Leaving Dentistry

So I just quit my job. The sensationalist in me would love to attach this decision to some massive event, either catastrophic (read: arms amputated in freak dental drill accident) or miraculous (read: Leona Helmsley’s dog dies and leaves me the fortune), but it really wasn’t that dramatic.

For the past twelve years I’ve been working as a dentist. I don’t think dentistry and I were ever a great match. Sure, there were some things I enjoyed about it--there’s definitely some instant gratification. Someone walks in with a big black hole in their tooth, you fill it, and they leave with a beautiful white filling (or if they have bad insurance they leave with a shiny silver filling). That part is nice. I just never enjoyed doing it.

Now, when people hear that I quit my job, they say how courageous of me to walk away. I don’t really see it that way. The image that comes to mind for me is that of a cow that has been hooked up to a milking machine and then abandoned. The machine continues to tug on the udders, but all the milk has long since been drained. That is how I felt about dentistry. I had something initially to offer, and things were good for a while. But after twelve years I was tapped out. I really felt like I had nothing left to give to my patients. So in a situation like that is it courageous for the cow to walk away? Or is the cow just acknowledging the reality of the situation and saving everybody (mainly the cow) some pain and grief? Those milking machines have got to hurt after a while, and with no more milk to give there is no point in staying hooked up. So the cow walks away.

I’m not sure what the future will hold for me. I’d love to say that I’ve accumulated enough in my twelve years of working to be able to retire permanently, but that is sadly not the case. I do still need to work, and I want to work. I want to make a contribution to society. I just need to do it outside of a dental office. There’s a wonderful world out there and I’m ready to take a bite out of it (and I’ve got just the teeth to do so)!

As I decide what my next career will be, I will look towards the future with a sense of cautious optimism, and know that leaving dentistry was the right decision for me. Life is too short to go through it with sore udders.