It Was Not Acci-Dental: Lana Amoudi's Journey to Becoming a Dentist
Learn about Lana's journey building her dentistry career
Welcome to the Invite Health newsletter. This is a newsletter for those figuring out what to do with a life sciences / health sciences degree. We share stories of students pursuing careers in healthcare, and the experiential learning opportunities they've had. From medical anthropology to public health to market access, my goal with this newsletter is to introduce you to the various pathways that students can pursue in healthcare (and beyond)!
Whether you’re reading this on a commute, during your study break, or from the comfort of your own home, I hope you enjoy reading today’s newsletter.
- Sachi
This week, I invited one of my friends from undergrad, Lana, to share her story. She is a dental student at the University of Toronto, and shares (in full detail) her journey of how she ended up here. Today’s highlights include:
How Lana discovered from a young age that she wanted to be a dentist (play-doh dentistry anyone?)
Her timeline for applying to dental school, from high school to final year of undergrad
Balancing dental school while being a dental student content creator!
It Was Not Acci-Dental: Lana Amoudi's Journey to Becoming a Dentist
First off, tell us about your journey so far. Where do you study, what inspired you to pursue this, and what’s next? What else do you like to do outside of studying?
My name is Lana Amoudi (she/her), a first year dental student at the University of Toronto. I am very grateful to say that my passion for pursuing a career in dentistry ignited at a very early age. I remember when I was younger, I used to accompany my mom everywhere- including her very frequent dental visits. Seeing the work her dentist accomplished in every visit really piqued my interest. From how he gracefully worked with his hands to accomplish his clinical goals to how he worked with the rest of his team to ensure that everytime we came into his clinic, we felt comfortable and at ease. With every visit, I witnessed how he recovered my mother’s beautiful smile which was rewarding for everyone in the room including myself. Although these experiences really caught my attention, I wouldn’t say that was the moment I knew I wanted to become a dentist (yet). One day after those visits, I remember going home and seeing a play-doh ad on tv for a set that looks like a patient’s mouth, with play-doh teeth and plastic toy dental instruments (like a mirror). Instead of asking my parents to buy it, I decided to use my artistic skills to recreate it with play-doh I already had at home. Let’s just say, I had a blast making play-doh teeth (that looked like white blobs), using black dots as cavities, and using toys I found at home to play dentist and remove those cavities. As I got older, I knew dentistry was something I was definitely interested in, but I knew that my knowledge about what the field really entails was still lacking. My parents then suggested the idea of shadowing a dentist to learn more and that’s when I learned that dentistry is actually as cool, if not cooler than I thought it was! Dentistry was the place where all my varying interests and passions came together. I loved the medical and surgical aspect of dentistry. I admired how dentists worked gracefully with their hands to relieve an individual’s pain and bring back their confidence. The technology, the team environment, the genuine relationship with patients- I loved it all. This was around 8th to 9th grade. Since then, I started shadowing more often when I got the chance, looked at requirements for Canadian dental schools and by 12th grade, I started planning which undergraduate programs I would like to apply to.
Throughout this process, I always heard about how difficult it might be to gain acceptance into Canadian dental schools, thus, the fear of not being able to achieve this goal or not having the skills necessary to excel in it was always lingering in the back of my mind. This lingering fear, I would say, was my worst enemy and my best friend simultaneously. In some ways, it always pushed me to challenge myself and step out of my comfort zone but in other instances, it was almost a strong enough reason to decide not to do something because I was simply afraid that the results wouldn’t be what I had hoped for. Knowing this, I set it as a goal to always do the things that scared me even if that meant I wouldn’t succeed at first. During the process of applying to programs, I remember being hesitant about applying to one program in particular, McMaster University's Bachelor of Health Sciences Program, in the fear that I may be wasting my time. After all, what are my chances? But this was one of those, “do what scares you moment” where I decided to ignore surrounding voices and just go for it. My other options were a variety of health science and life science programs at different schools. I knew I wanted to delve deeper into this field regardless of which school I attended as it would be a good way to prepare for dental school. To fast forward a little bit, I ended up doing my undergraduate degree in McMaster’s Health Sciences program! I was very ecstatic to begin my journey here as I knew that it would challenge me in a way that I was not challenged before- and it did. Not only did I learn alot about the field of healthcare from many varying lenses, but I also learned so much about myself, about my surrounding communities, my impact in the world, how to work with others and what kind of professional I want to be.
I spent my undergraduate years with an open mind in that I didn’t want to limit my career options, so I took on a variety of different volunteer opportunities, joined clubs and worked on fun projects that allowed me to connect with and learn from very cool people. I even started a podcast! However, no matter which way I went or what career I explored, something always brought me back to dentistry because it felt like I could incorporate so many of the things that excite me in one place. This is why I decided to get a job at a dental office to learn about what it’s really like behind the scenes and I loved every second of it. I worked as a junior dental assistant and was very involved in procedures where I helped the dentist as well as with patients before and after every procedure. My favorite part about it all was the relationships I built with patients and being able to catch up with them every once in a while as they came in for the regularly scheduled cleanings. In that role, I also had the privilege of observing 4 different dentists working which allowed me to see how dentistry can really be what you make of it. There were dentists who liked to spend their days drilling, filling and seeing pediatric patients while other dentists liked to diversify their day and take on more surgical procedures like implants, gum grafts, and extractions. This made me realize that there was even more to dentistry than what I saw through shadowing and I knew that becoming a dentist is and always has been my dream.
I began preparing my applications in the summer after 2nd year of undergrad, applied in my 4th year and thankfully began dental school in the September after my 4th year. I’m currently in my second semester of first year of dental school and I am truly very grateful to be here. It has been a difficult adjustment with so many courses in one semester where I need to not only work on my didactic courses but also on my hand skills for pre-clinical labs. However, despite the challenges, it has been truly rewarding to learn from my instructors and from my peers who come into this program with a variety of different experiences. Aside from academics, I’ve been loving spending time with friends, exploring Toronto and just working on my skills and hobbies by taking on opportunities like drawing, podcasting, and creating videos outside of dental school!
Tell us about your experience as a Dental Student at the University of Toronto!
As a dental student at the University of Toronto, I’m undergoing a 4 year professional undergraduate program to obtain a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree that will allow me to take a national licensing exam to become a practicing dentist. I’m currently in my second semester of first year and most of my courses at the moment are either didactic (lectures and test based) or pre-clinical (lab based). Our first semester consisted of broad courses like histology, microbiology, gross anatomy, dental public health and biomaterials whereas our second semester consists of more dentistry focused courses like restorative dentistry, preventative dentistry, and oral biology to name a few. So far, some of my favorite courses have been gross anatomy, biomaterials (although I hate to admit it), and restorative dentistry. In gross anatomy, we learn about the human body with a major focus on the head and neck. In labs, we get to dissect cadaveric specimens to visualize and really learn about the structures we discuss in our lectures. These labs make me really appreciate the intricacy of the human body. As for biomaterials, this class and I have a love/hate relationship. In this class we learn about the materials used by dentists for varying procedures and use those materials to make things like alginate impressions (a material used to take the shape of a patient’s teeth), making stone models, and dentures. From far away, it looks like an arts and crafts class, however, it can be very stressful at times with things breaking, solutions hardening too soon (or too late), running out of time etc. I remember last semester, we were working on making custom trays in this lab and a part of the process is making sure to trim the edges of the tray to a perfect length that isn’t short but also isn’t too long that it wouldn’t fit in a patient’s mouth. For some reason, I kept over trimming the tray and my instructor couldn’t let me leave without having these trays completed. This was my first time staying in the lab longer than I'm supposed to (we typically start cleaning up at 5:15 while my clean up started at 6). It was very funny looking back at it because it was just me in the lab with my instructor sitting on the side observing me, waiting for me to complete the task at hand. It was a humbling experience to say the least. However, despite how challenging this class is, it has really taught me the importance of paying attention to detail, having patience, coping with stress, and being resilient especially when things go wrong because that can happen at any time. The other class that I’m loving right now is restorative dentistry. In this class, we’re learning about how to restore oral health such as through drilling and filling cavitated teeth. Getting to use a drill and practice working on our mannequins has been challenging but also very fun as we’re doing more dentistry related things with our hands! All in all, I’ve been really loving my experience in dental school despite all the obstacles and can’t wait to continue learning and growing to become the best dental professional I can be.
How did you come across this opportunity? What did the application process entail?
I learned about this dental program through my research on how to become a dentist when I first became interested in the field. Through this research, I learned about the University of Toronto’s program as well as a few others across Canada. This is what the application process entailed:
1/ I needed to write the DAT (Dental Aptitude Test) and obtain competitive scores that would allow me to apply to Canadian dental schools. I wrote mine back when it was only offered in November and February, the summer after my second year of undergrad. Now, the DAT is offered multiple times a year so students have more flexibility choosing when they’d like to write it.
2/ During the summer before my fourth year of undergrad, I started preparing my essays and autobiographical sketches for the different dental schools. This is something I kept working on and adjusting until the day I had to submit my applications.
3/ In September of fourth year of undergrad, I sent my transcript to dental schools (based on their instructions).
4/ Closer to the application cycle, I had to do the Casper test (an online situational judgment test)
5/ I submitted my applications in November, received interview invites in late January and had my interviews in mid February. Finally, I received my acceptance at the end of February!
Note: Throughout my undergrad, I always made sure to take on a variety of different opportunities such as work, volunteer or even clubs to develop my skills in preparation for the admission process and dental school. Thus, I highly recommend trying out different things and working on building important skills whenever you get an opportunity as these are things that will benefit you in the long run regardless of which career you decide to pursue. I truly believe that if you spend your time working on yourself and stepping out of your comfort zone, everything else will fall into place.
Did this experience lead you to pursue any other related opportunities?
I’m still very newly immersed in this experience of being a dental student which means that there’s alot I have yet to explore. I’m currently in the process of adapting to this very novel and intense environment while also trying to explore new areas of interest. One thing that being in dental school has pushed me to do is start a social media account that allows me to share my experiences with other people interested in the field. This is something I was always interested in doing but was hesitant about. However, I know how difficult this journey can be and I want to be there for those who may be pursuing a similar path. I’m still uncertain about what kind of things I’d like to offer on this platform, but I do know that I want it to be a resource for others. Aside from this, being in dental school opened doors for me to take part in clubs and opportunities that are more dentistry focused. I’ve been attending workshops hosted by experienced professionals and joining school clubs. For instance, back in October, I attended a cosmetic dentistry event hosted by UofT’s cosmetic club where Dr. Nada Albatish, a UofT alumni, was the speaker. In this event she shared with us “the good, the bad and the ugly” about certain cosmetic procedures in dentistry based on her experiences in the field! Once I progress further in dental school and get more hands-on experience, there will be alot more opportunities that I can take part in (and look forward to doing so). Some of these things involve attending hands-on workshops that discuss new technology, cosmetic treatments, lab work, implantology etc. I’m also looking forward to attending the Annual Spring Meeting in April which is a dental conference hosted by the Ontario Dental Association. I simply can’t wait to meet more people, learn from them, and continue to explore and immerse myself in this field!
Where can students go if they want to learn more about these experiences?
I’ve been sharing my day to day experiences on my Instagram account (@lanaamoudii), so if you’d like to know what it’s like being a dental student at UofT, you’ll definitely find a lot there. I also use my Instagram account to connect with students so if you’re ever looking for someone to talk to or ask questions, never hesitate to reach out! I’m always happy to help out :) Aside from Instagram, you can also connect with me through LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/lana-amoudi).
Is there anything else that you would like to add for Invite Health readers?
I recognize that knowing what career I’d like to pursue at an early age is a privilege. This might not be the case for everyone and I want to reassure you that it is more than okay. Whether you know what path you want to take or not, it is important to always take on an open and curious mind. Don’t hesitate to explore new things. Not sure if it is something you’d like? You can shadow! Reach out to someone in the field, express to them your interest and ask to spend a day with them- you never know what new opportunities will come your way. And speaking of opportunities, don’t be afraid to make your own. Is there a work/volunteer position that you really want to take on but never saw a posting for? Reach out and let them know you’re interested! Most of the opportunities I got my hands on came from me reaching out to the place and expressing to them how passionate I am about the role and opportunity. It’s scary, but I promise you, it works! You got this :)
P.S. If you ever have constructive feedback that you’d like to share about how I can make Invite Health better for you, reach out to me directly on Instagram or LinkedIn!
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