Variety is the spice of life for dentist

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Dr. Ron Martin likes being his own boss. In fact, that was one of reasons why he chose a career in dentistry.

"When you're your own boss, you can set your own hours, you can work when you want to, hire who you want to. There's a lot of flexibility. If there's certain events or things happening, you can schedule around it," said Martin.

A member of the Fond-Du-Lac Denesuline First Nation, Martin was the first First Nations student to graduate from the University in Saskatchewan. That was in 1990.

Martin did not always set his sights on dentistry.

"I didn't give it consideration probably until about third- or fourth-year university. I think what helped is I took both the natural science classes and social sciences classes, so more doors were open. I was considering law and then I was looking at medicine."

After doing some research in careers in health sciences and talking to other students, Martin found that a career in dentistry was attractive in many ways. It offered a doctor's status and the opportunity to work with his hands. Being able to spend time with family was another aspect that appealed to Martin.

Martin was one of the few Aboriginal students in university at the time. Fortunately, Martin received plenty of support from both his peers.

"I was able to run into a lot of students in university and make new friends and that was a means of support, where the First Nations students were in the same boat. Most of us come from the reserves and we developed our support mechanism. We all had the same goals of getting a degree, get through university and so I think that helped," said Martin. "It was difficult being the first First Nations students going through there. A lot of the other students were supportive, a lot professors. It was a fairly good environment overall. You get the occasional remarks here and there about First Nations that were derogatory. You always run into a person or two that will have those comments."

Martin was born and raised in Uranium City, and saw university as a chance to expand his horizons and explore his options.

"Where I grew up, it was a mining community, so eventually I thought I might come back to work in the mines like pretty much what everybody else does. I figured I am going to try university for a year, give it my best shot. If it doesn't work out, we'll go from there," Martin said.

Ron Martin credits his parents for much of his success because of the importance they put on education.

"If anything the influence is from my parents. My mom is in the health area and my dad worked in the mines. They've always encouraged us to get an education and education was the key to bettering yourself and having a better life overall. We were instilled at an early age about the importance of education and also having a work ethic of pulling your own weight, being able to do something positive."

Martin said that young people who are considering a career in dentistry should start planning their courses in high school.

"Make sure you have the required science classes because a lot of students, once they graduate, they don't realize there are a lot of prerequisites that are required to get into certain programs and they end up having to take it after they graduate high school," said Martin. "So it almost starts at Grade 9, 10, that you need these science prerequisites, and really work and stick with it. I find there were many times that I felt like quitting, probably within a week of my whole program. It can be overwhelming sometimes. It's a test of your overall mental ability to know that you can do it and I think that's part of the test. It seems that some of these professional colleges push you. They want to see that you can get through it and handle the mental aspects of it as well and I think that's what they really look at, someone that's really committed and have the desire to do it."

Martin opened his own practice, called Dene Dental located n Fort Qu'Appelle, Sask., in 1995.