by Dr. Manu Dua Dr. Manu Dua graduated from the University of British Columbia in 2012 and opened his own private practice in Calgary, Alberta, in 2016. He sold the practice in 2020. It took a life-changing diagnosis for this doctor to consider a life beyond dentistry-and he says he couldn't be happier F or every dentist who's deeply and passionately in love with their profession, there's a plethora of dentists who can't wait for the day they get to retire their handpieces and run out of the dental office, never to be seen or heard from again. That's something few will admit, because who'd like to admit that they squandered almost eight years in school-and hundreds of thousands of dollars in tuition and student loan debt-only to be guaranteed to be perpetually miserable? I call this the " professional pursuit of unhappiness. " This is the forgotten and lost segment of our colleagues, because not only is it hard to share your displeasure but the minute you do so, you're often downplayed by perennially happy colleagues who can't wait to wake up to the smell of burned enamel in the morning. Then you're left wondering whether you're the single loser who can't appreciate the gifts of this fine profession or your colleague who came back from a course after blowing thousands of dollars to finance the latest dental CE guru's yacht is from a different planet. dentaltown.com \\ MARCH 2021 DT0321_Dua_Leaving_MM.indd 67 67 2/18/21 4:58 PMhttp://www.dentaltown.com