Dental Hygienist applying to dental school

[rdhddsneb]

Please help!!
I am currently a registered dental hygienist and have been employed full time for the 2 yrs post graduation. I am looking into completing requirements for and applying to dental school.

My question is regarding the length of time it will take to complete the pre-req courses, study for and take DAT, apply to dental school. I have just started looking into classes needed and the process. Through the D.school's website that I will be applying to, it looks as though I am missing 4 classes. O Chem, Inorganic Chem, Physics, Biology.

From the information gathered thus far, I am thinking it will take a minimum of 2 years to fulfill requirements and apply. I plan to register for classes this upcoming fall. Due to the 4 classes I have to take being challenging science classes with labs, I don't forsee it being possible to complete them all in 1 year, along with taking the dat and applying? If I split the 4 classes up over 2 school years/the summer session in between, I could work part time as a hygienist. However, would this conflict with me not having all required courses completed by application time in the second year? Or would not having the 4 classes completed leave me unprepared for the DAT? (Im assuming I would definately need to have completed organic chem and biology as I am aware those are two sections on the DAT) And when would I need to be prepared to take the DAT in the next 2 years? Next summer? Any input on the logistics of my time frame/ course of action is appreciated!!!!

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[Canard]

From my experience, if you are not full-time student, doing 4 classes (actually it is 8 classes since Bio = bio 1 + bio 2, etc) within 1 year is not possible.

I am assuming you have not taken inorganic chem 1 or 2?? It is not requirement in hygiene school?

Over the 2 years (assuming you are part-time student), I suggest taking physics and inorganic chemistry first. This is because inorganic chem is pre-req for organic chem and DAT does not have physics section so you don't have to retain the knowledge. Then taking biology over summer and continue to take the upper level bio class help to immerse into biology until the time you have to take DAT. I highly recommend taking organic chemistry at last minute so that knowledge from Ochem is fresh in mind. (if you are full-time student, it is possible to shrink it into 1 year. It is doable but a lot of work.)

I am not sure exact date for the first day for application cycle but you should have at least 5 weeks since the winter semester ends to study for DAT full-time.

This is just what I would do, hope this helps.

 

[HillsNayyr]

Just so you know Inorganic chem usually means gen chem. Inorganic is a really high level chem class that you're really not going to ever take unless you're a chemistry major.

 

[SeattleRDH]

It took me 2 years. I started summer quarter 2009 w/ gen chem and physics. I started o chem winter quarter 2010 and bio spring 2010. I also took 2 quarters of biochem, 1 quarter micro, and statistics. Took the DAT Feb 2011, submitted app last week. Expect the prereqs to be much harder than those for hygiene school.

 

[Msmouth]

Please help!!
I am currently a registered dental hygienist and have been employed full time for the 2 yrs post graduation. I am looking into completing requirements for and applying to dental school.

My question is regarding the length of time it will take to complete the pre-req courses, study for and take DAT, apply to dental school. I have just started looking into classes needed and the process. Through the D.school's website that I will be applying to, it looks as though I am missing 4 classes. O Chem, Inorganic Chem, Physics, Biology.

From the information gathered thus far, I am thinking it will take a minimum of 2 years to fulfill requirements and apply. I plan to register for classes this upcoming fall. Due to the 4 classes I have to take being challenging science classes with labs, I don't forsee it being possible to complete them all in 1 year, along with taking the dat and applying? If I split the 4 classes up over 2 school years/the summer session in between, I could work part time as a hygienist. However, would this conflict with me not having all required courses completed by application time in the second year? Or would not having the 4 classes completed leave me unprepared for the DAT? (Im assuming I would definately need to have completed organic chem and biology as I am aware those are two sections on the DAT) And when would I need to be prepared to take the DAT in the next 2 years? Next summer? Any input on the logistics of my time frame/ course of action is appreciated!!!!

I'm also and RDH
Do you have your bachelor's? I would definitely make that part of the whole plan, otherwise you won't be as competitive.
I am finishing up my bachelor's over the next 2 years but will apply next summer. I am taking Gen Chem 2 this summer then full time this fall. Physics is not on the DAT so I'm leaving that for my last year to finish before dental school begins (hopefully with an acceptance).

 

[rdhddsneb]

Yes I have a bachelor degree in Dental hygiene. I have taken Chemistry, but it was intro level from freshman yr of undergrad..Would I need to take more gen chem?
Thanks for all the responses!

 

[bing12]

Yes I have a bachelor degree in Dental hygiene. I have taken Chemistry, but it was intro level from freshman yr of undergrad..Would I need to take more gen chem?
Thanks for all the responses!

check with ur school on that, usually they will be able to tell you whether it was a pre-med/pre-health track chemistry, or just an basic intro chemistry for all ( which is prob what you took, i know nursing students at my school take the basic class). if its the basic, i believe you must retake the gen chemistry classes. just speak to a pre-health advisor.

 

[amya]

I think you need general chemistry 1 and 2. Definitely not an intro course. You should talk to the dental admissions person of the school you are most interested in. My dental admissions director told me i didnt need to take more biology since my first semester of hygiene had classes that would've counted towards the biology requirement. And i just had one sem under my belt! You have a hygiene degree so you should really ask about that. Unfortunately i met with her after i spent $2500 on a 4 credit hour bio class that i might not have needed Regardless, you still need your physics and chems. I m not sure why you should do physics before your DAT. I took both my physics requirements after i took the DAT. So really for the DAT and subsequently for the application you should have your bio, gen chems and o.chems done. I dont even think you need ochem 2 to do good on the DAT portion of organic but its definietly better if you do. 2 yrs seems about right though.

 

[SeattleRDH]

Yes I have a bachelor degree in Dental hygiene. I have taken Chemistry, but it was intro level from freshman yr of undergrad..Would I need to take more gen chem?
Thanks for all the responses!

Oh yes, you'll need more gen Chem. The prereqs for dental school are at a much higher level than those for hygiene school. You could get a DAT study guide and thumb through it to see what you should get ready for.

Also, being an RDH is an advantage ONLY after your stats get you past the first cut. You will need to be pulling mostly A's with some B's for all of these courses plus aim for a 20 on the DAT. It's easier said than done. The more upper level sciences you have under your belt the better.