“THE SKY’S THE LIMIT,” says Dr. Jessica Melnikov, ’24, DMD, about getting the most out of a Temple Dental education. Currently an orthodontic resident, she notes that by doing more than what was required at Temple Dental, she graduated feeling very confident and well prepared.
Sometimes, appreciation for a program hits you most strongly when you’ve left it. For Dr. Jessica Melnikov, an orthodontic resident at the University of Colorado, she realizes now more than ever how much confidence, compassion, and clinical mastery Temple Dental gave her.
“I knew it was great when I was there,” she reflects. “But now that I’m in a different school, I see how much Temple Dental does that other schools don’t. I’m like, wow, it’s just 10,000 times better!”
Continuing, she says, “It’s absolutely whatever you make of it. If you want to see 100 patients, you can. There’s no limit to how much you can learn or do. It’s the biggest thing I loved about Temple Dental clinically.”
While working with about 120 patients, Melnikov says she had endless opportunities to constantly learn and grow. “When I finished,” she says, “I had done every single procedure, way more than the minimum. So I was super confident and ready for residency.”
Grateful for the program structure
Commenting on how the structure of Temple Dental’s program prepared her so well, Melnikov is full of praise. “I loved that when we got to clinic, we had everything in our back pocket. We already knew everything we needed to know. Before working with every new patient, I was able to study the night before from notes I took the previous two years. They were so comprehensive that I didn’t feel like I was guessing.”
But if she had questions, she notes that the faculty was ready to help. “On the clinic floor, we had great mentors, the best of the best,” she recalls. “If I had a patient and didn’t know what I was doing, they would be right there with me, explaining everything. They were available to me nonstop, willing to teach.”
A difficult choice
Asked why she chose orthodontics as her specialty, Melnikov has a bit of a surprising answer. “I was kind of all over the place. I really liked everything. I couldn’t choose. I fell in love with general dentistry and all of the specialties. Yet, I chose ortho because that had been my initial dream from the age of 10.”
She explains: “I got my braces then and thought what a great job Dr. Gemmi, my orthodontist, has. He’s always so nice and happy. He’s jumping from chair to chair, meeting so many people, seeing so many kids grow up, and making a difference at the same time.” However, Melnikov adds, “Even after I become an orthodontist, I’m still going to try to do some general work here and there.”
That’s because before her residency, she had worked as a temp in dental offices for three months. In one practice, she prepped four or five crowns a day, many more than at Temple Dental. “I hadn’t realized how much I had learned,” she says.
She enjoyed the work and heard reviews of her hand skills that went beyond “excellent” to “incredible.” When she left the temp jobs behind, she missed that area of dentistry and still does. “I would be sad to give it up,” she remarks.
“I knew it was great when I was there,” she reflects. “But now that I’m in a different school, I see how much Temple Dental does that other schools don’t. I’m like, wow, it’s just 10,000 times better!”