Grades. We live and die by them throughout our academic journeys. And it starts right out of the gate during that tender time we call kindergarten. Yep, right then and there it happens: we’re labeled. By a combination of our peers and our teachers we’re either lumped into the smart kid group…or the other group…because of our grades. It’s really easy to be moved out of the smart kid group but it’s nearly impossible to ever move into the smart kid group. And once we are assigned to a group we all start to look at each other differently: “oh yeah, there go the smarty pants” and vice versa. Often the two groups find it hard to intermix and socialize together. The two groups usually remain segregated throughout their entire precollege journey right through to graduation from high school. And within the smart kid group we find competition.
And throughout our precollege years we are constantly reminded that grades are everything. Grades mean college. Better grades mean a better college. A better college means a better job. And a better job means a better income. And people with better incomes…well, you do the math. However, once in college some folks seem to finally relax just a little bit because they made it to college and they’re on their way to their career.
However, those who need college as a means to be accepted into graduate school, well, you probably already know the story. Better precollege grades mean a better college. Better college grades mean a better graduate program. Better graduate degrees mean a better income…and so on and so forth.
Dental students work damn forking hard to get into dental school. And making it into dental school is such an incredible accomplishment and reward for soooo many years of hard work and sacrifice. But right out of the gate starts the whole grade shit show again. People become segregated. People get labeled. People become competitive. People do silly things in the name of grades. And grades can lead folks down dark paths of horrible stress, anxiety, and depression (even to the point of suicide). Grades can and do make generations of emotionally scarred dentists. And to what end? Can there be a better way?
Dentistry and dental school can, in my opinion, do without segregation, labeling, and competition. I may be a bit of a socialist (yeah, more on that a different day) but we’re all training to do the very same things in order to serve the public. In other words, we are a profession: we’re not trying (or at least we shouldn’t be trying) to put our colleague down the street out of business. We are a profession: we are a group of professionals coming together with a common goal to serve (…and to try to earn an income). We are a profession: we should be somewhat united in our ambitions and beliefs when it comes to the ideals of the profession.
But, in my opinion, it doesn’t seem to run that way. Shouldn’t it be enough to be accepted into dental school and become a doctor working as a team with other doctors? Well, things get a bit murky. We have good folks who wish to specialize. Unfortunately those folks are judged by the very same thing that we’ve all been measured against since kindergarten: grades. Our system of grading forces those who wish to specialize to continue fighting for grades. And competition can be fierce. And competition can be polarizing. And competition can be segregating. And competition can make people act in ways…well, you do math.
I’m not a specialist so I want to make sure I’m not just doing a sour grapes thing here: I graduated with honors; I was going to be a pediatric specialist but withdrew my application right at match because of my having to attend to family needs. I even won the University of Minnesota Pediatric Dental Award…and I boycotted my awards ceremony. Why? I was disgusted by the competition fostered by my dental school (you know which one it is). I was disgusted by the lavish awards given to the grade getters in my class. I was disgusted by my dental school’s fostering a culture that promoted specialty over general dentistry. I was disgusted by HOW FORKING HARD my friends worked to just be able to graduate and they got NOTHING. It’s as if becoming a general dentist was a consolation prize.
Let me tell ya, our profession thrives because of general dentists. And being a general dentist ain’t a bad place to be (seen any recent US News & World Reports about forking good jobs to have?). And please don’t get me wrong: I’ve been around some great specialists and some great people who went on to become specialists. That said, the opposite is also true. And I think we need to remember that specialists work to SUPPORT general dentists. Specialists can not work unless given work by a general dentist (it’s called a referral). And the specialists that I have CHOSEN to work with have all been OUTSTANDING SUPPORT for my practice. That said, I have chosen to NOT work with some specialists who could or would not support my mission with MY patients. And it makes you wonder: what kind of people were those specialists before they were specialists? Did grades and competition play into anything related to the formative processes that led some specialists to their station in life? Specialists: doctors with magical dental super powers who can exercise those powers only in a supportive manner when called upon by a general dentist (it ain’t about the jerk with magical super powers cuz that docta ain’t gettin’ my bizness).
So, maybe there’s a better way. Maybe there’s a way that we can all play together nicely. Perhaps there’s a way that we can come together as a team for the greater good of society. Maybe there’s a way that we can support and reward hard work free from the debilitating, segregating, and down right nasty effects that arise from grades. Is it time to rid ourselves of grades? Is it time to recognize that it’s DAMN FORKING COOL TO BE A DENTIST AND WE DON’T NEED A FORKING GRADE TO SUPPORT THAT FEELING OF COOLNESS??? And remember: I HAVE NEVER HAD A PATIENT ASK ME ABOUT MY GRADES IN DENTAL SCHOOL!!!
DDS…’nuf said.
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