Finding Your Rhythm

It’s hard to believe we’re already heading into fall! The excitement of July and a new academic year has begun to settle, and by now, most of our first-year residents have made the transition into clinic. The days are getting busier, the cases more interesting, and hopefully the view through the microscope is starting to feel a little more familiar.

For our first-year residents, this is often when residency starts to feel real. You’re putting what you’ve learned into practice, developing your own routines, and realizing just how much there

still is to learn. Give yourself grace. Speed and confidence will come with experience. Focus on building good habits, asking questions, and learning something from every case.

For our returning residents, take a moment to recognize how far you’ve come. When a first-year asks you a question you remember asking yourself, embrace the opportunity to be a mentor.

Some of the most valuable lessons in residency come from the co-residents beside you.

August also brought us together in St. Louis for APICES 2026, and what an incredible weekend it was! We had an amazing turnout and were fortunate to learn from a truly gifted and knowledgeable group of speakers. Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make the meeting such a success. I hope you returned to your programs with new knowledge, new connections, and renewed excitement for our specialty. We hope to see many of you again at APICES 2027, August 20-21 in New Orleans!

As we head into fall, remember that your endodontic community extends far beyond your residency program or practice. Stay connected, seek mentorship, support one another, and continue finding opportunities to learn. For our new practitioners especially, graduation didn’t mark the end of that journey, it simply changed where and how the learning happens.

As always, the Resident and New Practitioner Committee is here to support you. If there’s something you’d like to see in PaperPoint, something you’d like to contribute, or an idea for how the RNPC can better serve our residents and new practitioners, I’d love to hear from you at PCarpenter.DDS@gmail.com.

Here’s to a productive fall, continued growth, and finding a little more confidence each time you sit down at the microscope.

Until next time,

Priscilla L. Carpenter, D.D.S., M.S.
Resident and New Practitioner Committee Chair Diplomate, American Board of Endodontics