U of A Dental Students’ Association President
Jason Adam is ready for a career in dentistry
As Jason Adam peers into someone’s mouth, he can’t help but think he has the best job in the world.
The fourth-year dental student finishes his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree at the University of Alberta this spring and will begin his general practice residency through the hospital dentistry program in July.
“If you love interacting with people this is a phenomenal job,” explains Jason during a recent interview.
In a day’s work, Jason might build relationships with patients, explore the world of business, apply biology, chemistry and physics concepts, and work precisely within divisions of millimetres to complete dental work. With further training, dental specialists can even explore their creative side with cosmetic surgery for jaws and cheek bones.
“It’s such a good blend of everything and I feel like it’s unbelievably rewarding,” says Jason. “It’s shocking how there is two trillion things to know about such a small area.”
“It’s not a typical nine to five.”
“It’s such a good blend of everything and I feel like it’s unbelievably rewarding.
It’s shocking how there is two trillion things to know about such a small area.”
Jason’s own first experience with a dentist is etched clearly in his memory. He needed two teeth pulled as a four-year-old and he can still recall the dentist and sitting in her clinic’s chair. It’s the pain he felt at night before getting treatment that sticks with him and how it was that visit that made it all go away.
Today, he’s a booster for all things dental as he wraps up his year as president of the U of A Dental Students’ Association, a student-led group that connects more than 280 dentistry and hygiene students.
His primary role as president is connecting students with faculty. The group also organizes and fundraises for various social and mental health events for students throughout the year. In addition, some of the money raised helps provide free dental care for charitable organizations such as Access For All Dentistry.
It’s been a busy but rewarding time serving with the Dental Students’ Association (Jason spent all four years with the group) and he values the time faculty invests in making the school a positive learning environment.
“We’re very lucky here at the U of A because the quality of your dental education really comes down to who the teachers are in those years that you were a student,” he emphasizes.
“I honestly think it’s a bit of a golden age at this exact moment. The current teachers are tremendously compassionate and good teachers. They’re very educated, very knowledgeable and they really revolutionize [dentistry].
“The faculty is always there to help out, they will never, never shut down your ideas.”
— Lorena Franchuk
This article appears in the March/April 2024 edition of the ADA Connection magazine.