Fourth-year dental student talks about pandemic life

In a typical year, dentistry students in their fourth year spend 40 hours per week delivering care under the close supervision of faculty in a variety of clinic settings. With the suspension of non-emergency dental care by Governor Tim Walz due to COVID-19, everything changed.
Fourth-year dentistry student Kira Powell describes her experience.

In general, how are you coping?

At first, it was as if this thing I have been working towards for more than 20 years was finally in sight, and then suddenly pulled out of reach. With so many of us being type-A personalities in dentistry, it can be hard to have so much uncertainty surrounding our careers, especially with the hefty loans we all have and questions surrounding our ability to graduate and work. 

Honestly it is pretty nice to be back in class online. I really appreciate all of the hard work our faculty put into creating this new curriculum for us. Some days, we are given clinical cases where we have to work up the treatment in a group. Other days, we listen, watch, read and write essays on topics. I really enjoy the group based work since it reminds me more of being physically in the clinic and being able to bounce treatment ideas off of classmates and faculty members.

How are you staying active/balanced during this unique time?

I still wake up at 5 a.m. and attend my fitness classes virtually. This routine has been a life-saver for me and helps to maintain balance and perspective. Again, for me it's about having control over certain parts of my life to balance out for the fact that I have no control over the COVID-19 situation. I have been trying to use the free time to do continuing dental education to build my dental tool box. I also walk my dogs outside, read, do puzzles and do virtual happy hours with friends and classmates.

What inspiration have you found in this situation?

It is important to remember that people are losing their loved ones. For many, this is much more than an inconvenience; it’s a tragedy.

I am humbled and grateful to see how the dental profession has pulled together through this. A lot of practicing dentists across the country have expressed, on line, how they are thinking about students in their final year of dental school. I am grateful for our class officers, Frankie, Matt, and Yazan who are working around the clock to make sure that our concerns are being heard and addressed.

While some questions have yet to be answered, I am now confident my classmates and I will get through this. Someday, we will throw a big huge graduation celebration.