TIP #137 – OHT Student Spotlight with Kaitlyn White: Thriving and Surviving Uni

Welcome to What I Wish I Knew by Dental Head Start. This is a podcast where we learn from people that have been there, made the mistakes, learnt the lessons and have developed into the accomplished dental professionals they are today.

It’s your weekly mentoring session.

Hosted by Christina Potestas 

Wow, we are well within the first semester this year and whatever part of our dental school journey we might be at, I think it would be pretty safe to say it’s only going to get harder before it gets easier at this stage. My guest in today’s episode is someone who has amassed over 1500 followers on social media by sharing her life as an OHT student and you can tell she’s a devoted one as she manages to share her oral health knowledge in such a way that would make the most anxious patient passionate about their smile. We caught up since wrapping up uni last year and talk about what we’re doing to thrive and survive another challenging year of school.

Key moments:

(0:00:02) – Kaitlyn’s journey to oral health therapy and current year/semester of study

(0:01:38) – Kaitlyn’s current feelings about university

(0:04:05) – What Kaitlyn enjoys about their degree so far and looks forward to

(0:04:15) – Something that surprised Kaitlyn about the degree

(0:06:19) – What Kaitlyn dislikes about university

(0:07:32) – How Kaitlyn plans to improve their experience this year compared to last

(0:09:34) – The role of university clubs and societies in providing additional support

(0:12:51) – What Kaitlyn hopes to achieve this year

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Kaitlyn White

Kaitlyn is currently a second year student studying oral health therapy at the University of Newcastle. She graduated from high school in 2021 and originally wanted to pursue nursing to become a paramedic. After one semester of nursing school, Kaitlyn realized it wasn’t the right fit for her. She then started working as a dental receptionist and assisting at a dental clinic, where she discovered her passion for oral health therapy. To gain experience, Kaitlyn completed a certificate in dental assisting and diploma in practice management. In her first attempt, she was accepted into the oral health therapy degree program at the University of Newcastle. When not studying, Kaitlyn enjoys socializing with friends, going to the beach, and participating in creative hobbies like crafting. She also serves as a social media manager for the university’s Oral Health Society (UNOHS) to help connect and support other OHT students.

You can follow Kaitlyn’s journey on Instagram & Tiktok @kaitlyn.oht

Kaitlyn is also the social media officer for the University of Newcastle Oral Health Society (@UNOHS)

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