Ruhee Jaffer
Everything I Wish I Knew as a D1
This is by far the best 4 years of your life. Here are some tips to make it the best experience ever.

Dear ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฒ๐๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐๐ง๐ญ, โฃ โฃ I am so excited about the incredible four year journey you are about to embark on! Here are all the things I want you to know (๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ญ๐บ ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ) โฃ โฃ 1๏ธโฃ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐! Donโt forget this and stay passionate. You worked so hard to get where you are, but the real work is just about to start. ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ and keep looking at the big picture. This is where you always wanted to be! And the ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ thing keeping you from being that amazing dentist you always aspired to become is four years. But believe me these are undoubtedly the ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ ๐ฒ๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐.โฃ โฃ 2๏ธโฃ Your most ๐ท๐ข๐ญ๐ถ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ resource - Your UPPER ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐๐ง. Alright so the D2s were literally just where you are right now. Who better to guide you than the ones who ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต hustled through the craziness of simlab, juggling quizzes, tests, perfecting the explorer grasp, provisionals, impressions, waxups and conquering the learn-a-prep. โฃ โฃ 3๏ธโฃ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ฌ. This is something I wish I realized earlier on I would have had a few extra nights of good sleep and about 55 less wrinkles. Alright so thereโs going to be classmates of yours that were born with the hands of Picasso and literally may not even need to try that hard because the hand gods are always smiling down on them. ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฆ. I had to put the sweat, tears, and many extra hours in simlab. And thatโs ok because I worked for it and that was ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐๐ฒ. Everybody has different strengths, and you will discover that as you go through school. โฃ โฃ 4๏ธโฃ Do not be afraid to ๐๐ฌ๐ค ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ฉ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ฌ๐ค ๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ. Your faculty and TAโs really are there for YOU. Yup! Thatโs right they are here to teach you the ropes, but they are ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด. If you donโt understand a concept ask immediately. Itโs so easy to fall behind or worse yet pick up bad habits (or wrong habits) if you donโt get assistance along the way. ๐๐ด๐ฌ, ๐ข๐ด๐ฌ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ด๐ฌ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆโฃ โฃ 5๏ธโฃ ๐๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ง๐ฏ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฏ๐๐. This was my greatest joy. I was lucky to be involved in organized dentistry (#CDAproud#CDAproud) as the CDA rep for my class. And along the way added a bunch of other things to make my dental school experience more whole. Community service, mobile clinics, Dr. Stat, student research group, volunteering at skid row, externships, inter professional educational opportunities, and special patients selective to name a few. My goal in dental school was to ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ - so become that โ๐ฒ๐๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐๐งโ you wonโt regret it โฃ โฃ 6๏ธโฃ There is no competition, other than with ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐. Dentistry is a highly team-based collegiate profession so all your classmates will be your colleagues. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ with each other, ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ each other, ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ to each other, and make the bestest friends of your life here. โฃ โฃ 7๏ธโฃ Donโt allow ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง to be your greatest enemy. Strive for continuous ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ. As type A personalities it is so hard to get ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ท๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ and stuck when we are always trying to achieve perfection. I did this and it was really painful. It hindered my progress and I honestly was critical of my self and ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ. In dental school you are juggling multiple things, and canโt afford this to happen.
Please reach out to me if you have any questions it was so great meeting a bunch of you yesterday. You can also follow me on Instagram @toothfairydiaries