My entry to dental was like stepping through a door into the stone ages: the office I got my start in was using paper charts with hand-written billings manually entered by the senior admin staff, with hand-written clinical notes, and xrays self-developed by the dental assistants. All the training I received was on the fly in the office, by the office manager, who also happened to be the Angriest Woman Alive tm. (No lie: absolutely no conversation between staff was allowed while at the reception desk unless it was initiated by a patient!). I received specialized training in the software the office used (Dialog), but all my knowledge about dentition, treatment, fee codes, terminology and lingo came from the woman who trained me. The office didn’t even have internet at the outset, so I couldn’t google images or phrases to self-teach; I was fully reliant on everyone around me, and I was the only person in the office without a clinical background or training.

I found my escape after 8 years, when I realized there was no advancement, after suffering years of bullying from the other admin (which the dentists turned a blind eye to). There was no retirement or pension option, there was no future. I returned to school to obtain a bachelor’s degree in a field unrelated to dentistry and received my first glimpse into the outside world. However, I picked a field of study that was even more limiting than dental admin, and in a panic/on a whim I returned to my comfort zone of dental admin. After another 3 years in the field I, again on a whim/in a moment of desperation, applied to an entry-level government admin position. One month later I was sitting in my new seat, in my new career with the BC Public Service.