Thankfully I got into Barts and the London and continued my journey to being a dentist in the vibrant neighbourhood of Whitechapel. It was not always easy: I often considered leaving dental school. The hours were long, we didn't get a reading week, and we had to actually attend our lectures. I went from being the top of my class in sixth form to being at the bottom of the ranks at university. I struggled making friends and struggled mastering how to revise such vast amounts of information (whilst keeping my cool). I failed my first year of dental school by failing one of my modules in neuroscience by 0.5% and had to retake my exams. This was a much-needed wakeup call and helped me become the person I am now. I learned how to be effective with my time, organised, and take care of myself when studying. I am now known as the checklist girl. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to study at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm for a semester in my 4th year which also completely changed my approach to dentistry. I learnt there that dentistry was not just about drilling and filling but saw the whole world of research connecting the mouth to systemic diseases and the work that was going into using saliva as a testing tool.
When COVID-19 hit, the trajectory of my career entirely changed. I became obsessed with the research connecting the mouth to the rest of the body and started writing papers on my suspicion that poor oral health may contribute to the worsening of COVID-19 complications.
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