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A New Generation in Dentistry w/ Dr. Roopali Kulkarni
69 Plays1 year ago
Dr. Roopali Kulkarni and I talk about her experience in Oral Medicine, how we crossed paths in ASDA, and how our passions have fueled our leadership journies.
Dr. Roopali Kulkarni is an Assistant Professor of Oral Medicine in the Department of Oral Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, an attending at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and the Assistant Director of the Oral Medicine residency program. She graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania in 2019 with both her Doctor of Dental Medicine (D.M.D.) and Master of Public Health degrees (M.P.H.). She completed her postgraduate training in Oral Medicine at Penn, serving as Chief Resident her second year. As faculty, she currently teaches predoctoral and postdoctoral students clinically in the Oral Medicine Clinic and didactically on a wide range of topics within oral medicine and interdisciplinary care. While a student, she served as the American Student Dental Association 2018-2019 national President. She currently serves as a national media spokesperson for the American Dental Association and on several councils and committees in organized dentistry Her passions lie in wellness, advocacy, community service, music, and travel.
Connect with Roopali Kulkarni @roopali.kulkarni
Connect with New Dentists on the Block: @newdentistsontheblock
Connect with Tanya Sue Maestas: @tsmaestas.dds
Full video on Youtube
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Transcript
Introduction to New Dentists
00:00:04
Speaker
Welcome to New Dentists on the Block, a podcast featuring new dentists sharing their experiences in the world of dentistry, successes, challenges, and life in between, navigating dentistry together one experience at a time. On today's episode, we have Dr.
Meet Dr. Rupali from UPenn
00:00:21
Speaker
Rupali Kulkarni. Dr. Rupali is an assistant professor of oral medicine in the Department of Oral Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine. She's an attending at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania,
00:00:33
Speaker
and the Assistant Director of the Oral Medicine Residency Program. She graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania in 2019 with her Doctor of Dental Medicine and Master of Public Health degrees. She completed her postgraduate training in oral medicine at Penn, serving as chief resident her second year. As faculty, she currently teaches pre-doctoral and postdoctoral students clinically in the Oral Medicine Clinic and didactically on a wide range of topics within oral medicine and interdisciplinary care.
00:01:02
Speaker
Rupali and I had the opportunity to cross paths as students through our involvement in the American Student Dental Association.
Leadership and Influence in Dentistry
00:01:09
Speaker
During my time as president, Rupali served as a district trustee and she followed suit serving as president of the American Student Dental Association in 2018-2019.
00:01:20
Speaker
She currently serves as a national media spokesperson for the American Dental Association and serves on several councils and committees in organized dentistry. It truly has been a joy to see Rupali grow in her leadership and I think that you will find her story interesting as we learn a little bit more about oral medicine and what she does in the world of dentistry. Let's get to it.
00:01:42
Speaker
All right, Rupauli Kulkarni, welcome to New Dennis on the Block. How are you doing today? I'm doing well. How are you? I'm doing well. I'm doing well. I am so excited to have you on the podcast. I know it's been a while since you and I have last connected. I think it was SmileCon. And before that, it was ASDA. And we had the opportunity to connect even more then. And sadly, we're just on different sides of the world. But this opportunity to have New Dennis on the Block is to reconnect so many familiar faces and to hear their stories and where they're at from graduating.
00:02:11
Speaker
Well, thank you, first of all, so much for having me. I'm really looking forward to this. And I really want to credit you for creating a platform where a new dentist can connect and talk about their experiences, their celebrations, their challenges. So I'm really looking forward to this. Well, we all know that the new dentist experience is so unique and it changes every year, but we all go through similar challenges and struggles. So I'm excited to be sharing your story.
00:02:34
Speaker
Thank you.
Specialization in Oral Medicine
00:02:36
Speaker
Rupali, can you tell me a little bit about your decision to go into oral medicine? I know that that is not a very popular decision, but it is one that I guess I would say is kind of up and coming and has become a little bit more popular and it's at least being spoken about within the realm of the dental profession.
00:02:54
Speaker
Certainly, that's an excellent question, and I do get quite a bit. As you mentioned, oral medicine is a very niche specialty, and it's not certainly a popular one, but I think a lot of that comes down to awareness of what the specialty even is. So oral medicine is the integration of dentistry and medicine together.
00:03:11
Speaker
And so it's essentially being a primary care provider of the head and neck region. So a lot of what we do is treat patients who have medical conditions that affect the mouth and jaws. So for me, my journey in dentistry was very much influenced by the mentors that I met.
00:03:28
Speaker
So I attended the University of Pennsylvania and oral medicine was sort of born there. It started way back many decades ago. And some people know the book, Burkitt's Oral Medicine. So Lester Burkitt was actually the professor there, a chairman of oral medicine.
00:03:45
Speaker
at Penn and really started this long history and tradition of oral medicine there. So when I entered dental school, I started to build relationships with my faculty members, with mentors. I started to shadow and learn really what is out there in the field of dentistry. To me, I didn't even know it existed. And dentistry is so vast with many different options. And I learned that every single person has a unique skill set and unique knowledge base
00:04:12
Speaker
that they can bring to the table. So for me, my passions of patient care, of health care in general, of public health as well, sort of led me directly to oral medicine. So I found it to be very, this very unique skill set that you needed. It's sort of like putting a puzzle together. And I joke, one of my students the other day said, being in oral medicine is sort of like being a detective. And I felt really cool.
00:04:36
Speaker
I said, I guess it sort of is. That's a great comparison. I really like that. Certainly. It just made me laugh. And I said, I guess that's true. So I started to shadow and really see what the opportunities were within the specialty on where it could take me in my career. And then ultimately, I just realized this was my passion. This is what I could see myself doing every single day and being fulfilled and happy.
00:05:00
Speaker
Oh, I love that. Now, before dental school, did you know anything about oral medicine and did you picture yourself going in this direction? Truthfully, no. I had no idea that it existed. And to be honest, I saw myself going into a private practice and doing more of traditional dentistry on the day to day.
00:05:20
Speaker
And coming to a school that has a bit of a focus on specialties given all the different residency programs there, I was exposed early on to all the different specialties, and I felt very lucky to have the opportunity to be exposed to that, to shadow, and to really reflect on what I could see myself doing and being happy doing. And now I am a full-time faculty member, and I work with residents, I work with students, and I'm this specialist, and I had no idea it even existed several years ago.
00:05:49
Speaker
I love that and I want to talk a little bit because Alex Howell and I had the opportunity to talk about how there's this misconception between oral medicine and oral pathology.
00:06:02
Speaker
Certainly, there is a lot of misconceptions about oral medicine. And the major difference is now pathologists as a whole, they certainly can see patients, many of them do see patients, but their main responsibilities is to understand from a histopathologic standpoint what a diagnosis is. So for example, as an oral medicine specialist, I would be the person seeing the patients and doing the workup, perhaps doing a biopsy procedure
00:06:27
Speaker
and then sending out that specimen to an oral pathologist who is able to diagnose it from that cellular level. So that's the biggest difference. And the scope of oral medicine is a lot more than pathology or mucosal pathology. It does include orophacial pain conditions. I treat a lot of patients with jaw pain or nerve pain, patients who might have issues with their salivary glands. And then I really work on an interdisciplinary team, especially for patients who have
00:06:54
Speaker
different systemic diseases that might manifest orally. So it's a very team-based approach. It's all clinical. And as much as I love pathology, I am nowhere near the standpoint of being able to look into a microscope and say what that diagnosis is. So that's the major difference. Very good. And for those who go through the oral medicine route, are most of the careers educational-based, like in an education system, or are there ways for those who are in oral medicine to practice outside of a school setting?
Career Paths in Oral Medicine
00:07:24
Speaker
Absolutely. There's a lot of different options. I think what makes it sort of challenging is you're not necessarily going to see, you know, like a job posting oral medicine special is needed, right? Sometimes you sort of have to create your own path, but I think that's the exciting part about it. So I have many colleagues who are in private practice. Many of them work in a group practice. Some of them work with oral surgeons. Other ones have just their separate own practice and
00:07:48
Speaker
In addition, you could certainly go the route of academics like me. I also work in a hospital setting, so many specialists choose to work in a hospital-based setting. And a lot of that comes down to the conditions that we treat because so many of them are medically based. A lot of our referral bases there, a lot of our team collaboration and patient care is there. But I also have colleagues who are out at FQHCs and community health sites. So it's really all over, which is what makes it exciting.
00:08:15
Speaker
That's wonderful. And every guest that I've had, we've had different discussions on how the dental profession is wonderful in the way that we can have different routes and avenues in practicing dentistry that we would like to. So that makes me happy to hear that oral medicine within dentistry is also very similar and along the same lines.
00:08:33
Speaker
No, certainly. Rupali, fast forwarding to this day and age today, you are a adjunct faculty, clinical faculty member at UPenn. Is that right? I'm a full-time standing faculty member, actually. Yeah. Cool. So it's a track called a clinician educator track. So I do both clinical and didactic teaching. And I'm also the assistant director of the residency program there. So it's
00:08:57
Speaker
Awesome. It's very exciting. The standing faculty part was actually pretty new. I was I actually applied for a brand new position and it's really exciting to be full time. Well, congrats to you. And I love seeing everything that you're accomplishing.
A Day in the Life of a Clinician Educator
00:09:10
Speaker
And I think that's wonderful that you're doing such wonderful things and such prestigious things in the world of academics and oral medicine. Rupali, can you talk a little bit about what your day to day looks like?
00:09:21
Speaker
Certainly. So as a clinician educator, my main responsibilities really are to be that clinician. So most of my teaching is on our clinic floor in our oral medicine clinic. So it's a brand new clinic that we opened up a few years ago, and it's to serve not only internally, but also externally referrals from outside dentists for their patients who need our oral medicine expertise.
00:09:43
Speaker
Like I said, a lot of what we treat are mucosal diseases, but also orophacial pain conditions, temporal mandibular disorders, manifestations of systemic disease. So I'm mainly there. I also have a dual appointment through Penn Medicine. So I practice in the hospital and that really runs more like a private practice. So we do use a medical model and I work with residents primarily there, but
00:10:04
Speaker
It's very fast-paced, it's exciting, it's fun to be a part of the hospital system. And so my day-to-day is mainly clinic and seeing patients and working with students and residents. On top of that, I also help cover in-patients at the hospital and the residents, which is fun. I mean, that's a different sort of avenue of dentistry. Definitely.
00:10:21
Speaker
getting to work with our medical colleagues and in a sense there is a good interdisciplinary education going on for patients who might let's say be undergoing cancer treatment and they need an evaluation or prior to like a cardiac surgery they might need an evaluation.
00:10:37
Speaker
And then part of my responsibilities are also to didactically teach, which I love. As you know, I love lecturing. I think it's fun. So from first all the way to fourth year in some capacity, I get to help lead either lectures or seminars.
00:10:52
Speaker
And then I actually have a dedicated day towards research, too. I absolutely love research. I think that's so important. It really lays the foundation for a lot of practice guidelines and change in our clinical thinking, that sort of evidence-based or evidence-informed approach. That's right. The EBD. That's EBD. You get it that we even believe that we use in public health every single day. So it's sort of a mix of things, but that's what I love. I'm not the type of person that can do the same thing every day.
00:11:22
Speaker
There are certainly people who can, and I respect them for that. But for me, I like having that sort of mix of responsibilities. We are definitely two people who love to talk. So I can see that you must really excel when you give those clinical lectures. And I'm so glad that you're involved in research, because that really is what pushes our profession forward. And I'm sure that you all are discovering so much as you continue to learn and grow the specialty.
Oral Medicine's Recognition and Impact
00:11:48
Speaker
The specialty has been around for a while, but was
00:11:51
Speaker
recently ish recognized. Is that correct? Correct. Yeah. So it's been around for like I said, many a decade. I think we just did some, uh, brush up on our history. And I think it was actually officially established up in 1944. I was like, Oh wow. It's a long time ago. I'm not a history buff by any means, but we were just brushing up on our oral medicine knowledge. And then it just recently became recognized by the American Dental Association and that was in 2020. So
00:12:18
Speaker
Oh, that is pretty recent. Yeah, it's pretty recent. What's really unique was the first time that we really got to announce it was at as the annual session that year. Oh, cool. To the students. Yeah, it was really exciting. One of my mentors, who's now my colleague, who spearheaded a lot of these types of initiatives towards specialty recognition, actually came to speak at the conference and got to announce it officially. Oh, that's so cool. It was really exciting. Yeah. How nice.
00:12:43
Speaker
Tell me a little bit about the coolest thing in your opinion that you do in a clinical setting as an oral medicine professional. I think the coolest thing is probably helping a patient realize what their diagnosis even is.
00:13:00
Speaker
So by the time someone has come to an oral medicine specialist, they have seen on average five to eight other providers. And so I think a lot of times people see oral medicine as sort of their last hope or their last place to go. And because we focus on fairly rare conditions that tend to be chronic in nature, that's really what the specialty is focused on. And so a lot of what we do is not only the diagnosis, but of course the management of those conditions.
00:13:24
Speaker
Almost every single day, I'm able to give someone an answer to a question that they've been looking for for a long time. And Dr. Google does not know everything, so I like to say that. Dr. Google does not know everything. WebMD. So it's really rewarding for me to be able to work with patients where they get an answer, and they finally sort of understand what's going on. And I think understanding is the first piece to being able to tackle something that's chronic in nature.
00:13:53
Speaker
And I think that's probably one of the coolest things I'm able to do. I mean, there was like this light bulb moment that a patient has. And so it's sort of, it's very unique to be a part of that.
00:14:03
Speaker
That is so cool. And yes, that's very much like an investigator. Solving the mystery. Yeah. Solving the mystery. I want to take us back. So for our listeners who don't know, we probably and I crossed paths when we were in ASDA.
Advocacy and Leadership Development
00:14:17
Speaker
You were on my board, and then I served as your immediate past president when you served as president, which was absolutely phenomenal. Can you talk a little bit about how your ASDA experience was?
00:14:29
Speaker
I say this to my students. I say this to my dental colleagues. ASDA is the reason why I still love dentistry. When I entered dental school, I was trying to figure out what would be my passion or what would I want to contribute my time and energy to. And there were so many different options. And when I learned that there was this association that truly believed in the power of the dental student's voice, that's what sparked my interest.
00:14:57
Speaker
And it made me understand that there is a bigger world out there than just school. Our profession is so vast. I mean, there are so many different issues that are impacting health care, that are impacting our patients. And I felt empowered to be a part of that, to try to make some positive difference or change. And so I think the advocacy portion of the association is really what sparked my interest.
00:15:18
Speaker
So then I started joining at all levels, my chapter, the district, and I've always been very passionate about personal and professional wellbeing. And so I developed a passion for wanting to promote the wellness initiatives that ASHA had already started.
00:15:34
Speaker
And I started that at the chapter level. I became actively involved. I ran as trustee and then of course served alongside you. And I'll be honest, you're a big reason why I wanted to continue my sort of trajectory and ask that. I just was like, you know what? I really believe in honor, I guess, of Women's History Month. I really believe in that.
00:15:54
Speaker
and the power of, you know, so sort of this women empowerment or in the power of sort of these voices that are not necessarily always heard. And you're one of the people I saw and I said, wow, I really want to be able to do something like that. So I ran for president and
00:16:09
Speaker
Lo and behold, I held that position. And of course, you were one of my mentors as immediate past president. And truthfully, it was life changing. I'm sure you could say that too about your experience. Oh, absolutely. It's really what helped me understand the power of our profession and the community that we have. So it really laid the foundation for what I decided to keep staying involved in after I graduated. And for me, ASJA was really my home throughout dental school.
00:16:34
Speaker
from all the dental students I met across the country to the staff that we worked with, to the dentists that we had the chance to meet in all of our meetings and travels. I mean, truthfully, they're the people who are in my heart all the time. So I can only say good things about my experience in ASDA.
00:16:51
Speaker
Thank you so much for those kind words that you shared about me. They mean more than you know and that was a very life-changing time for me and I completely agree. I think that ASSA for me was an outlet to get away from school and the community that was built through ASSA I think was just exceptional and many people who we still talk to today who are still connected with I would say that many of my close friends are those who are involved in organized industry.
00:17:16
Speaker
I mean, we share a similar passion aside from dentistry and we want to see the profession grow. And a lot of those leaders are those who we cross paths with in ASDA. And it's great to see how, as a student, there's that avenue to catapult you, you know, to be that introduction to organized dentistry as a student and catapult you into the future in your involvement in organized dentistry once you are a professional.
00:17:37
Speaker
Absolutely. I could not agree more. And I'm so glad we've maintained our friendship even after. Absolutely. Oh, yes, absolutely. Yes. Yes. And you know, one of the coolest things I think is that we probably have friends and colleagues all over the nation. And, you know, at one point, and I think we still probably can, but if there is somebody who is looking for a job in a random state, we probably could find a connection. Oh, absolutely. Help like either find a home or another job for them. I think that that's just
00:18:06
Speaker
the power of what organized industry brings to different communities. Certainly, I could not agree more. And how would you say in your life that as a catapulted you into your leadership roles now?
00:18:20
Speaker
Truthfully, I felt so empowered to develop my leadership style while I was in ASDA and to focus on what I was truly passionate about, which is relationship building. I remember even saying that as part of my sort of platform. I said, to me, what's the most important thing are the relationships that you build and the genuine connections that you build.
00:18:41
Speaker
For me, it was actually the mentors, the relationships I had with them, as well as the friendships I built with my peers, my peer leaders. And so ultimately, when I transitioned out of being immediate past president, I was a new dentist at that time, and I was able to sort of get right away involved in my local and state components.
00:19:01
Speaker
It was because I had been so fortunate to build relationships with people who not only wanted to see me succeed and our generation succeed, but also saw the value of having new dentist voices apart of this dialogue. That's what was really the most meaningful to me.
00:19:18
Speaker
Yes, and that's huge. And I feel like we are seeing a transition, not everywhere, it's slow, but in the welcoming of new dentists and getting them more involved in higher leadership roles where we're seeing, you know, young people in the higher positions, which is really exciting because like we mentioned at the beginning, new dentists have a unique and distinct set of problems that are very different. And I would say that at every phase in your career in dentistry,
00:19:42
Speaker
your problems will be unique and different. And as times kind of continue, you know, depending on what the world presents us, it'll continue to kind of ebb and flow with that. So it is exciting to see that the world of dentistry is very welcoming to everyone pretty much across the board. I would agree that it's not just, to me, it's not just those buzzwords anymore that we talk about every time we talk about diversity, equity, inclusion. We're really creating that sense of belonging or inclusivity in the profession. And I think this is just the start. This is truly just the start.
00:20:12
Speaker
Yes. So you are an ADA spokesperson, is that right? Yes. Yes, I am. Cool. What does that role entail and what do you do for the ADA? Yeah. So I hold a couple of different positions within the ADA. So yes, I am a media spokesperson, which is just so fun for me. Oh, I bet. Yeah. Yeah. Especially as you know, I love talking and lecturing and all that.
00:20:34
Speaker
What I get to do is actually speak directly to media outlets about topics within dentistry and so a lot of it is journal based. I'll be asked to interview on a specific topic and it's sort of fun because it allows me to keep up to date with what's going on in the dental profession but also speak on behalf of our profession in a very
00:20:55
Speaker
sort of large scale way. And so I get to interact with media outlets, news outlets, fairly frequently actually. And for me, that's just a lot of fun. I love chatting and getting to know sort of what topics are out there, especially
00:21:09
Speaker
Those are that are considered more mainstream. So questions, for example, that our patients have, you know, we get to talk about that in a way that reaches them beyond just, you know, what they hear at a dental office. So that's sort of the unique part about being a spokesperson. And then I actually am a new dentist who sits on the advisory committee on annual meetings. So we were talking about, you know, how we reconnected to SmileCon. So I'm really excited. I get to be a part of helping make SmileCon, you know, come to life in a sense.
00:21:38
Speaker
So that's been a lot of fun for me this year, too. SmileCon in Houston was so fun. Obviously, I'm biased as a Texan. And having lived in Houston for a few years, I absolutely loved it. And the evening events were so fun. The camaraderie was excellent. And just reconnecting and meeting new people was so fun. And I can imagine that Orlando 2023 is going to be just as fun or even more. I'm assuming you'll be there? I absolutely will be there as part of the advisory committee.
00:22:07
Speaker
And we'll be helping to welcome people and keeping things flowing and making sure everybody is feeling included. And I'm really excited. You'd be so proud in Houston. I bought a cowgirl hat. Heck yeah. Yes, yes, I was very excited. So I'm excited for Orlando. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of magic happening. And so I look forward to that. But yes, I will be there. And I'm really looking forward to connecting with our colleagues all across the country there.
Future Vision for Dentistry
00:22:34
Speaker
Yes, it's such a great time to just reunite with everyone from everywhere because, you know, you and I don't get the opportunity to see each other often at all. And so meetings like this, there's so much fun just to see all the familiar faces. Rupali, where would you say that you would like to see the dental profession in the next 10 years?
00:22:52
Speaker
That's a great question. So as an educator, I think this is always on my mind. So I'm, I'm always thinking about sort of the next generation and how to connect with them and how to work with them. And for me, there are sort of a few ideals that I see. And maybe that's my public health perspective of idealism coming out, but there are a few things. One is
00:23:12
Speaker
I hope that all of these topics that we talk about within DEIB or diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging are just an innate part of our profession. And that's from every perspective. That means people who are becoming dentists, how do we create this inclusivity or remove barriers to people becoming dentists? But two, how are we connecting with our patient population?
00:23:34
Speaker
the most ideal would be that everybody has access to dental care. So we remove those barriers. Yes, that's public health. Removing those barriers to being able to seek the care that you need. And I think that comes from all avenues. I think that comes from
00:23:49
Speaker
advocacy I think that comes from education and I also think that comes from building community from patient to provider as well. The other thing is we are booming with our changes in our landscape and that also includes technology and how we've incorporated that into the profession to help move us forward. I think something I think about is technology can be excellent but can also be overwhelming and to keep up with the changes. So for me, I see it as a way to move the profession forward without replacing what it really means to build a genuine connection with your patient.
00:24:19
Speaker
And I don't want it to necessarily detract or take away from the patient experience. And so ultimately for me, what I see is everyone being able to have access to care. They see people that look like them represented in our field and that we're using technology and ways to actually build connections rather than hinder them. So that's my ideal in the next 10 years, I suppose.
00:24:40
Speaker
I completely agree with that. My Y is very much access to care, ensuring that all of our patients have an opportunity to see a dentist regardless of what their means are.
00:24:51
Speaker
And I would love to see more technology incorporated in a public health setting. I think that we are getting better and there are a lot of public health clinics who are bringing in scanners and I'm really, really excited to see that because I think that technologies should be available for all patients regardless of their means as well too. And hopefully more of our public health clinics start incorporating a lot of that so that way their workflows can also increase and turnover times can
00:25:16
Speaker
can increase as well too. For us, you know, I'm at a FQHC that's kind of far away, but whenever we send things out to the lab, sometimes it can take some time because it takes a while for them to come out to us, then to take it out. And we don't know how the mailing system is going to be and then bring it back. So that slows things down so much. And if we could just scan something really quick to get it out to the lab, I think that it would just increase our turnaround times by a ton.
00:25:41
Speaker
Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, we've started to use those within the hospital system as well. And, you know, when I reflect on sort of access to care and the use of technology, I also think and I reflect on my time as a faculty member in our care center for persons with disabilities. And so part of my belief in promoting this access to care is how do we also not only reach
00:26:03
Speaker
you know, people who might have transportation issues or might have financial issues, but as well as patients who have physical or intellectual or developmental disabilities. And that's a big part of what I believe in and am a proponent of and have learned so much even throughout my time as a faculty member and working with that population.
00:26:18
Speaker
Yes, that's huge. That's yeah, I think that everyone should have a way to get transported to their appointments if they don't have the means to do that. That's that's huge. And I think that we need to everyone needs to continue doing research on that and advocate for funding for for more availability of those options.
Advice for New Dentists
00:26:36
Speaker
Probably if you could provide some advice for a dental student or a new dentist that's just coming out of school, what would that advice be?
00:26:48
Speaker
It's very normal to have imposter syndrome and to feel as though you're wearing a lot of different hats. But I think it's important to remember that part of being in this profession means that you're learning, but you're not learning alone.
00:27:03
Speaker
And I have reminded myself that so many times every day that I'm very fortunate to be a part of a profession that values community, that values mentorship. And so ultimately I would say, don't ever feel like you're alone going through this process. It can feel daunting every day trying to do a new procedure or a new process or working with someone new. And I think that's what makes, you know, a lot of what we do very challenging. But at the same time, when you've achieved that sort of new step or that new skill or the new procedure that you've mastered,
00:27:32
Speaker
It is also so rewarding to know that you're doing it for your patients.
00:27:36
Speaker
So ultimately for me, it's about relying on my colleagues and my mentors. And that's what I try to discuss even with the next generation, right? So every day when I speak with students, I say, I have an open door policy, come and talk to me anytime because I think you can always learn from someone else's perspective and they could bring something new to the table for you to think about. And for me, that's truly what got me through dental school as well as being a new dentist is remembering that I'm not alone in this.
00:28:04
Speaker
They say growth is not linear and that is very true in the dental profession. Surround yourself by others who want to strive to be better and hopefully you'll find others like Rupali who have that open door policy where you can go and ask questions and find that home. I think that we all had mentors and people who helped us through in dental school. And I'm the dentist that I am because a lot of their guidance in dental school definitely would not have made it out. Rupali, if our listeners would like to connect with you, what's the best way?
Building Community in Dentistry
00:28:36
Speaker
I am available all over. Other than your open door policy. Open door policy. Yes, you can connect with me via email, via social media. I'm happy to share all that information. I think we're lucky we live, like I said, in a technology-based world, and so I'm certainly open to multiple avenues of communication. Any last thoughts for our listeners today? I just want to say thank you again.
00:29:02
Speaker
something I really, like I said, have been talking about throughout our time together is this idea of community. And you're one of the people who is spearheading this belief of community. And I think that's so important to connect with people who have the same values as you, who are going through the same struggles as you, because I think ultimately we all have the same goal, right? We all want to help people. We all want to push our profession forward. So I really want to
00:29:24
Speaker
Thank you for doing that and sort of being a trailblazer in that sense. And the other thing is I just have to compliment you on the name. Oh, thanks. I think it's excellent. And the logo, I have to share something very nerdy. So I'm a big theater fan. And I guess I must have been in middle school and I went to go see Wicked. And when I went to see Wicked, Joey McIntyre was Fierro, who was the male lead. And he was on New Kids on the Block.
00:29:49
Speaker
And so every time anything has to do with new kids on the block or there's some sort of take on that, I get really excited. So I absolutely love the name and I love your design. So I just thought I'd share that. Well, thank you. I love puns and plays on words and I drew the logo. So this is a way for me, a creative outlet and it's an opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals, unlike-minded individuals and catch up on different people's stories.
00:30:13
Speaker
Rupali, I love seeing your leadership. I have loved seeing your growth since we were students and I really appreciate everything that you're doing for your students and for the profession. I hope that we continue to see the profession grow and I hope that we continue to see new dentists and especially women become involved, you know, share their voices, share their thoughts because it's so important for what the future of the profession will look like.
00:30:36
Speaker
Yeah, well, thank you very much for your continued friendship and mentorship. And I'm looking forward to hopefully seeing you in Orlando. Yes, we will definitely see each other in Orlando. Rupali, thank you so much for your time.
00:30:46
Speaker
Thank you for tuning in to this episode of New Dentists on the Block. If you'd like to connect with Rupali, you can find her on all social media platforms, from LinkedIn to Instagram. Her Instagram handle is at rupali.kolkarni. Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on YouTube and on all major podcast platforms. We would love if you would leave a review for the podcast.
00:31:08
Speaker
If you have a new dentist that you would like to recommend for the podcast, be sure to send an Instagram message to at new dentist on the blog. Thanks for tuning in and we'll catch you on the next one.