PART 3: What keeps me going – DR OLIVER WALA

Dr. Wala’s passion for what he does is evident in the way he runs his clinic. He has heavily invested in technology, ensuring to keep up with the latest procedures and materials.

“You really must have an interest in dentistry to be a good dentist. You really need to be convicted and convinced that this is what you want to do,” he says, adding that he gets a lot of gratification from cosmetic dentistry – dental work that improves the appearance of teeth, gums and/or bite.

Aside from this, Dr. Wala takes servant leadership very seriously. The focus of his work is not based on himself as a service provider, but rather on his patients and giving them the best possible oral care that he can give.

Above and beyond the Hippocratic oath – an oath historically taken by physicians – Dr. Wala feels it is of the uttermost importance not to shift the focus to the service provider.

“When it comes to medicine, it is important to realize that it is not about the doctor but about the patient,” he says emphatically. But more importantly, he is strongly aligned with his faith and holds it dear in his personal and professional life.

This quality is seen so clearly in the way he speaks and the way he explains his life’s story.

“I am saved. I am a practicing Christian,” he so firmly declares before concluding: “My faith has helped me be more compassionate and to treat people the way I would like to be treated, but above all, it has given me a sense of ethics and morality that has kept me serving my patients.

I could say this is my ministry because it is an extension of me. I want what I do to reflect what I believe and that has always been my objective.”

PART 1: A dentist with passion to serve

PART 2:  How I began my dental career