Thoughts on Howard

I got an acceptance to Howard University, but I haven't been seeing much activity about it in the pre-dental forums. I just wanted to know if any current dental students attending Howard had any thoughts/opinions about the school? I know that choosing the right dental school where you'll get the best education is a very important decision that will affect the rest of your life. I've been getting a lot of mixed responses from my dentist and some people that actually attended Howard. Howard is an older school that is probably not as technologically advanced as other schools (such as not being paperless and not digital). Any feedback would be helpful for me as well as other pre-dents thinking of attending Howard in August, thanks!

Talk to students there and those that have graduated. I graduated from Howard, and there were things I liked, and things I didn't like. Some depts there are better than others. I liked the ortho dept and perio depts the best; mostly because of how they were ran. But there were other depts I didn't like. No matter if you attend Howard or not, it is a good idea to pursue post graduate training. There is only so much you can learn in dental school. All the best.

One of the dentists I assist went to Howard, I think he overall liked the experience but didn't enjoy some other things. For instance, finding your own patients and the neighborhood its in (his car was broken into 2 times). I haven't talked to him about it in over a year so I don't remember the particulars other than that.

I've worked with two Howard grads, spoken with several people who worked with Howard grads. Clinical skills are not as strong at as other graduates from other schools. Perhaps I've/we've just seen the very bottom of the Howard graduates. Of course, you could graduate from anywhere and be horrible clinically. It's mostly a matter of motivation.

Originally Posted by browncrack

I've worked with two Howard grads, spoken with several people who worked with Howard grads. Clinical skills are not as strong at as other graduates from other schools. Perhaps I've/we've just seen the very bottom of the Howard graduates. Of course, you could graduate from anywhere and be horrible clinically. It's mostly a matter of motivation.

The Dentist I was talking about is actually pretty good. He does pretty much everything in our office aside from major surgery (full bony 3rds) and ortho, but thats mainly because the office owner/senior dentist doesn't let him.

The school doesn't make the clinician but the clinician him/her self. Since there are varying degrees to motivation then there will be varying degrees of skill sets.