10 THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR

I know it is not Thanksgiving yet, but it doesn’t cause any harm to express some gratitude, isn’t it? I just got my first two weeks of unemployment insurance (UI) and I am so so happy about that. I know being unemployed is never a good thing, but let’s focus on the bright side today.

1) I am thankful for my unemployment money because it can cover my rent, utility, car, even my brother’s rent (I’m in charge of that since he’s still a uni student) without me touching my savings. Of course, I still have to spend a little bit from the savings for things necessary but I always think three, four times before spending.

2) I am thankful that I actually have savings. I applied for UI two weeks ago and got denied. I knew it was only a system error and eventually I would get it approved so I was not panicked. However, it is the unknown that easily scares people since you don’t know when the check will come.

3) I am thankful that I have a job allowing me to have savings. So many people live paycheck to paycheck while I am lucky enough to have 2-month savings. I know a lot of doctors, dentists saying that they had to sacrifice so many years studying and working hard to earn the title and the lifestyle, so this is fair. Hey, a lot of people work hard as well if not even more without ever having an opportunity to change their destiny. Therefore, I am thankful for the career, the opportunity that CU gave me and all the help I have.

4) I am thankful that I can visit my family anytime I want (of course I only visit my direct family for now) and have a home cook meal. It is a blessing and doesn’t require any further explanation.

5) I am thankful that my family is still healthy. As I mentioned before, there are several family members contracting the virus but they all recovered. Things could be worse.

6) I am thankful that I have a place to live. A nice cozy apartment that I am proud of and I have to restrain myself from décor too much (my pleasure guilt).

7) I am thankful that I wake up every day simply deciding if I should drink tea or coffee for the morning and what to eat instead of thinking how I survive the day.

8) I am thankful to have a great support system from family and friends. I have so many wonderful people in my life that I think of almost every day (although I may not text or call all of you guys).

9) I am thankful that I have many hobbies to dive into during this special time. It’s a matter of choosing which hobby I want to do today.

10) I am thankful for my life in general. I’ve read somewhere that if you have a roof above your head, food to put into your mouth and a dream/goal to pursue, you are luckier than 90% people on Earth. In that case, I think I hit a jackpot.

I believe that even in the darkest hours, we can still find something to be thankful about. Thinking about all the bad things happening right now doesn’t make us less suffering or make the situation brighter. If you have to think anyway, try something positive.

#Flattenthecurve day 5

I am kinda losing my sense of time and date now. Every day is weekend now with no sight of Monday. I am thankful that at least I live close to my family now so if the situation keeps getting worse, I will stay with them to escape loneliness.

On facebook, there are still some conversations here and there between closing or opening dental clinics. I think most people agree that we should close clinics and open for emergencies only. However, some dentists still ignore the ADA recommendation or even State Board’s order to open because they see this opportunity as a once-in-a-lifetime chance to make a profit while all the other competitors close. There are always good and bad people no matter where you live.

I happened to live in Washington State – one of the three states that got hit hardest in the country by the virus. Since a lot of my family members work in healthcare – specifically for several nursing homes in the area – I am more worried about the situation than my staff. They thought I was overreacting and that is okay. Everyone has different worries – either financial burden or health. At least at this point, we all worry about the same thing: our unemployment status and our sanity.

Politics aside, I am thankful to live in this country. Majority dentists are bored to death at home so we start to share around all online courses from marketing to endo. Some courses even give it out for free during this hardship to help other fellows. Kudos to them! You guys rock! I am not filing for unemployment yet and just sitting tight for now, but I will have to by April. I hope that unemployment insurance can at least help me cover my rent and car payment, but I feel like right now there are other people needing it more than me, so I let them file first. Possibly I will not make any difference in the long waiting list but let’s just wait for now. I called all my student loan reps to postpone payment for at least 2 months. Got two of them delaying for 2 months without any interest and the last one (also the biggest one) delaying for 3 months with some interest. I will try to call the car loan rep again tomorrow. I plan to keep paying rent for now with my savings because paying now or paying 10 months from now is almost the same (the end of my rent contract) - the financial prospect doesn’t look that promising yet at the end of the year. The goal now is to preserve as much cash as possible in case this virus will last more than 2 months.

Tonight, the governor issued “Stay-at-home” order. We all knew this would come sooner or later. My mom asked me to come home but I will still stay in my apartment for a while. It’s only 20min away anyway. I facetimed my besties from CU to check on each other. It is a tough time for everybody now but we could still laugh at each other’s jokes just like our CU time. Oh how much I miss my best two years in Colorado!

#Flattenthecurve day 3 blog

We are living in history these days. I miss going to a coffee shop, reading a good book and planning for future. Now I’m sitting in my living room with news about the virus all day long, thinking about how our lives have changed drastically in just a few weeks. Only 3 weeks ago I was having a short vacation in Colorado, a bit concerned about the new situation, got excited about moving into my new apartment “very close to work”. Two weeks moving in, now I’m jobless. I don’t know where you are right now reading this – USA, Vietnam, or Trinidad and Tobago (yea I was amazed looking at 43 countries on the visitor list) – I wish all of you good health and a great time with family.

A brief check on dentistry in the US. I’ve joined several dentists’ groups on facebook: Dental Nachos, Dental Hacks, The business of Dentistry, etc and all of them are calling dentists to stop working for a while. There are a couple of reasons.

 First of all, we create lots of aerosols using handpieces and cavitrons. If one of our patients contract the virus without symptom (incubation period), we will breathe in that virus air in close proximity. WHO says that the virus can linger for 4 hours in the air so the risk of having staff members or other patients breathing in the virus is there. The government issued “social distancing” to reduce of risk of public exposure and we are certainly closer to people’s mouth than 6fts. Therefore, closing dental clinics or limiting to emergencies only is to protect dentists, staff, the community and to stop the spreading.

Secondly, closing clinics will help to reduce the number of PPE we need so our medical colleagues will have more PPE to use. We – dentist and 1 dental assistant - use at least 2 masks, 2 pairs of gloves for each patient (most of the time we use more than that). If the office takes only private insurance, we will see 10 patients a day on average so we will use at least 20 masks, 20 pairs of gloves a day while our medical doctors, nurses and staff have only 1 mask a day each person or even reuse them the next day. If the office also takes Medicaid, the average will be 25-30 patients a day!

  Finally, you may not worry too much about your staff and you consider yourself as a young, healthy person so you will not be affected too much even if you have the virus. The thing is, even young people can be hospitalized. One may not die because of the virus but one will die because of the lack of ventilator. If all the young healthy people go out and about like their normal routine, there will not be enough ventilators for everyone. In Italy, some hospitals have to choose to treat young people and let people from 80 years old and above staying at home waiting to die. You are selfish if you let someone else die so you can have a normal daily routine. Let’s say that you have mild symptoms or even no symptom so you don’t need a ventilator. You can still pass the virus to your loved ones – spouse, children, parents, grandparents – who may not be as healthy as you.

I have read on the internet that this is just a game of social media trying to create fear and make a profit from it. Well, I would rather be overreacting than underreacting and regretting it. I have read all the reasons why dentists still open their clinics with a normal schedule – fillings, crown preps, SRPs and to be honest, I don’t care. I decide for myself what the right thing to do is, and just because someone else does it differently doesn’t mean I will too. There is so much unknown about the situation. It can be the biggest flob ever, who knows! Maybe by the end of the year, it turns out this virus is nothing (let’s hope so). I would say the right thing to do now is be cautious but not panic, do not hoard all food and supply, call friends and family, look inside yourself and learn to live simply.

Meanwhile, if you decide to stay at home for the sake of the community, we can all use this time to learn more about ourselves, finish an overdue project, read a book that we always want to read, find a new hobby, etc. Here is a list of books that are recommended by dentistry gurus that I want to finish (and maybe you can try too):

Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win (New Edition)

Profit first: Transform your business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine

The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Achieving Your Wildly Important Goal

Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspires Everyone To Take Action

How important is STAT?

I am visiting Colorado for the weekend, and being a sentimental person, I can’t stop thinking about how my life has changed since the day I came here for the interview. I was living in Vietnam at that time, coming here on a tourist visa, making around $1000/month practicing over there, and hoping for a career in the U.S. I actually never expect myself to become a dentist here. All I knew back then was working as hard as possible toward that dream but should not expect too much due to fear of frustration. Before my first trip visiting the U.S, I would think my profile was not bad at all, but after the trip, I couldn’t stop asking myself how I can ever stand out among thousands of international dentists hoping for a spot at ANY dental school.

Here was my stat:

- GPA 3.2/4

- TOEFL 104

- NBDE: pass 

Simple as that. I went to studentdoctornetwork forum, looked at people’s stat and thought “oh, mine is average, I’m not too bad so that’s good”. I still see people asking each other’s Stat right now in so many Facebook pages. The question can be like “Can you share with me your stat?” or “My stat is this low, do you ever know someone with the same stat getting accepted?” Here is my two-cent of thought regarding STAT.

 1)Why does everyone talking about STAT?

• 1st reason: STAT is probably the only numeric criteria that can be put in perspective order. GPA 4.0 is obviously higher than 3.2, and 3.2 is higher than 2.0. TOEFL 104 is, of course, better than 94 – which is the bare minimum to apply for dental schools, but not as good as scoring 114. That’s why people keep asking STAT to compare themselves with others to see where they are standing.

• 2nd reason: maybe they think STAT is EVERYTHING or don’t know what else to ask.

2) Is STAT that important?

STAT is important, but not EVERYTHING! Let’s take TOEFL as an example. If someone gets 105 and another person gets 104, person A is not necessarily better in English than person B. What matters is how you communicate with other people and make them understand what you try to express. Personally, I think once you reach TOEFL over 100, you all are at the same level of proficiency. I met one person with TOEFL 95 got accepted in a heartbeat because they have shining personality and a glamorous profile, and I met so many candidates speaking fluent English but still need a bit more luck to get accepted. Let’s talk about GPA. We all know if you have a 4.0 GPA you have a better chance of getting accepted. Generally speaking, dental schools want to see GPA 3.0 and above. If you have less than 3.0 than you have to work exceptionally hard to prove yourself. I have a friend with less than 3.0 because her previous dental school is extremely strict about score and she got accepted. Dental schools are aware that different schools will have different ways to score students (at least Colorado is aware of this) so they don’t consider GPA as the SOLE predictor of a candidate’s ability to learn.

3) If everything is only relative, how do schools evaluate candidates?

Well, I don’t know exactly how they rank candidates, but I know for sure they are looking at a bigger picture of a person. Does the candidate show commitment to dentistry? Does the candidate sound like a good person? How’s the candidate’s experience? How are the recommendation letters? Each school has its own formula in choosing students. Some may choose competitive students. Some may value grit and perseverance more. In general, they want to look for well-rounded competent candidates with some specific traits.

4) What should I ask then?

Well, you can still ask around for other people’s STAT but instead of thinking “I am good enough” like me before, you should ask yourself “What else can I do to make me a well-rounded competent candidate. What else can I do to prove it?” Remember the international dentist program is so competitive at any school. CU chooses 40 students a year for ISP class among 800 candidates. That is 5% acceptance rate. Analyze what is good or bad about your profile and make it better. If you have GPA around 2.0? Considering joining a post-grad program to increase the value of your GPA. If you don’t have any experience working as a dentist, considering working for a dental clinic as a dental assistant or at least at the front desk. If you don’t practice dentistry and also don’t have any research paper, volunteering for a research or shadowing a faculty will be some good ideas.

The conclusion: everyone knows being a doctor in the U.S is a very big deal. I’ve heard this statement from a faculty before an ISP interview, “we potentially change someone’s life today, so consider it seriously and evaluate candidates wisely”. No one wants a “good enough” person. The spots are limited, so they would rather save it for someone who desires the opportunity and would do whatever it takes just to have a better chance. Are you that hungry person?

Is the journey worth your effort?

I haven’t been writing anything for a while. Sure, life feels like it gets stuck sometimes and you just do not have the energy to be creative. However, I could still talk to people all over the world thanks to this blog. I may not know you all personally, but I can understand all your self-doubt and struggle and dreams. I was there once. One time I was talking to my friend about all this and commenting “I think my chance (of getting accepted) is like 1% considering all aspects from finance to language”. She asked me why I wouldn’t just quit and find something else with a higher chance of success. I startled for a second. Giving up was never a consideration or an option for me. Maybe I was simply born stubborn. I knew what I wanted and was willing to work hard to earn it myself.

I was not born into a rich family although it may sound like it with a neurosurgeon father and a dentist mother. Things were different in Vietnam in the 80s and 90s. Being a doctor was one of the low-paid careers. There came other problems as well which I would like to forget and forgive. I absolutely was not one of those kids who could get whatever they want. I am never “the center of the universe”, more like a sidekick in any kind of story. I was taught to be a well-behaved girl and nothing more, so I did not feel like I was special, or I was good enough. I was indeed a very ordinary girl growing up in a third world country. Hence there comes all my self-doubt but also comes all my determination.

I never requested my parents for what I really wanted – I always picked the cheapest dress/backpack/notebooks, etc in stores – and told myself when I grew up I would work really hard, so I could afford all those sparkly things. I understood the bigger items, the harder it would take to get. That’s why I never expect this whole dream to be easy. I knew it would be a one-in-a-million chance because it’s worth it!

Is it really worth it? I asked myself this question a thousand times now I am on the other side of the story – I’ve already achieved my life-long dream. I am pretty sure my other colleagues also ask this themselves. I recently got a question “Do dentists in the US have a lavish lifestyle?” No honey, we don’t. Our life gets swept away by all kinds of bills – student loan repayment, license renewal, malpractice insurance, disability insurance, car payment, rent/mortgage payment, membership renewal for ADA/Local ADA/AGD/Spear, etc. I was living paycheck to paycheck my 1st year out of school no matter how much money I made. I was stressed out because I don’t have any saving money in case something goes off-track. If you listen to those podcasts by dentists, “stress” is the word you hear in every single episode. We work in the healthcare industry but are forced to think like businessmen/women and deal with people the same way with retail services. So, is it really worth it?

It is for me. It can be different for you though. So, before you decide to give up your homeland, your family, your friends, to dream about a new life in a different country, be honest to yourself – why do you want to pursue dentistry and what do you hope to achieve? If you are not honest to yourself and only pursue a dream “just because my parents want me to”, you will suffer. I don’t want to see other people regretting their decision while sitting on top of the new empire you work so hard for. If you are in it for the money, you may enjoy it for a while before paying all bills at the end of the month. Well, or maybe 10 years later after working hard and being smart about saving/investing the money instead of spending it in a brand new Mercedes. If you are in it for a lavish lifestyle, well the first year out of school I only wish I have a life after work. If you think you will have an easy life after graduation, life is never easy – you get paid more than average, so you have stress more than average. I promise you that I complain on my head almost every single day.

Then why I still think it’s a good idea? It is a great platform to build the life I want. It is the freedom that I want to have. Yes, I still have to work even harder than I’ve ever been but I have the “transportation” to go places. If I really want a designer bag, I have to save for it but at least I know I will get it. I know I should live with my mom to save money, but a place for my own is kinda my “designer bag” so I still pay rent every month. I know I can afford an apartment. I know I can afford that bottle of perfume. I know I can afford the meal there. I know I can afford the ticket traveling back home to Vietnam. I may not actually purchase all that but it’s empowering comparing to how I grew up. I can choose to save money for myself or support my family. I can choose to save money for new perfume or travel (I know my sin). I work so hard, so I can have the freedom to choose what I want to do with my life. For a new immigrant like myself, this is all I ask for.

So if you think dentistry will automatically bring you a mansion, a Tesla, and a Birkin bag, you are in the wrong field. There is nothing wrong if those are your motivations (mine is a house looking over a lake or a beach), but if you think it’s automatic, I want to give you a reality check. If what you actually want is freedom, pride, sense of achievement, being a model for your children to follow, being an inspiration, etc then maybe it will worth it for you as well. Let it be your guiding star through a difficult journey ahead and never lose sight of who you are and what you want.

Love, Hannah.

*Job prospect for Foreign-Trained Dentists in the U.S

There is one topic that I want to write about for a long time but wanted to wait until after I started working so I can have more accurate information. A lot of people asked me about job opportunities for foreign-trained dentists and if we can pay off student loan. I have worked for a few months only so maybe my viewpoint will change a year from now, but I want to share with you all what I have observed so far.

1) Is it more difficult for a foreign-trained dentist (FT dentist) to find a job?

Yes and no. It all depends on if you need a work permit to stay in the U.S or not.

If a FT dentist has citizenship or green card, he or she will have the same start as other new-grad dentists if not better. I’ve talked to a recruiter in my 1st year at UCDenver, she told me they would pay more for a FT dentist because we were supposed to have more experience “If we pay $500/day for a new-grad, we will pay you guys $550”. Of course, this thought is not always true as I have met so many impressive dental students during my two years at UCDenver.

If you don't have green card or citizenship and need sponsorship to apply for work permit and eventually green card, then your opportunities will be somewhat limited. Not every clinic wants to sponsor because of the hassle of paperwork, so most people can only work for corporates until they have green card.

2) In case I need sponsorship, is it really difficult to find a job?

Nope! I asked my senior this question on my 1st day in Colorado. Here was her response – “It’s all about what you are willing to compromise. If you want to live in big cities, you cannot expect a big paycheck. If you are willing to live in a small rural town, your benefit will be much better. If you want to live in big cities and want a big paycheck as well, then it will be difficult. If you are willing to compromise, there’s always a job for anyone.”

I myself don’t need sponsorship and was one of the latest to sign a contract. Most of my friends signed contract 1-2 months before graduation. A few of them signed as early as 3 months before G-day. People who don’t have big family here and can live pretty much anywhere are the earliest to sign. Most people love to live in the coast, so if you are okay with living in New Mexico, Utah, Iowa, etc then it will be like a breeze to find a job with great salary. I have limitation in the “location” box as I have big family in the Seattle – Tacoma area and I want to stay close to them. Therefore, I had a harder time to find a job – my 1st offer was a month after graduation, but it fell through, I signed a contract with a different practice a month later. I felt a bit desperate at that time honestly (I am always over-worried anyway) but eventually there is always a job for anyone – just like the senior said.

3) So, it’s not difficult to find a job, but is it difficult to pay off huge student loan though?

Believe me, even dentists who were born here, raised here, trained here ask the same question. Our tuition is twice as theirs for one year but most of us have 2 years instead of 4 like them. Some of us will join a 3-year program but dental students also take loan for 4 years undergrad before applying to dental schools. So, it’s safe to say we all graduate with almost the same burden.

A one-million-dollar mansion or a tesla car is never on my list of shopping (well, maybe 15 years from now but not a few months out of school) and if you share the same thought, then we shouldn’t have problem. You must have a realistic expectation in spite of student loan. You cannot expect to work 3 days a week, take 4-week vacation every year, buy the latest car model, live in a big house and pay off student loan in 5 years. If you want to pay aggressively in 5 years, you have to live frugal. If you want to pay in 10, 15 years while saving to purchase your own practice, you have to live modestly as well.

This is a big topic that dentists are talking about every single day so I won’t dwell on this too much. All you want to know is yes you can afford student loan but you have to be smart in spending and saving. I’ve read in one of the facebook dentist group that if your loan is about $250k, it’s easy; if your loan is up to $500k, it’s more difficult but manageable.

4) Any discrimination toward FT dentists from patients?

I haven’t experienced any discrimination so far, maybe where I live play a part. I live in Washington State – a liberal state so I’ve heard that people tend to be more open-minded. I’ve only lived in 2 states so far – WA and CO – and they both are liberal states so I cannot compare. However, I have lots of friends living in other states as well and I haven’t heard any crazy story about discrimination, so maybe it’s not a thing toward international dentists. I am pretty sure bad things happen everywhere and discrimination does too. It’s just not a trend. What I have experienced so far is the “title” international dentist working in my favor! You know when a patient suspect that you are a new-grad, they always look at you and judge if you are good enough to treat them. But, whenever I continue the story with “That was my 2nd dental school! I am a dentist in my home country and had practiced for a while before coming here”, then they always say “Wow!” There was a patient in UCDenver pointing out to me “Wow, so you are a doctor at two countries! One is hard enough and you have two down!” I realized for the first time how impressive it may sound to patients’ ears. Thanks patient, you made my day! Once in a while when I am in a good mood and want to tease my patients a bit, I always start with “Actually I just graduated a few months ago”, pause a second, then continue “But that was my 2nd dental school…”

Those are the questions that I got asked more often toward job prospect. I hope my post will bring you some hope and reassurance on your journey. If there are any other question, don’t hesitate to send me a message below or pm me at our facebook page. Looking forward to talking to you soon.

Whatever you do, keep being a gem!

*How to score high on TOEFL – Listening and Speaking

When it comes to Advance Standing Program, we can all agree that the first barrier international dentists have to overcome is English - specifically, TOEFL. Being someone who could barely conduct a conversation in English 8,9 years ago, I would love to share with you some steps I took to score 104 points from 70 initially. If you are below 70, you can still benefit from these suggestions as I believe this is the right way to improve each of four skills – Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing.

A bit about my English journey, my mom put me into English class when I was 3 years old until 6 years old. I am forever grateful for that because I never see English as a total stranger although I was struggling with it for a long time afterward. We do study English in school, but all we learn is grammar and vocabulary – which is almost useless for communication if you can’t pronounce them in a right way. When I was in 11th grade, wanting to study abroad, I went to one of the most popular English center in Saigon hoping to score 60 in TOEFL and I could not help but feel drowning. I did not know where to start as my skills were so bad except maybe reading. I quit after 2 months and then jumped from places to places – no class lasting more than a few months. I just never felt like I was getting anywhere better. “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” Most of the English classes only gave me one fish a day – I knew more vocabulary, I knew more complicated grammar structure but I did not get the “tool” to improve my English significantly. Until I met a teacher!

- READING -

He was the only one at that time who opened an English class that focused on one skill only – listening. He was the one giving me the foundation that helped me build my future on. He explained that listening is the most important skill one has to master in order to master other skills, like a baby first recognizes people’s voices before imitating what it hears and starts to speak. His method was simple. He gave us different cassettes – 1 “VOA”, 1 “Around town”, and 1 “CNN”. I went there 3 times a week, so each day we would work on a tape. “Around town” is daily conversation, “VOA” is more academic, slow and easier to guess, “CNN” is more modern but harder to understand. My homework is to play the tape and write down whatever I could hear. The part I could not guess the words, I would leave it blank. We also had to guess if it’s a comma or a full stop after each pause. When we came to class, the teacher would play the tape and wrote along on a board the whole piece before asking us which words or phrase we could not catch. He then would play the words again until we remembered how it was pronounced.

I could not believe how many familiar words I pronounced wrongly before and that’s why I did not recognize them. The whole process sounds so boring and super slow right? However, after a few months, I could hear clearly every single word and even after his tragic death, I could still practice that way on my own with any material as long as I have the listening part with full script. I tried to pass on this method with some of my friends but not everyone believed on how effective it could be or not everyone was patient enough to get through “the initial pain” of being so slow. It is interesting how you have to go real slow in order to move fast.

- SPEAKING -

Once I corrected my pronunciation through listening, my speaking skill got better also. Those words that people could not understand when I used before now are easier to understand. When you pronounce a word correctly, people will understand despite the accent. Tried to speak slowly, clearly and with correct pronunciation. The first time I took TOEFL, it was only a mock test as I knew I was not ready to take the real one. I scored 13/30 for speaking. It was a shocking moment to know how “good” I was. I expected less then 20 but 13 was an ugly truth that I had to accept. Determined to improve my speaking, I jumped from class to class again without obvious result. After I finished my dental school in 2011, I registered for a full-time 2-month-long class that helped people who were about to study abroad. It was expensive but one of the best choices I’ve made. The class helped me get over my anxiety/insecurity when communicating in English.

Speaking English all day long in 2 months definitely helped but mainly with daily conversation. Speaking in TOEFL is a different story. You can look up the format of TOEFL Speaking online, but generally they have 6 parts and you have to quickly answer the questions in 45s – 1 min with only 30s-45s to prepare. I could communicate but within that time frame, my brain often went frozen. Fast back 2 years later, I was still struggling but it’s time to think of applying for advanced standing program so I decided to invest in a TOEFL class. I love that class because once again, they gave me a “fish hook”.

The part I am scared of the most is Question 1 & 2. I was good with listening so for Question 3,4,5,6 I could easily draft a note and answer based on that. For Ques 1 & 2 when I had a simple question and just answered it freestyle, I often had no idea what to say. The key is you have to practice thinking in English in order to respond that fast. I would do my normal daily activities and always think of random questions. For example, I would drive around and ask myself “Which color do you like and why?” when seeing red light. It doesn’t matter if I actually love yellow or Red. If I can find an answer easier with Green, I will go with that (Green is the color of nature so green makes me feel peaceful. Green is also my mom’s favorite so it reminds me of her blah blah blah). No one is here to judge you based on what you think, they only want to know if you can answer the question or not in 45s.

There are also lots of mock TOEFL questions on the internet that you can use to practice. On youtube, if you type TOEFL Speaking, there will be mock questions with timer so you can practice in the same concept of 30s/45s/1min timeframe. Practice makes perfect. Don’t think that you can improve your English quickly just by going to class and doing homework as teacher says. Everyone has different ways of absorbing knowledge, teacher will teach you in a general way that can fit majority people, but you need to understand what is your weakness and find a way to improve it.

- to be continued -

*Yay I graduated!!!

Hi guys, it has been a while since the last post. No, I am not forgetting about DDS Journey, I just want to spend the time to fully appreciate the result of years of hard work and sacrifice - my DDS graduation. Yes, I finally graduated from CUDenver. This is a milestone in my journey and I want to share this huge achievement with all my DDSJ friends.

Back in 2011 when I graduated in Vietnam, I told myself this was only the 1st step leading to my ultimate goal and that I had to continue studying and working hard toward it. I spent several months enjoying no-exam life, then started with NBDE and TOEFL right away. That sounded like I had a plan, that I was so determined, that I had a clear pathway to follow. None of those are true. I was lucky enough to actually know "someone" getting accepted into a U.S dental school and all I knew back then was that I needed to achieve a high score in TOEFL and clear the NBDEs. Still, I had tons of questions and every time I tried to answer one, that would lead to many more. I felt lonely and hopeless. I wondered every day if I only used this as an excuse to avoid real-life problems, or maybe I kept studying because I didn't really love dentistry enough to practice it. I wondered if I was being ambitious or impractical. I moved slowly forward to an uncertain destination. Sometimes I wished I would be brave enough - or coward enough to give up. I am glad I did not.

I believe all of us share more or less the same story - at least at the uncertainty future part. I know a lot of people have a journey that was way crazier than mine. I look at them every day and feel so humble. One of my friends told me once he had lived in an underground bunker for weeks during a war in his home country that sometimes he still felt magical to walk freely and breath fresh air. All the uncertainty and hardship are meant to break us or make us stronger. It is those experience that made you-you. Embrace your obstacles, make your story unique, and tell it well!

Now back to the graduation as I guess some of you would like to hear more about it. The graduation time was a mix of many feelings - happy, excited, emotional, sad (about departing from friends and schools). Most could not believe that two years had almost passed. My class held an appreciation lunch to acknowledge all the help and support from the faculties and staff members of the school during the past 2 years. We told each other that it's our job to serve today so we made sure that every guest ate before we started having lunch. There were many classmates standing near the entrance so when faculties and staff members passed by, they would be greeted with a round of applause.

Then it came the Flag Ceremony a week before our graduation. I love this ceremony (only for ISP program) as each student would pin their own flag to their "home country". This "home country" can be their birthplace, the place they grew up or the place they earned their 1st dental degree.

We came from 14 countries around the world and became a family - that should be how the world is instead of all the wars and killing. I felt so proud that the Vietnamese flag made it there for the 3rd time.

The last week of school was special. I saw my last patient at the school on that Monday to deliver an FDP and then wrapped up everything. I prepared some gifts so I was running around the school to deliver them. On Tuesday we had a CPR class then I went to the airport to pick up my aunt from Vietnam coming for the ceremony. On Wednesday we had a banquet at Hyatt when everyone dressed up nicely. We were discussing what to wear for like months before because we all wanted to look our absolute best. My close friends and I decided to rent a room at Hyatt that night to spend time together because, sadly, we all move to different states afterwards. That is one of my most favorite memories forever. Then Friday was our graduation ceremony. My mom is also a dentist in Vietnam so she accompanied me walking across the stage and hooded me. If you ask me how I felt, I would say it was like winning a Nobel prize.

Me and my mom - the tiny woman who sacrifices everything so I made it to the stage

Me and my mentor - Dr. Nguyen - who lead the way so I could follow. She is a Pros faculty at UC Denver.

Me and my family

elp. Who knows maybe 2,3 years from now you may send me your graduation pictures! Best of luck and Happy New Year!l survive. I am applying for Washington State license and still looking for jobs. As I am lucky to have green card, I am not in a rush and want to find a place best fit me. I hope that I will have more exciting stories to share with you guys once I start practicing. It will be not only how to get US license but also how a foreign-trained dentists' life is in the US. By the way, I recently made a facebook page as I want to hear more from all of you and connect to you better. Don't hesitate to pm me with questions or feedbacks - I read everything you guys sent me on this website and love it. Find me at DDS Journey facebook page. Please let me know how I can help. Who knows maybe 2,3 years from now you may send me your graduation pictures! Best of luck and Happy New Year!

“If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” - Martin Luther King

https://www.facebook.com/ddsjourney/

*Who are my idols?

Just like everyone else, I grew up admiring certain people and wishing to become just like them. I think idolizing someone is a necessary step in developing your own personality and finding your own identity. Luckily, I grew up not admiring celebrities just because they are pretty or can sing very well or simply marry to money. I grew up finding myself discussing with my parents during dinner about how exciting school was or when would be our next charity trip, and how I could contribute. They were willing for me to take a day off school to join in those activities – with me promising I would make up for that day by studying/ doing homework on bus – because for them “education is for a lifetime, not only a day or two”. I think that’s the root why I always admire people having an impact in community no matter a small one like in class/school/neighborhood or a big one like an area/a city/a country, etc.

Me keeping my promise to focus on study in one of those charity trips while other people had fun

First and foremost, you can tell I admire my parents. My dad was the smartest person I’ve ever met. No wonder why he became a neurosurgeon! I’ve heard from my mom that there were only two students in each class chosen to follow the path and he was the only one without some “relationship”. I’ve been told by his friends that when he was a 4th-year student, he would always go to some hospitals nearby every night to shadow and later assist in surgery. He was so good that he got to mentor some 5th-year medical students during their rotation. He was so smart that he could remember the whole book after reading it in a day. Sadly, what I realized is people that smart most likely will have big trouble in their personal life – maybe their brains just function in a different way I guess. I know my dad was not a perfect parent but I know he loved me and my siblings the perfect way he could.

My late dad in one of his last charity trips

I admire my mom for her strength and perseverance. She moved to the U.S at her 50s, gave up her career as a dentist in Vietnam just so her children can have a better life. With all the trauma from the past, adding up being estranged in a new country with a new language and 2 growing-up boys that she needed to care for, she still managed to graduate college as a licensed practical nurse with 3.98 GPA. I am on the easy route, with a better start thanks to her sacrifice. Without her, I don’t think I ever made it here let alone living my dream. I never allow myself to give up because she never give up. Somehow at her 50s, I feel like she has more energy than me. You can find her organizing potluck or holding birthday/retirement party for her colleagues at the cardiovascular department at Madigan Army Medical Center. While I’m the introverted one in the house and love sitting in my corner thinking about the universe, she is so outgoing and love to be around people. Maybe that’s why she found the charity organization (that I mentioned in my post about passion) more than 15 years ago.

My mom, my two brothers and one of my best friends during one of the activities

My mom in one of the trips

When I was a kid, I always jumped of joy when my granduncle visited. He could just share with us his knowledge in no matter which subjects we discussed about with great sense of humor. He has been a writer for his whole life – a very talented one. He lived through 3 wars – the Indochina war, the Vietnam war and then a smaller war along the border between Vietnam – China. He witnessed the loss of his beloved family and friends, took care of his friends’ family just like his own. At one time he worked to provide food and shelter for 15-20 people. After the Vietnam war, people with history of working for the Southern government (aka Saigon's government) or U.S. government had a hard time with finding a job if they were lucky enough not to be sent to “re-education camp” for years. I don’t know how he managed to find a job to provide for himself let alone providing for his friends who couldn’t work. For the longest time, he had to use different pseudonyms and used personal relationship to hide identity only then his articles got published. I still remember the first time he got one article published under his real name, he bought the newspaper and delivered it to all his family and friends (it was around year 2000). I feel like he is a living Vietnam history. He is a real-life saint who sacrifice his own happiness for others. Fortunately, he is now a well-known translator in Vietnam who translated so many books from The Godfather to Eragon. One of his readers commented “I couldn’t believe the translator was 80 years old. I thought this was someone in their 20s. How could he know all the youngster’s slang?” He is the one guiding me to my writing. I helped him with translating sometimes and although I suck at it, writing becomes my favorite creativity activity. And if you wonder why I love history, especially Vietnam history, it came from him. So if you live in Vietnam and happen to come across any books from "Đặng Phi Bằng", please check them out ^^ Thanks in advance.

I am so proud to call him my granduncle

Last but not least, my ”newest” idol is one of the most successful Vietnamese abroad. I first knew about her when I watched a show for Vietnamese abroad called “Paris by night”. She’s strong, she’s talented, she’s successful, but the thing that struck me the most was her pride in being a Vietnamese and her passion to bring education to less fortunate children in Vietnam. Her goal is to break the gap, build the connection between Vietnamese abroad and Vietnamese in homeland and to help young Vietnamese born abroad understand more of their root. Her speech was so inspirational that I kept watching it for so many times. When I was down, I would watch her and tell myself “That’s it! You have to be successful, so you can help others just like she does”. It’s not that being not successful yet is an excuse to not helping people. You can always help others – a kind word that can lift someone’s spirit up, or helping someone to cross a street. What I mean is she impacts so many more lives at her level. A few years ago I learned that she was my mom’s high school friend before she escaped Vietnam (yes she was one of the boat people). How awesome is that! My mom was invited to her house for a high school reunion last year in Houston, Texas and of course my mom took me with her. You can imagine how excited I was. Her name is Duy-Loan Le and I’m pretty sure there are tons of her videos on youtube if you are interested in learning more.

I am very fortunate to get to know so many inspirational people. Everyone is unique and I believe everyone has been fighting a battle that I may know nothing about to get to this day. I learn from you all and admire you all.

- Be smart! Be brave! Be fabulous! -

*ADA annual meeting 2018 - Oct 18-22 - Hawaii

I haven’t posted anything in like almost 3 weeks and I am sorry for my laziness. I came home for a few days after 6 months being incredibly busy then took some time off clinic again to attend the ADA annual meeting in Hawaii. Hawaii! Yes, yes, I know. I am writing this while being at the paradise. These days sitting at the Waikiki beach watching the sunset, I am so grateful for being where I am and who I am right now. For all of you who follow my journey, I wish that you will always have a life full of choices.

Sunset at Waikiki beach

from Diamond Head lookout

Going back to our main conversation here – dentistry. Do you know that you can easily sign up to ADA as an international member then sign up for these meetings with that status? ADA annual meeting is open to dentists from all around the world. You will have to pay some fee to register for the meeting (about $115) but if you fail to have the visa to attend, they will return the fee (I’m not so sure about the deadline though). I registered for the meeting in Washington D.C in 2015 but decided not to go later and had no trouble getting the money back. The ADA also gave me an invitation letter to help with the visa interview and I think it is super awesome.

So is it worth to attend? Absolutely. With that small fee, you can attend so many free courses. Of course you have the option of paying for some expensive courses too. The whole meeting is normally about 3-4 days full of courses from $0, $25, $50 to $500. Pick wisely and you can attend 5-6 hours of lecture all 3-4 days for $0! What’s a better way to update yourself, network with other colleagues and have some great stories to tell in the interview day? As I said it multiple times, make your profile look better in every possible way you can, show schools that you really commit to dentistry. If you can’t afford to attend those post-doc courses (they are normally around $20k), can’t take 1 year off work for public health program or preceptorship program, then at least put in as much effort as possible to expose yourself to dentistry here in the U.S. If you have any more questions about the ADA meeting, please feel free to contact me. Hope to see you all next year at the meeting in San Francisco!

Then, how to register for the meeting. Now this I think you may have to apply to the ADA first as an international member (I am not so sure if you can register without being a member first). It is super easy to register to become an ADA member. When I did it years ago, I was like “what? That’s it?” All you need to do is to fill out a form, pay the fee ($100/year), send them the scan copy of your degree and done. They will contact you in two weeks after verifying your eligibility (which means you really graduate with DDS/DMD degree from a dental school). They then will mail you a certificate of the membership status. Within this one year you will have full access to their JADA journal online, other resources and of course the opportunity to attend the ADA meeting happening around September/ October every year.

Some information:

ADA FDI World Dental Congress 2019 – Sep 4-9 in San Francisco, CA

ADA 2020 – Oct 15-19 in Orlando, FL

ADA 2021 – Oct 11-15 Las Vegas, NV

ADA 2022 – Oct 13-17 Houston, TX

More information on how to join ADA as international members:

https://www.ada.org/en/member-center/international-activities/for-international-dentists-information-and-program/join-the-ada-as-an-international-member

P.S. It's not that only ADA meetings count. As I've said, any effort to expose yourself to dentistry counts especially for those who are not practicing right now. There are a lot of dental conferences out there for you to choose. Choosing not only because you want to look good on your profile but because you genuinely love dentistry.

The exhibit hall at ADA meeting 2018

Me and my friend Dr. Rojas Lock at the New Dentist Reception

*How to find your passion?

One of my friends asked me this question and it took me awhile to find an answer. The question never came across my mind since passion just comes to me so naturally. After reflecting on it, asking friends, reading about it, I finally realize one thing: You don’t find passion. You live with it.

Have you ever heard the statement “Happiness is not a destination, it is a way of life”? Or "Happiness is a conscious choice, not an automatic response." ~ Mildred Barthel. I think passion is the same. So many people are wandering through life looking for a passion, a purpose of life, hoping some day passion and purpose will jump from out of nowhere and greet them. For me it’s not a rainbow randomly appearing without prediction, but it’s the multi-color that we decide to paint over our lives.

I have had a lot of passion. Years and years ago during my high school and college time in Vietnam, my passion is my charity group. I wanted to contribute the best I could. Those trips to isolated areas were very tough sometimes. We would sleep on the floor of a temple or a church, shared with each other some pillows and blankets because of course there were no hotels in those areas. It was tired but so fun since we all could share a whole night talking to each other, joking around, singing and going to sleep together. The more hardship, the more I like it (weird, huh?). Sometimes, we went to some poor nursing homes to help clean the place, bathe the residents, take care of their ulcer and diseases.

I think a part of me likes challenge, but the real reason is that I wanted to make the most out of it. I wanted to go to the furthest area, to the poorest communities possible. I didn’t like it easy just hop on hop off to some nearby communities when they don’t even need our help. Whenever I am down, I will think about that time, look through those photos and videos and find my spirit full of passion again. Sure you can say that passion found me through the charity group. But again, people join those activities and barely feel anything or maybe they feel something but do nothing after that to keep the flame living. So it is our choice, not miracle happened.

This is the video of my group taking care of residents in this poor nursing home

This is a video of my group singing and dancing after sitting on a bus for 10 hours to reach the community (our longest trip was 18 hours on bus)

Then I found my passion in studying English. One time a classmate asked if I was passionate about English and I said no. I only wanted to score high on TOEFL so I could apply for the program later. It all started with learning crocheting. My greataunt taught me once when I was about 10 years old. I never practiced after that until years later I saw some cute pictures of crocheting animals. I decided that I should learn crocheting again but by myself with the help of Internet. I looked for free patterns in Vietnamese first, found a few, then happened to come across a lot more free patterns in English. I then realized if I learned crocheting in English, I could learn from people around the world and do a lot more (now I learn knitting, felting, painting, etc from internet)

For the first time in my life I realized how important English was. It opens my eyes and transforms my life. The fact that I can learn anything I want if I know English changes me. I wanted to be able to read, to write, to communicate better. I listened to English songs only, I read lots of books, I talked to myself whenever possible, etc. I didn't do it just because of TOEFL but because I honestly wanted to be good at it. I know it’s also a weird connection between passion in DIY and passion in English. Passion did not come suddenly in my dreams, it came because I wanted to be better everyday at crocheting, and later English.

In a more professional aspect, I love endo because after many failure, I want to be better at it. I wonder what I did wrong, what I learned and what I should do to prevent it happening again. I love esthetic operative because when I look at my restorations and other colleagues’ restorations, I feel the shame and I want to learn the secret to do a better, more natural-looking ones. I love pros because I am not good at it and I have so much to learn. The “so much to learn” excites me in the way “sleeping on the floor of a church” excites me years ago.

When I first started the drafting version of this website, I was overjoy that I kept bouncing my legs for hours. For the first time in my life I now know how to buy a domain, how to build a website and I did it from scratch on my own (of course with some help from one of my friends). It may be nothing for someone, but for me I learnt a new skillset and no matter if the blog is successful or not, I am happy. I want to do my best to build it the way I imagine it should be. I spent hours to read how to create good content, how to make better visual effect, what to avoid, etc. and I always ask myself what else I can do to make it better. I am not a master but I know I am trying my best and that is more important. So passion comes when trying our best at whatever we are doing.

Alert, I don’t do everything with passion cause that will exhaust me. I know how much energy I have and how much I should spend for each activities. I usually pick among all current activities, which one is the most important during that specific time period, and which one can create more positive energy back. My most important duty right now is to finish requirements so I can graduate on time, therefore I spend the most energy on it. This blog helps me to gain positivity and confidence so I can focus better on the previous one so I spend energy second most. I am also not “high” all the time. There is a lot of down time, insecure time when I do nothing, reflect, relax, save energy for when I come back.

Bottom line, you don’t find passion, you choose to live with passion. It comes when one chooses to make the best out of whatever one is doing, when one keeps improving themselves and learning new things. I know this topic has little in common with taking NBDE or applying for dental schools, but I think it’s an important part of life. Whatever you do, either preparing for application or choosing a longer path such as becoming an assistant or hygienist now so you can save up for dental schools later, do it with all your heart but in a smart way. Always asking “what else…” but do not exhaust yourself. Everyone needs a break at some point. It’s good to stop and breathe every now and then as “Life is a marathon not a sprint”.

Also check out this article, I think it is spot on

https://nyti.ms/2jLQwK6

*Facing insecurity

In my “previous” life, I was surrounded by my beloved circle of friends and family. We share the same voice, same background, same culture. I joined in a non-profit group since I was 15, which founded by my parents. I had a large family other than my own parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. I belonged to something bigger than me and at that young age, it’s a pretty big deal. And although there were still moments that I was less confident, I was pretty comfortable in my own skin.

Me and my charity group - 2005 - I just finished high school

Me and the group - 2012 - I just graduated from dental school

Until I got here…

When I first visited the U.S, everything was so new and fabulous. My family lived in a very cozy rental house in a peaceful but depressing small town. Don’t get me wrong, I still love that place since it always recalls good memories of my first time in America. What I mean is I was obsessed with the whole “American” thing. I thought everything American was great. They have beautiful cities, they go hiking and swimming and exercising on a daily basis which I never did, they have big markets with unbelievable variety of stuff from sandwich to apple (we have only 1 kind of sandwich and like 3 kinds of apple in Vietnam). Unfortunately, the more I admired America, the more inferior I felt to other people around me. “I come from a third-world country. Well I am a dentist in Vietnam but who cares. I don’t even nail a good job there because of the grand studying plan. And I don’t even know if it works at the end or not. Hmm maybe I just waste my time and my mom’s money on this. Hmm maybe I just marry someone here to settle down and go back to school to study whatever. Hmm my boyfriend is wise, and I feel so stupid around him since I don’t know anything. Well, my accent is funny, and I can’t even conduct a conversation with the waitress at restaurants.” Those thinking just kept replaying itself in my poor little head every single day. I allowed them. I nurtured them.

Somehow, I got through the NBDE exam and applied for the advance standing programs. Then the day I dreamt for came. I got the interview invitation from my dream school. I had a month to prepare and I knew I would do anything to give it the best shot. My ex broke up with me about 3,4 days after that. He told me we were not on the same page, that I was not like when I was in Vietnam, I was so confident back then, etc. I tried to defend myself but deep inside I knew he was right that I was not good enough. I told him that things would be better when I got in the school and became a dentist but how I could make him believe in it when I did not believe in it myself. Who am I to really get a spot at the school?

If you are choosing this path, you know what I am talking about. We let ourselves live with all the insecurities and believe in everything our-pity-selves want us to believe in. Lucky me, I did not suffer for too long because all my head was on the game. That was all I wanted – a chance to make my dream come true. I was lucky enough to be able to practice at home because my mom purchased a mobile motor earlier. My friend sent me some teeth and burs so I could practice. The rental house was so small I couldn’t sit inside to practice because the dust would end up in everybody’s lungs. I determined to practice outside on the front yard 3-4hrs per day in a big coat at 50 degree since I told myself if I could do a good prep with cold shaking hands, I could do a good prep under pressure. I turned to google and youtube to prepare for the interview. There I found lists of all common questions one may be asked like “describing yourself” or “tell us about your strength”. I spent days to dig deeper inside myself and finally I went from “I don’t have any strength” to “oh these are my strengths”. The more time I spent on reflecting myself, the more I believe in me. Laying on the bottom of my heart was the defiant voice telling me that I was good just like many others, that I should be proud of my background instead of feeling insecure about it, that my accent was funny because I spoke two languages, not just one. I now knew who I was, what I always wanted, what my strengths and weaknesses were, why I deserved a chance, what my plans were for the future, etc. I knew ME!

Sorry for the blurry picture. Just want to share a picture taken by my mom when I was sitting in front of her place's shed to practice prepping teeth. The motor was unseen in the picture but you can see the handpiece on the bottom right.

I just landed in Denver for the interview. Checking the location of the dental building so I wouldn't be lost on the big day.

Then like a miracle, I got in the program…

I encountered people from around the world with different languages, different cultures, different belief. I wanted so bad to fit in, and I caught myself being insecure again. I talked too much, I did things wrong, I failed some of my friends. It made perfect sense to me at that time, but after a while when I thought about it (and tried to defend myself again), I knew it was my-pity-self taking over. I realized how wrong I was, why I did what I did or said what I said, and what my real problem was. It was hard. I hated myself for a while but I knew it would not do me any good so I tried to forgive and love myself again. Until now, I am still struggling in a circle of feeling good about myself, then feeling insecure, having a storm of emotion, reflecting why I feel that way, trying to work on it and loving myself again.

What I mean from this was,

1) everyone feels insecure at some point and it is fine

2) do not look down on ourselves or take our stories for granted - all the goods, the bads are meant to make us a better person if we listen and learn from those.

3) self-reflection should be a must

4) if we can’t be honest with ourselves, I don’t know what else we can do

5) every time we have some negative emotion - jealous, sad, unconfident, angry, victimized ourselves, etc - it is 99% that we are insecure about something

6) when insecurity kicks in, don’t dwell on it but work on it. It is our brain telling us it’s time to work on ourselves again.

7) Also when it kicks in, it’s hard to be confident or to love ourselves but it’s our job to constantly remind us why we are awesome and why we are worth all the love in this world.

Look I am not trying to act smart or to tell you how to be a good person. I am struggling too. Just like yesterday I suddenly had a storm again and today I have been working on it. I want to share as a reminder to myself that emotional complexity is only human nature, but if this can help someone else out there, it is awesome too.

*Journey to America

In 1989, my aunts, granduncle, uncle, and cousin escaped Vietnam by boat. You may or may not hear about “boat people” – millions of people were, are and will still be risking their lives on the ocean to look for a better future. Vietnamese was not the only one but probably the most famous one. After the Vietnam war, the world witnessed millions of Vietnamese risking theirs and their family’s life on those small fishing boat try to beat against the Pacific Ocean waves.

After a few years living in one of the refugee islands, my family was lucky enough to all move to the evergreen Washington State. They worked hard to support themselves and to fund their dream of bringing the rest of the big family here. That’s where I came in the picture. In 2000, my aunts officially filed the immigration paper for the other 3 sisters and their family. I was 13 years old at that time, came to school one day and excitedly told my friends “guess what, I will move to America soon”. I didn’t know any better. The lengthy immigration process was not easy for a child to understand. Later I learned that if a child is older than 21 years old, they he/she is considered to be independent from parents and when parent move to America, he/she will not go with them.

In 2004, getting scared that I would be leave behind, my parent planed for me to go to the U.S first to study and then would meet them there after a few years. I failed the visa interview twice so I had to finish high school and take the entrance exam to the dental school. In Vietnam there is no undergrad program. We take the exam to dental school, medical school, engineer school right after high school and spend 4-6 years there (it’s 6 years for dental school) Maybe dentistry is meant to be for me.

On 11/20/2008, my family finally got the immigration interview. When we passed the interview, my mom confirmed with the embassy that my name was still there on the family’s file and got a nod. I texted my friends that I would move to the U.S with my family in a month and since there was so much to prepare, I would stop going to school in the next few days. I talked to the dental school’s office about the move and they said bring them the visa and they would end my attendance. My 21st birthday was on 11/25. On 12/2, we all went to the embassy to receive the visa. We were the last one there and one officer gently told my mom that my visa got canceled because I was then 21. There was nothing else to do. My survival mode was turn on. I went back to school, received a lot of help from my dear friends to make up for all the assignment I missed during the time and for that I am still grateful until now. Thankfully, I was still a 4th year dental student and got the chance to finish my dental school. Needless to say, you can imagine all the drama happened with a 21 yo living her whole life with parents. I told myself that day “America doesn’t want me”.

In 2010, my mom filed the immigration paper for me one more time. I graduated in 2011 and started to gather information about getting license in the U.S. Then I started preparing to take TOEFL and later NBDE. The first time I stepped in American soil was in 2013 on tourist visa. I applied to the advance standing program in 2015 and fortunately got accepted by University of Colorado. However due to finance situation, I had to defer one year. Came back to Vietnam with broken heart feeling like my dream was slipping away, I told myself to focus on working and gaining more experience. In 2016 finally I was offered the private student loan to cover for one year cost. At the same time my immigration file was processed but we predicted that I would get the interview in 2017. That would be too late for the program so I applied for student visa and came here in F1 visa instead.

If I waited longer to come here on immigration visa, I would get greencard about 4 weeks later. But since I came here on student visa, my mom had to file for visa status adjustment and the process itself dragged for almost 1.5 years. In April this year I went for the interview. It was quick, only 10 min. I think they have enough paper with my name on it. When they said congratulation, I was asking if they have some sort of paper as a proof of the result and they said no. I called my mom as I knew she was worrying for a whole day but carefully told her not to expect too much as everything can change last minute (my life lesson). I got the greencard in the mail 2 days later. I was thinking that the moment I got my greencard would be sort of historical moment since I spent 17 years waiting for it, but in fact I didn’t feel much that day. On 11/20/2016, I reached America with a one-way ticket (Well I think I purposely chose that exact same day for a closure).

One friend used to ask me, if I struggled so much to come to the U.S with no certain future, why didn’t I just stay in Vietnam, build a family and maybe opened my own clinic. I asked myself that question for a moment, but when you spent years building your dream, it’s not that easy to let it go. Living in America is a long-term dream, and practicing in America is even a bigger one. I saw a path, and I couldn’t give up on it. Maybe I am perseverant, or simply stupid. But judging on the current outcome that I just passed the board exam, I think I was not stupid. I hold on to these memories to remind myself everyday how lucky I am to be here and do what I love the most. Now back in 1989, I owe everything to my beloved ones who risked their life so I can live the American dream today.

*Fueling the DDS journey aka the money-talking part

Getting dental license in the U.S is a long journey, and how to fuel the journey is a very important aspect. I’ve seen first-hand how impactful it can be to one’s success. Therefore, I want to dive in deeper to this topic today. If you have no time for story, skip to the bottom and read the part in Bold letter of what I've learned through my story.

You may or may not hear my story before I joined UCDenver in 2017. I started preparing for NBDE and TOEFL since 2012. It was lots of money and although I started working, I had to ask for my mom’s help still. She was in the U.S at that time, recently emigrated, recently got a job, was not financially stable yet. She was working, supporting my two siblings in America and supporting me for my education as well in Vietnam. No easy task. We were hand-tight. I still don’t understand how my mom managed that because I graduated now, started working as a dentist here, and trust me, $500 for one exam would still be a burden to me. Every decision back then had to be calculated carefully – which book to buy, which course to take, etc. I recently received a message on which book to buy because all of those NBDE books are expensive. I know exactly what you were talking about! I searched Amazon and E-bay to find the cheapest secondhand book with the not-too-old version (I used version 2011-2012 when I took Part 1 in 2014). You can learn from any book. It’s not the book that matters but how well you understand the material and if you can apply what you understand in answering question. You can buy the latest version of every single book out there and still fail if all you do is trying to memorize all the points.

There is not only money for exams. You also need money for other no name steps as well. Evaluation with ECE! Registering with CAAPID to apply! Asking ECE to send copy to ADA! Asking ETS to send TOEFL score to ADA! And so much more. One wrong address can cost me about $30, $50. Multiple times can easily cost me $100 or more. The money pressure will be there. I do not want to scare you away but I want you to be mindful that this journey is fueled by either money or a lot of money. Up to this point, you have to have money sitting in your bank account for this because no bank will give you a loan for “preparing for dental school” reason. I have to stress it because one reader kept asking me about student loan while not even taking NBDE yet – I found out later – she thought she must have student loan approved before she can apply for dental schools. No! To the day you get the “Congratulation!” email from dental school, you pay everything by yourself and you do not need student loan.

Schools will not ask for financial proof when you apply nor pick you based on your financial ability. Finally the day you longing for for so many years come! You get the call or the email from the director. I don’t think a lot of people sharing what happens next so I will share my story in detail. In the next several days, I got another email from the school asking me if I will accept the position or not. I had three options – decline (if I pick another school)/ defer (one year only)/ or accept. When I chose accepting the offer, I had to send a deposit check for $4000 to confirm that I do plan to come. Of course, this deposit would go to the tuition later. It was a shock to me as I then faced a more serious question – I got accepted now where I can find enough money for dental school with my family’s current financial situation. I had no choice but to borrow money for the deposit. This is my family and my own dream come true, but at the same time, I put tons of pressure on my mom. I had some saving but it was not enough as I spent lots of time studying instead of working. We had to borrow from my aunts, uncles, cousins. Most of them also just recently emigrated to the U.S and had entry level work income. I felt like the most selfish person on Earth to depend solely on family to help me in my own success. I questioned myself if I could barely afford $4000 deposit, how I could afford tuition fee and if I could not, I would lose $4000 for nothing. It was a scary time, but we managed it.

Next step, school asked me to provide financial proof that I could afford at least one year of tuition. I was honestly thinking it would be easy to apply for loan “because I would soon become a dentist here, so bank should love me”. WRONG! I talked to several banks. Some of them need I-20 to process the application but school will not give you I-20 before you give them the proof of the loan. Only two banks accept the application without I-20 so I applied to both. With all the banks, I would need a cosigner as I was not a residence or citizen here, I had no credit history, so they could not trust me. Easy right? I have my mom – a US Citizen – and of course she had good credit history, she was working and had income. On their website, they said something like “cosigned needs to have income of $19000/yr minimum to be qualified” and my mom earned more than that. WRONG again! Both of them declined right away as the amount of money I wanted to borrow ($100000) was way too much comparing to her income (aka her ability to pay in case I cannot). I contacted the school desperately to look for a way out. They suggested me to borrow lesser amount but how I could afford the rest? My extended family was willing to cosign for me as well but their income was just like my mom’s. I turned to the internet asking for advice and help. No one could help and none of the advice worked. I did not want to ruin someone else’s chance and honestly the whole time, this acceptance was too good to be true so in the back of my mind, it was not meant for me. I gave up! I wrote a letter to the program director to apologize that I had to defer one year to figure out about the tuition. It was devastating. The moment I hit the “SEND” button, I was looking at my years of hard-work (and $4000) flying through my hand.

So how did I make it right next year? I did nothing. It was my family. I am still a selfish daughter. I mean I worked harder that year, found a new job, earned more money, saved more but it was nothing when you exchange VND to USD. My dad passed away two years earlier before all of this happened and he left the house for me so I could sell it for my education (Thanks, dad!). I could finally sell the house that year and had a bit more money (Thanks to my siblings that they did not ask for anything when they have the right to take some). My mom (remarried after I deferred) and my stepdad bought a house, their income together was much better than my mom’s alone so my stepdad agreed to help as well (Thanks mom and Sal!). My mom thought I gave up on the idea but I couldn’t. It was not only my effort but also my whole family's and I did not want to see it go in vain. I applied one more time next year secretly and the bank accepted although they gave me an insane interest rate 11.5%. I had to do what I had to do.

What I learned from my journey was:

1) You don’t need to worry about tuition from the start, but do need to think about your ability to afford it – for example if you have someone to cosign, if you have property in your home country that you can take a loan from there (my dad’s house wasn’t qualified for this) or if you and your family have enough savings to pay for school.

2) In the U.S, banks don’t care how much money you owe, they only care how much you own. I do believe what made a difference was the house. The bank evaluated that she owned a house and paid payment every month so she’s reliable. I was scared that she had mortgage loan, so bank would refuse. Everyone in America is in some sort of debt so debt is not a deal-breaker. If you are not in debt, banks won’t like you as much.

3) It will be easier when you have I-20. In order to have I-20, you will need to send school proof of finance. School doesn’t care where or who it comes from, so if you have a friend or family having about $100000 in bank account, you just need to ask them writing you a letter that they agree to sponsor. School will not hold it against the person. The person doesn’t have to give you the money. School only needs the letter to issue I-20 so you can take it to apply for loan. I suggest to ask local banks from your home country, who knows they may have a service that you and I don’t know about.

I always say that I have utter respect to all doctors going through this long difficult journey. That takes a lot of courage and commitment with no guarantee of ROI – Return of Investment. I also say that if I knew what I know now, I might give up from the beginning. If you feel like you don’t understand the steps, or some part is confusing, believe me, it’s a bless. Life will prepare you enough to take all the hardship. What you learn now will prepare you for next year, and what you learn next year will prepare you for a year after that. Life changes, and so do you. When I write this, I keep asking myself if I give out too much information and discourage someone. That is absolutely not my intention. I want to share information to encourage you to be practical and if you are facing what I faced years ago, knowing that you are not alone, and sooner or later, there will be a way out eventually.

Information is GOLD!

P.S. more questions? Please don't hesitate to share with me by sending a message at the bottom of the page or through our official facebook page

Điều gì đáng sợ nhất với bác sĩ Mỹ?

Ai cũng biết trở thành bác sĩ Mỹ đồng nghĩa với việc có thu nhập cao hơn so với bình quân cũng như có nhiều cơ hội hơn để nâng cao chất lượng cuộc sống (mình không nói chắc chắn 100% vì hạnh phúc hay khổ đau tuỳ thuộc từng cá nhân chứ không tuỳ thuộc nghề nghiệp). Vậy thì bác sỹ sợ nhất điều gì? Không phải sợ không có việc làm hay không trả được nợ mà là sợ mất bằng! Ai cũng có thể thấy được những lợi ích to lớn của việc trở thành bác sĩ, nhưng không phải ai cũng hiểu được những ràng buộc mà bác sĩ phải chấp nhận. Do đó mình muốn chia sẻ một chút về chủ đề này.

Bác sĩ ngán nhất là bị kiện. Đa phần các buổi trình bày ca, đến phần thảo luận giữa sinh viên và faculty, câu hỏi thường gặp nhất đó là “if we choose this instead of that (approach/material/method, etc), can patient sue us? Will they win at the court?” Bệnh nhân có thể kiện bác sĩ vì bất kỳ lý do gì. Họ thích thì họ kiện thôi, thận chí có khi vì cho rằng bác sỹ giàu nên kiếm cớ kiện hy vọng kiếm được một chút. Tin tốt là đa phần bệnh nhân ít kiện thành công vì điều trị trong y khoa công bằng mà nói, có rất nhiều hướng điều trị khác biệt, nhiều ý kiến trái chiều, kèm theo mỗi bệnh nhân có thể có phản ứng khác nhau nên biến chứng nếu xảy ra là điều dễ hiểu. Trong trường hợp bị kiện, nếu bác sỹ có thể chứng minh rằng mình làm mọi thứ theo đúng quy trình, đã thảo luận với bệnh nhân risks & benefits của việc điều trị, bệnh nhân hoàn toàn ý thức và chấp nhận được điều trị (qua việc ký vào consent form) thì bác sỹ không có lỗi. Vậy nếu mình làm đúng thì sao phải sợ? Vì việc bị kiện sẽ mất rất nhiều thời gian của bác sỹ. Nếu việc điều trị diễn ra từ vài ba năm về trước thì việc ngồi lục lại treatment notes, phim xray, các thảo luận với bệnh nhân để chứng minh mình không sai chắc chắn sẽ mất kha khá thời gian, chưa kể đến việc phải làm việc với luật sư bảo vệ, có khi phải ra toà... Thời gian là vàng bạc, cứ mất một ngày làm việc là mất vài trăm đô, cộng thêm tổn thất tinh thần trong thời gian dài. Ngoài ra khi bác sỹ bị kiện, status của họ sẽ có thêm dòng đính kèm về việc đang có lawsuit cho đến khi nào vụ kiện bị bác. Tất nhiên không ai muốn tên của mình bị bôi nhọ cả. Cũng vì vậy mà ngay từ trước khi ra trường, các hãng bảo hiểm đã săn đón sinh viên mua “malpractice insurance” với đủ kiểu đủ loại của họ để phòng trường hợp bị kiện. Đa phần các post quảng cáo tìm bác sỹ đều có thêm yêu cầu bác sỹ phải có trang bị bảo hiểm malpractice hoặc nếu không thì tự họ sẽ mua cho bác sỹ . Không có bảo hiểm đồng nghĩa với việc không hành nghề. Ví dụ như trường hợp bác sỹ bị thua kiện, dù không bị tước bằng nhưng khi hãng bảo hiểm phải trả 1 triệu đô cho bệnh nhân, chắc chắn họ sẽ không nhận đại diện cho bác sỹ đó nữa. “No insurance = no dentistry”.

Bác sỹ thường bị phạt nặng hơn khi mắc lỗi - cũng như cảnh sát bị phạt nặng hơn vì biết luật mà phạm luật. Lỗi nặng nhất mà bác sỹ có thể phạm phải là tiết lộ thông tin bệnh nhân. Cứ mỗi 2 năm bác sỹ và tất cả những người làm trong ngành y phải học lại về luật HIPAA. Vi phạm luật này thì automatically mất bằng. Do đó mọi giấy tờ có tên bệnh nhân đều phải huỷ bỏ đúng quy trình. Mọi hình ảnh của bệnh nhân đều phải bảo vệ kỹ. Đối với sinh viên mà nói, laptop quý như sinh mạng. Do luật Hipaa, mọi laptop nếu muốn vào mạng lưới thông tin của bệnh nhân để có thể viết treatment notes hay sắp xếp lịch hẹn đều cần phải được bảo mật kỹ càng và được đăng ký với trường. Cũng vì lý do này mà đa phần các trường đều yêu cầu sinh viên sử dụng macbook vì bảo mật của Macbook tốt hơn các hãng khác. Nếu bị mất Macbook hay điện thoại (nếu điện thoại có thông tin/ hình ảnh bệnh nhân) thì bắt buộc phải báo ngay lập tức cho trường để xử lý kịp thời. Ngoài ra người ta cũng khuyến cáo không chụp hình bằng điện thoại nếu điện thoại bật chế độ tự động upload lên icloud/google photo/ etc mà nên chụp bằng máy chụp hình thường và giữ kỹ thẻ nhớ. Nếu chụp bằng điện thoại, lưu ý chụp sao cho không thấy mặt bệnh nhân hay có thông tin bệnh nhân trong bức ảnh.

Hiện nay nhiều bang đã hợp pháp hoá cần sa nhưng đó là cho người khác, không phải cho giới bác sỹ, y tá. Nếu xét nghiệm nước tiểu cho thấy có sử dụng trong lúc điều trị bệnh nhân thì lawsuit treo ngay trước mắt. Điều này cũng dễ hiểu vì việc bác sỹ “get high” trong lúc điều trị sẽ khiến bệnh nhân mất niềm tin vào bác sỹ mà khi niềm tin không còn thì việc điều trị chắc chắn không hiệu quả. Lái xe lúc say xỉn cũng là một tội nặng khác. Người bình thường nếu bị bắt lái xe lúc có nồng độ cồn quá ngưỡng cho phép thì có thể bị tước bằng lái xe nhưng sau đó vẫn thi lại được. Bác sỹ nếu bị bắt tội này thì vô cùng mệt mỏi. Lúc bạn mình nói bác sỹ có thể bị tước bằng hành nghề nếu bị bắt DUI (driving under influence), mình đã vô cùng ngạc nhiên. Tìm hiểu kỹ hơn thì đúng là như vậy. Nếu bị bắt, bác sỹ sẽ ngay lập tức phải báo cáo đến hội đồng y khoa tại bang mình ở. Hội đồng sẽ xem xét và yêu cầu bác sỹ phải đi điều trị nghiện rượu, sau đó bị thẩm vấn để xem có ăn năn hay chưa, có đủ điều kiện sức khoẻ, tinh thần để tiếp tục điều trị bệnh nhân hay không… Và ngay cả khi trải qua tất cả những điều đó, khả năng bị tước bằng vẫn rất cao.

Để kết thúc mình xin kể một câu chuyện. Vài năm về trước có một bác sỹ nội trú khoa phẫu thần kinh chỉ còn vài tháng là hoàn thành chương trình và được cấp bằng hành nghề. Một ngày kia cô đi tiệc tùng với bạn bè và có hơi quá chén. Không biết vì lý do gì cô đã ẩu đả với tài xế uber. Xui xẻo là điều này có nhiều người chứng kiến và tất nhiên người ta sẽ chụp/quay lại và post lên mạng xã hội. Video này nhanh chóng nổi tiếng trên mạng xã hội. Nếu là người khác, họ có thể phải chịu đựng một thời gian sự nổi tiếng bất đắc dĩ rồi thì mọi việc cũng chìm xuồng. Nhưng đây lại là một bác sỹ dù chưa có bằng hành nghề. Không cần biết đúng hay sai, cô này lập tức bị sa thải tại bệnh viện nơi mình thực tập. Khổ nỗi một khi bạn đã bị sa thải khỏi chương trình nội trú, khả năng bạn được nhận vào một bệnh viện khác hay một chương trình khác gần như impossible. Cuối cùng cô có degree là bác sỹ nhưng không có bằng hành nghề nên mất tất cả sự nghiệp. Đó là chưa tính đến số tiền nợ khổng lồ cho mười mấy năm học đã sắp đến đích. Đây là câu chuyện có thật mà các thầy cô dùng để răn dạy (đe doạ) các sinh viên về sức mạnh của mạng xã hội và vì sao luôn phải cư xử đúng mực, cẩn thận dù ở bất cứ đâu. Có lẽ vì vậy mà từ thời còn là sinh viên, ai cũng mang tâm lý sợ mạng xã hội. Lúc mình mới vào học, trường phát cho một tờ giấy với nội dung đồng ý cho trường post hình ảnh có mặt mình lên trang web/facebook của trường. Nếu mình không đồng ý ký vào, khi trường chụp hình các hoạt động mà vô tình mặt mình dính vào thì trường không được phép post hình đó. Post trước của mình có chia sẻ hình ảnh của bạn mình trong chuyến đi Hawaii – tất nhiên cũng đã được sự cho phép của cô ấy. Post này không thật sự nằm trong chủ đề chính của trang, nhưng mình vẫn muốn chia sẻ để các bạn hiểu hơn một chút về cuộc sống ở Mỹ. Hy vọng các bạn thích chủ đề này ^^

- Be Smart! Be Brave! Be Fabulous! -

Lấy bằng hành nghề ở Mỹ có khó không?

Câu trả lời ngắn gọn dễ hiểu là rất khó. Vì vậy nếu bạn chỉ có ý định “học thử coi có đậu không, đậu thì tốt không thì thôi” thì thật sự mình nghĩ không nên, vừa tốn tiền, tốn thời gian, không tới đâu cả. Sơ lược một chút về hành trình của mình. Minh tự nhận là một người khá may mắn khi có người đi trước chỉ bảo, vả lại số mình may mắn về con đường khoa bảng, nên những kỳ thi mang tính quyết định thì thường đánh đâu thắng đo´. Tuy vậy hành trình của mình vẫn kéo dài tới 4 năm từ lúc lên kế hoạch học đến lúc bắt đầu học. Nếu không xét tới các đồng nghiệp khác may mắn được dạy bằng tiếng anh hoàn toàn ở trường nha hay nói tiếng anh từ nhỏ thì 4 năm coi như là ngắn vì nhiều người còn tốn nhiều thời gian hơn như vậy. Trong thời gian đó mình tốn tiền trước hết cho việc học anh văn để lấy được cái bằng toefl trên 100 hết gần 20 triệu thì phải. Tiếp theo là tốn tiền rút bảng điểm ở trường cả tiếng Việt và tiếng Anh, và cần trường đóng mộc vào nữa là 40t. Sau đó tốn tiền nộp cho tổ chức đánh giá bằng cấp quốc tế ECE để họ chuyển bảng điểm cho mình thành thang điểm trên 4 cũng thêm vài triệu nưã. Rồi tốn tiền thi NBDE part 1 và 2, tiền thi toefl chắc cũng khoảng 20t. Ngoài ra cũng nên tính thêm chi phí đi Mỹ thi cử, tiền vé cứ lần đi là khoảng 20t không tính ăn ở vì ở nhà mẹ. Mỗi lần đi xin visa Mỹ cũng nên tính vào nốt cứ 3t một lần mà vài lần như vậy. Rồi khi apply thì muốn qua bước này phải hoàn thành bước khác, nghiã là lại thêm một lần đóng phí. Trên đây là những chi phí cơ bản, còn ngoài ra thì hằng hà sa số khoảng nho nhỏ khác. Khoảng thời gian đó mình cảm thấy có lỗi với mẹ kinh khủng, vì mẹ mình qua Mỹ chưa được bao lâu, còn nhiều vất vả mà một lúc lo cho 3 chị em ăn học. Cảm thấy mình là đứa bất tài nhất thế giới này. Việc làm thì không như ý vì mình dành thời gian cho việc học mà lơ là việc làm, cứ dậm chân tại chỗ làm vài ba ca đơn giản trong khi bạn bè sắp lên sao Hoả rồi. Mỗi ngày đi làm đều cảm thấy chắc mọi người cười chê mình dữ lắm. Áp lực tâm lý lúc đó thật lớn, vì mỗi ngày đều tự hỏi khi nào thì mới ra trái ngọt, và có bao giờ hái được trái ngọt hay không.

Nhưng… có đáng không? Rất đáng, một khi bạn đủ dũng cảm đi đến cuối con đường. Dentisty là ngành nghề số một ở Mỹ - bởi một khi bạn tốt nghiệp và clear bằng hành nghề để đi làm, bạn nghiễm nhiên lọt top 3% income cao nhất nước Mỹ - cái này là đi học được dạy như vậy chứ không phải mình nổ nghen. Ngày orientation đầu tiên, các thầy cô mở đầu bằng câu: “mặc dù vào được trường nha rồi, nhưng hãy khoan sống như một nha sĩ đã”. Vì sao nói như vậy, vì bác sĩ, nha sĩ thực sự có một cuộc sống rất tốt. Mình thấy bạn mình đi du lịch khắp nơi vì “I know i can afford it”. Mình thấy những bạn khác nữa ăn nhà hàng sang trọng cũng chỉ bởi vì “I know I can afford it”. Khi thấy mình suy tính chuyện tiền nong, bạn mình nói “còn có 3 tháng nữa là tốt nghiệp, mày biết là một đống tiền sắp ập vào mặt mày phải hơm?” Khi mình đi phụ phỏng vấn thí sinh nộp vào trường, các thầy cô nói rằng hãy đánh giá cẩn thận, chọn lựa cẩn thận bởi chúng ta có thể thay đổi số phận một con người với quyết định cuả chúng ta. Giá như mình có thể cho các bạn thấy được niềm kiêu hãnh và sự tự tin cuả sinh viên trong trường, thì các bạn sẽ hiểu rõ hơn. Mình không phải viết ra để chảnh hay nổ, mà để tiếp thêm động lực cho bạn nào thật sự quyết tâm thay đổi số phận của mình. Bởi vì nó rất đáng, cho nên nó mới khó với tới. Nói vui một chút, mình có anh bạn cùng lớp đang độc thân, nhỏ bạn liền bảo – đừng lo, mày có 2 vũ khí đáng giá vào hàng bậc nhất thế giới: passport Mỹ và bằng nha sĩ Mỹ, ra trường thì mày không bao giờ bị ế đâu.

Tản mạn tí thôi, lâu lâu viết tiếng việt cho cả nhà dễ đọc, nhưng mà viết tiếng việt thật sự khó diễn đạt quá, rặn ra được câu là tuột mood rồi. Một là đọc rất sến, hai là đọc rất dở hơi, ba là đọc lại thấy chảnh chảnh kiểu ta đây, không biết làm sao viết cho nó đúng tone cả. Với nữa từ nhỏ xài VNI nó quen rồi, giờ xài macbook đành ngậm ngùi học cách đánh của nó. Ngồi mổ cò bài này bằng viết được ba bài khác. Đó cũng là lý do mình thích viết bài tiếng anh hơn, hơn nữa mình cho rằng nếu các bạn có ý định tìm hiểu con đường này thì tiếng anh là một điều bắt buộc. Thật sự nếu bạn cảm thấy đọc tiếng anh lười quá chỉ thích đọc tiếng việt thì mình thành thực cho rằng bạn khó có thể đi đến cuối con đường bởi tin mình đi, bạn sẽ phải đọc cả trăm trang web, cả ngàn trang tư liệu trong hành trình của mình, dù có người giúp đỡ hay không. Chúc các bạn có đủ quyết tâm và dũng cảm theo đuổi con đường này. Nếu các bạn có thắc mắc, hay muốn mình viết thêm về chủ đề gì thì vui lòng email vào địa chỉ hannah@ddsjourney.com Hiện tại thấy mọi người đa phần đề nghị "how to study for NBDE" và "how to finance the journey" là chính. Đó sẽ là chủ đề tiếp theo cho blog sắp tới. Thân!