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Anastasiia's Story

Growing up in Ukraine, Anastasiia always wanted to study medicine. As a child she was interested in science and medical procedures involved in fixing teeth. When she moved to Canada, she heard from a trusted friend that dental assisting was a good profession and decided to pursue her diploma. “I like helping people, but the biggest reason I chose dental assisting is that I like everything connected to dentistry - the medical side of things. Solving dental issues, and performing a variety of procedures.”

She chose the Dental Assistant diploma program at KDM Dental College because of its accelerated pace and encourages people that are ready to get started in their profession, and serious about doing the work involved, to enroll. “Every minute, every day it's worth it. If you take it seriously, if it is your goal, you want to get a profession and you want to be good at, if you really care about it, this achievement is just awesome.” She says that she felt she had fulfilled her dream of working in the medical field when she graduated, “it was a moment when I felt that I achieved something, something important.”

Finding a dental office to work at after completing the program at KDM was a challenge, but she has some tips for new graduates:

• Don’t give up. “If you don't fit in one office, you try another one and just don't stop until you find the right place because it is a special atmosphere in every office. Not everyone has success right away. It's okay.”
• You need to learn how to get along well with the doctor. “This is so important because you spend so much time together, you have to figure out how to read what he or she wants.”
• Be a good team player. “If you're finished at the end of the day but there's another person that's not, help them out. Even if you are still learning skills and you're still making mistakes or something, this is appreciated a lot. If you're helping out and working hard, managers see that.”

So how does she feel about working full time as a dental assistant? “Every minute, every day is so meaningful. Absolutely awesome.”