Dragana Medjedovic studied to become a dentist in her home country
of Serbia, but after coming to Canada in 1997 found that in order to
become accredited here she would need to take a two-year program costing
over $100,000.
"They changed the laws in 2000," Dragana explains. "Instead
of four exams, it became mandatory to take the two-year qualifying program."
Without
the money for the costly program, Dragana decided to study Dental Hygiene
instead. She enrolled in George Brown College's Restorative Dental Hygiene
post-diploma program looking to expand her existing knowledge and become familiar
with the latest technology and equipment.
"I liked George Brown right away, especially the teachers. They
were the best teachers I have ever had; extremely helpful, and a limitless
source
of information," she
says, "On the rare occasions they didn't have an answer to
a question, they would find out and get back to you right away."
Dragana
was impressed by how up-to-date the facilities and equipment were, and
commends the professional work environment of the dental building for
making the learning process a pleasure.
"The whole dental clinic at George
Brown College was amazing;
the equipment, instruments, all the materials, everything
worked - if a piece of equipment broke it was fixed by
the next day," she
recalls. "Also
there were lots of presentations from company reps showcasing the
latest innovations; I appreciated that we were
trained with a wide range of materials, because often different offices
use different types."
Dragana says she chose Restorative Dental
Hygiene because she liked the unique challenges presented by each
patient.
"Smile analysis is a big part of what we learned - a person's
smile is extremely important; it changes a person's appearance
so much, and that really changes their attitude," she says. "Improving
the smile can be a huge boost to a person's confidence and
self image."
After graduating last March, Dragana is currently
dividing her time between two Toronto clinics; doing regular dental
hygiene
half of
the week and
restorative work the other half. Her plans are to become a full-time
restorative hygienist.
"I want to focus on working in aesthetic dentistry because of
all the different procedures we can do without a dentist - we do resin
veneers, re-shape
teeth, close gaps, do bondings and fix all kinds of minor problems
that people don't want to wear braces for," says Dragana. "I
like restorative hygiene because we can really make a major difference
in people's lives
in a short period of time." Read more stories from George Brown
Graduates...
To learn more, visit the George
Brown College Alumni page.
|
