It’s no secret that the life of a dental student can be demanding. The weight of your academic workload, extracurricular responsibilities and personal pressures can be overwhelming at times. Without proper coping mechanisms, this can lead to manifestations of student burnout: emotional exhaustion, stress and isolation. Join ASDA alumni in this session as they share their first-hand experiences with student burnout. Learn how they overcame burnout and gain insights to how you can maintain your ASDA Fever and enthusiasm for your career.
Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to:
- Identify symptoms of student and professional burnout.
- Explore coping mechanisms for the stressors of dental school to prevent burnout.
- Implement tools and strategies to maintain enthusiasm for your future career.
Brittany Dean, DDS; Washington '12; 2011 – 12 Vice President
Dr. Brittany Dean received her dental degree from the University of Washington - School of Dentistry in 2012. After completing a general practice residency at the UW, she practiced general dentistry in community health for several years and then worked as affiliate faculty in the Oral Medicine department at the University of Washington and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. She returned to UW once again and completed a pediatric dentistry residency in 2019.
Brittany is active in organized dentistry at the local, state and national levels and recently completed four years on the ADA New Dentist Committee. As a student, she was honored to represent District 10 as an ASDA trustee, council chair, and vice president.
Roopali Kulkarni, DMD MPH; Pennsylvania '19; 2018 – 19 President
Dr. Roopali Kulkarni graduated from Penn Dental Medicine in 2019. She is currently the Chief Resident of the Oral Medicine program at Penn and serves on the Pennsylvania Dental Association’s New Dentist Committee. Throughout dental school, Roopali was actively involved in ASDA, serving at the local, district, and national levels, and most notably as the national President from 2018-2019. Roopali completed her public health degree during dental school and is passionate about community health, service and outreach, and wellness. She plans to work in academics after residency.