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Clear Horizons Early College High School

Mentor Interview Essay

Dentistry

Kim Vu

Independent Student Mentorship

Andrea Zehentner

29 September 2023
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Summary and Analysis of the Interview

Throughout this interview, there were many connections that Dr. Hicks and I had. It felt

as if Dr. Hicks and I were the same person. For instance, Dr. Hicks expressed that her life’s

career only began with the influence of her parents. Her response reminded me of my beginning

and how I decided to choose this career route. Moreover, she explained a rewarding feature of

working in dentistry, which inspired me to want to achieve that reward too. It was such a

meaningful achievement that I did not hear often, and it shows Dr. Hicks's dedication that she

puts into her career. I can see why Dr. Hicks is working in dentistry, which makes me wish to

succeed in the dentistry field and inspire to help the community like Dr. Hicks.
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Mentor Interview Essay

When asked the question, “What interested you in this field,” it takes time to think about

the reason. I’m unsure if I want this career because of my parents, the salary, or if I am truly

passionate about this career. However, Dr. Hicks expressed throughout the interview many

similarities and responses that map out the reality of the future journey I hope to follow. It made

me understand more of the positive aspects of going into dentistry, but also about the negative

features. Many thoughts were running through my head, but Dr. Hicks helped me understand the

true reason why I want to walk down this career path.

At the start of the interview, the opening question, “What interested you in this field?” Dr.

Hicks said she had always wanted to do something in the medical field since this was also a

suggestion from her Asian parents. Her response to this question reminded me of how my parents

constantly influenced me since the beginning. As a stereotypical thing from Asian parents, many

want their children to go into a career in the medical field to become a doctor. Understanding that

common influence from parents, my career began the same way as Dr. Hicks.

With this influence, I started in the medical field wanting to become a pediatrician. This

was something my parents agreed on, but also something I initially wanted to do. However,

throughout high school, I started to discover various careers and researching about them. I found

out that dentistry was something intriguing to me, not only because of the salary or the great

work and life balance they have, but mainly the emotional reward you get from working in this

field. Therefore, when Dr. Hicks was asked the question, “What is the most rewarding part of

your job and why,” she expressed her answer in something meaningful to me as well. Dr. Hicks

said she enjoyed seeing her patients recommend the clinic to their family and friends. It is

something that I wanted to experience as well while working as a dentist and see my patients be
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satisfied with the service that was provided. Understanding Dr. Hick’s feelings about seeing her

patients come back to the clinic often makes dentistry an ensured route for me.

However, there were not always positive days that Dr. Hicks experienced while preparing

to become a dentist and presently working as one. So, when Dr. Hicks was asked the question,

“Do you have any regrets about your decision to pursue this career,” she explained that she

sometimes did. These regrets included the difficulties of running the clinic where Dr. Hicks must

organize her staff management for instance. Moreover, she has to always cater to her patients,

especially kids, who are afraid of dentists and ease people’s anxiety. From hearing about this

hardship that she faces in her career; I can completely feel Dr. Hick's commitment she puts into

her job and helped me understand that she may also go through this in the future.

As a result, Dr. Hicks’s experience and preparation as a general dentist have shown me

the blood, sweat, and tears she put into working at developing her own clinic and achieving her

future goal. There were many obstacles that Dr. Hicks faced throughout her life, and challenges

she still faces today. However, Dr. Hicks has motivated me to see the life-long reward in this

career field and helped me comprehend the sincere relationship you can create with your

patients.
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Works Cited

Hicks, Amy. “Personal Interview.” 14 Sept. 2023. Vu, 2023.

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Transcript

Dr. Hicks: What interested you in this field? To be honest, I knew I wanted to do something in

medicine, but not really want to do medicine. You know, as Asians, it was a suggestion from my

mom and dad.

Kim Vu: Yeah, I understand that.

Dr. Hicks: How did you prepare for your field prior to college? So, when I decided to become a

dentist in high school, I told my parents that I needed to have my teeth straighten for dental

school, so I got my teeth straighten. For college, I was a candy striper, I’m not sure if they still

call it that today, but it was volunteering at a hospital. Do they still call it candy striper?

Kim Vu: No, I don’t think so because I have never heard that before.

Dr. Hicks: Hmm, interesting. Umm, while preparing, something I wished I did differently was

shadowing at the dental office, like you are doing now. What was the most difficult part of your

postsecondary education and why? I would say that there were lots of studying for test, and a lot

of memorizations. Clinic and lab were easy for me though. What is the most important personal

trait needed for this field? You have to be a people person and be patient while you’re working

with the public. What type of skills do you need to do well at your job? You need to have good

hand skills while working. Also, you need to improvise for different scenarios. What is the most

rewarding part of your job and why? Um, I would say when patients love the work you have

provided for them and then send their family and friends to the clinic. It’s great to see people

recommend the clinic because of how well you performed.

Kim Vu: I think that is a great reward that I haven’t heard from any other dentist say yet, so

that’s very interesting.

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Dr. Hicks: Yeah, it is. If you made minimum wage at your job, would you still do it? Heck no.

There’s too much stress for minimum wage. Now, if I didn’t depend on money like for my

family, then yeah, I would still do this job. How do you feel you benefit the community? So, like

the other question I answered about the most rewarding part of the job. It would be providing

good service, which they help refer to the clinic. Do you have any regrets from your decision to

pursue this career? Umm sometimes. I do regret it because of the involved. So, running the

business, staff management, and just everything else. Also, a lot of patients are afraid of dentists,

and you need to cater them and ease people’s anxiety.