Very Dental Student: The Harland Hustle: Surviving and Thriving in Your First Years of Dentistry

Jun 23, 2025

Ask episode

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

In this episode, Mohamed welcomes back Dr. Kevin Harland, a recent graduate from the OU College of Dentistry, for a candid conversation about the realities of life just two years out of dental school. Dr. Harland shares a powerful personal story about his daughter's health journey, which profoundly reshaped his perspective on his career and life. He then offers invaluable advice for fourth-year dental students, covering everything from tackling board exams and the importance of gaining hands-on clinical experience to the nuances of treatment planning and material selection. Dr. Harland also discusses the benefits of joining a professional study club and shares what motivates him daily as he navigates the challenges and rewards of his growing career.

A New Perspective: Dr. Harland opens up about his daughter's recent major surgery and recovery, a life-altering experience that helped him prioritize his family and find a deeper meaning in his work.
Board Exam Tips: For fourth-year students, Dr. Harland advises using question banks like Bootcamp for the INBDE and getting comfortable with plastic teeth for the clinical boards, emphasizing that these exams don't define your career.
Fourth-Year Focus: He recommends that fourth-year students should start thinking seriously about their desired work environment by shadowing in various practices (DSO, private practice, public health). Clinically, the focus should be on getting comfortable with the handpiece and experimenting with different materials and techniques in the safe environment of the dental school.
Clinical Growth: Dr. Harland's biggest areas of growth have been in the efficiency and confidence of his handpiece skills and in the complexities of treatment planning, especially when dealing with difficult cases.
Navigating Difficult Conversations: He emphasizes the importance of under-promising and over-delivering, and having honest conversations with patients about the possibility of different treatment outcomes.
The Value of Community: Dr. Harland shares his positive experience with a local study club, highlighting the camaraderie and the invaluable access to a collective mind of experienced clinicians.
Materials Matter: He discusses his material selection for partial and full crowns, weighing the pros and cons of materials like EMAX, Tetric CAD, and Zirconia based on the clinical situation.
Daily Motivation: Dr. Harland finds motivation in providing for his family, the satisfaction of creating excellent restorations, and the positive feedback from patients who recognize his care and dedication.

Join the Very Dental Facebook group using the password "Timmerman," Hornbrook" or "McWethy," "Papa Randy" or "Lipscomb!"

The Very Dental Podcast network is and will remain free to download. If you’d like to support the shows you love at Very Dental then show a little love to the people that support us!

Crazy Dental has everything you need from cotton rolls to equipment and everything in between and the best prices you’ll find anywhere! If you head over to verydentalpodcast.com/crazy and use coupon code “VERYDENTAL10” you’ll get another 10% off your order! Go save yourself some money and support the show all at the same time!

The Wonderist Agency is basically a one stop shop for marketing your practice and your brand. From logo redesign to a full service marketing plan, the folks at Wonderist have you covered! Go check them out at verydentalpodcast.com/wonderist!

Enova Illumination makes the very best in loupes and headlights, including their new ergonomic angled prism loupes! They also distribute loupe mounted cameras and even the amazing line of Zumax microscopes! If you want to help out the podcast while upping your magnification and headlight game, you need to head over to verydentalpodcast.com/enova to see their whole line of products!

CAD-Ray offers the best service on a wide variety of digital scanners, printers, mills and even their very own browser based design software, Clinux! CAD-Ray has been a huge supporter of the Very Dental Podcast Network and I can tell you that you’ll get no better service on everything digital dentistry than the folks from CAD-Ray. Go check them out at verydentalpodcast.com/CADRay!