by Dr Muhammad Yasir Israr
You gave your final professional exam, the clinical internships are behind you, and you find yourself thrust into the working world, where you have to compete for careers. Like every graduate, you are also faced with the dilemma of choosing between the plethora of choices where your colleagues and peers diverge onto different career paths, each appearing more lucrative. But the real question you should be asking yourself is where you want to see yourself in the next decade or so. There are a variety of options to choose from, which shall be explained.
The first, like any traditionalist, would be to pursue FCPS. Give one of the most competitive exams and spent approximately the next 5 years through a gruelling training regimen. FCPS is considered the peak of the dental profession, which offers you the opportunity to learn advanced clinical skills distinguishable from others and apply for the posts of a clinical teacher in a dental hospital. The cons of this option are you have to dedicate your five years to pass the exams comfortably entirely and the workload which will prevent you from pursuing your clinic in the evening.
MDS, is a slightly more comfortable option, for those who can afford it, very similar in its structure to FCPS, the only difference being, you have to pay a hefty fee in most universities.
If you also want to teach undergraduates in the future in a dental hospital, but the conditions of FCPS seem too far-fetched, you can vouch to do MPhil and Ph.D. in various primary and clinical sciences. The comparably comfortable routine means you can pursue your clinic in the evening with more ease. The same degrees can be achieved from a foreign university for a hefty fee, but their benefits are superior compared to any national program.
Despite the current crisis amid an international lockdown, the option of applying for licensing exams still holds. You can apply to work in a country of your choice, each with their exams and specific terms and conditions.
If you have the mind of an entrepreneur and working away years in FCPS and other fields seem unrealistic to you, you can start up your dental clinic straight out of house job, where you can practice and polish your clinical skills learned in internship year, or learn from the various masters of the craft, by doing clinical courses at your own pace.
-The author is contributing writer at Dental News and can be reached at yasirisrar533@gmail.com. Follow Yasir on Instagram: @dr_yasirisrar
