DR GARIMA MALHOTRA

My story is of a small-town girl who belongs to a village background, is from a middle-class family, and is living a dream of her grandfather. I remember my grandfather used to say ‘Tujhe to main doctor banaunga’ as I was sincere, hardworking, and a dedicated child. When I was in the eighth standard I lost my grandfather and that incident shocked me down. After I recovered mentally, I decided to become a doctor to fulfill his dream and in a way to keep his memories stay close to my heart forever.

I became more studious and all the hard work paid off with me having to choose either to pursue MBBS from Bangalore or BDS from Panchkula. Those days my mom was not well and she wanted me to study close to home so I dropped the option of doing MBBS and joined BDS. I still remember, during my first year of BDS I was not interested in the curriculum since I could not join MBBS and did not study properly. My score was not up to my expectations and was a setback for me so I decided to embrace whatever destiny has chosen for me.

Her keen interest in surgery couldn’t hold her back from pursuing a fellowship program (FICOI-US) in implantology. She is also a certified healthcare provider in the Basic Life Support program conducted by the American Heart Association.

I composed myself and remembered my grandfather’s dream to get back on track. I started developing interest again and graduated in BDS with distinction. What next !!! I did not stop then n there and cracked the All India PG entrance exam with 21st Rank (all over India), joined MDS in Govt Dental College Amritsar in Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, and passed with distinction in 2012.
During my post-graduation days, I told my mentor that I want to learn everything in my subject and to do every case that is mentioned in books. He said to me ‘Garima just stay the way you are, keep your passion alive, never follow the money and one-day money will follow you’. His words touched my heart.

After my post-graduation, I joined ITS Dental College, Hospital, and Research Centre in Greater Noida as a senior lecturer. I had to work in the evening so started to contact various clinics for consultation. I would admit it was difficult in the beginning to get consultations but gradually I started getting associated with clinics one after the other by mouth publicity among doctors.
My hunger and willingness to learn more took me to the School of Dental Implants, Hyderabad in 2013 though Implantology was not related to my field of specialization. I completed the Fellowship of the International Congress of Oral Implants (FICOI).