But too many things in life kill that sort of excitement and passion that probably only come at the beginning. And I'm not just talking about becoming a dentist.
I'll try to make sure that doesn't happen to me.
