Mentor Agreement Blog

October 4, 2024

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Being in interventions, I have had the amazing opportunity to be on the search for a mentor. This mentor will be by my side throughout this year to help me with anything I need. I have interviewed and chosen Dr. Brian Oliver to be my mentor. He is an orthodontist and has his own office right here in Mobile. I was able to interview him to get to know a better understanding of orthodontics and to know him better as a person. Through this interview, I was able to learn that Dr. Oliver is very passionate about his career and really enjoys helping others. The very first question that was asked was “What inspired you to become an orthodontist?” He was very quick to respond with “I had braces in middle school and my teeth were really bad and I did not like to smile so when I got through with braces, I did not mind smiling, I liked my teeth at that point. I thought it was really cool that someone could do that for me so I decided when I was in 9th grade that I wanted to be an orthodontist.” Through his own experiences he grew a love for oral hygiene and love to help others because of that experience. From talking with him I learned that to be an orthodontist “you need to be very good with your hands, being able to do things in the mouth, and you need to have a good understanding of science.” One thing about me is that I love everything about science and many people do not realize this field is full of science in every way possible. That also leads to the biggest misconceptian of this field is the relationship of science and orthodontics. The field of orthodontics has changed over the years since he first started. Technology has been the biggest advancement in orthodontics, everything has gone completely digital. “We do not use physical impressions anymore because of technology.” The greatest advice I took from Dr. Oliver is to “stay committed” to my goals no matter what other people have to say about it.