Omar Abuzaineh
Dentists, General
Lutheran Medical Center
Milestones
My road in life has been direct.
Had my passion for working in health care.
Studied biological sciences in college to get reqs for post-graduate school.
Decided to shadow fellow health care providers and fell in love with dentistry.
Took the DATs and applied to dental school my senior year.
Got accepted to dental school and took a year off to work and travel abroad.
Spent 4 years as a dental student and enjoyed working in community health settings.
Got accepted into a residency program in Northern Arizona working at Navajo dental clinics.
Figuring out the next step. :D
Education
High School
Bachelor
University of California-Irvine
University of California-Irvine
Career
Dentists, General
I am a dental resident at a Navajo community health center.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Medicine
Education
Helping People
Day to Day
I carpool to work at 8am. It is about a 1 hour commute to work for us, but we try to make it fun. From 8-12 and 1-5 we see numerous patients. I do everything from dental exams, to crowns / bridges, to oral surgeries. I work on all age ranges, from 3-90+ years of age, so it is really a diverse patient base. A lot of the work we do is dental emergencies and getting people out of their immediate pain, but I am also working on comprehensive treatments that will take months to years to complete.
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for college students
Take time to find a local office or mentor who can give you a glimpse of their work habits and what they go through on a day to day basis. This really helped me envision myself in their shoes and gave me a mentor to guide me into dental school and give me advice even until now.
Recommended Education
My career is not related to what I studied. I'd recommend this path instead:
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Society in General:
"You should be a dentist because you will make a lot of money."
