Dr Neema’s secret to success lies in her mental strength, sense of belief and optimistic outlook towards her profession.

Dr Neema Shetty is the HOD and Professor of Periodontology in Pacific Dental College and Hospital. She has been elevated to this post for three years now. However, her journey in this field commenced in 1996 when she enrolled herself in the Bachelor of Dental Surgery course in Bengaluru. Neema, who hails from Bengaluru, was married in Udaipur and came here in 2002. It has been 19 years that she is here and she pursued her post-graduation from Pacific Dental College. She joined as a Senior Lecturer in Pacific itself after which her career in dentistry progressed well.

Since her school days, Neema had been a studious child and found Dentistry to be a lucrative option when she was in her 12th standard. Talking of hardships, Neema shares that keeping up with mental strength and a sense of belief in oneself can help overcome any difficulty. She shares that she had to take three years of break to study and found it difficult at that point in time, however, now she counts it as a blessing.

Neema takes inspiration from autobiographies and the real-life people who have achieved something in life and this is what keeps her going. Discussing COVID, Neema shares that she got to spend some time with her family which she enjoyed. In terms of finance, she didn’t face any hurdles since she was working and used to get a decent amount as salary. However, she always feared getting the infection since her profession involves working inside the mouth of patients and she could not ask them to wear masks while the surgery is being performed.

In terms of future opportunities in Dentistry, Dr Neema shares that Dentistry is a field wherein one gets the sense of being empowered and skilled and need not depend on anyone else, for instance, one can open their own clinic and slowly build it up. She says that in Dentistry one gets to learn new skills daily and help people relieve their toothache. Neema believes that a balance of education and experience with hands-on training in Dentistry comes along well. Though books are the basic foundation, Neema asserts that one needs to gain practical experience like giving an injection for which sound knowledge is essential.

If Neema were to fly in a time machine, she wouldn’t want to change anything since she has made all decisions by herself and stood with it. However, she would like to relive her student days when she used to be carefree and had not to think much about the future.

In her free time, Neema likes to listen to music, read books, indulge in physical activity and spend time with her family members.

In her message for the present generation, Neema shares that students should be able to identify their interests and proceed in that direction. For aspiring dentists, she says that though Dentistry is a part of medicine, it has more of an artistic work involved which requires practical training. Students who pursue it with full interest, mental strength and optimism can only excel at it, says Neema.

Lastly, she asserts the youth to believe in themselves and stick to the plan they have decided to take up and follow.