Dental School Class Schedule

[PrivatePractice5]

Hello everyone,

I was just wondering what the typical dental student class schedule looked like specifically in terms of what time classes start and what time they finish. You could speak on your class times as well. If anyone wants to post a screenshot of their current schedule I'd love to see it. Preferably D1 and D2 schedules if possible. Also, I'd love to see one for a D1 attending NYU as that is a possible school for me. Thank you.

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[zToothinator]

UNC D1 Fall semester, we were in class pretty much back to back
Monday: 8-4 (usually finished by 3)
Tuesday: 8-4
Wednesday: 8-5
Thursday: 8-5
Friday: 8-12

 

[PrivatePractice5]

UNC D1 Fall semester, we were in class pretty much back to back
Monday: 8-4 (usually finished by 3)
Tuesday: 8-4
Wednesday: 8-5
Thursday: 8-5
Friday: 8-12

Thank you so much! Just trying to compare schedules to see if it's worth commuting.

 

[artist2022]

UCLA:
D1 Fall:

D1 Winter:

D1 Spring:

D2 Summer:

D2 Fall/Current:

Things change week by week. I'm fairly close to home, but I would highly recommend against commuting unless it'd be less than an hour each way (if even that tbh...). D1 and D2 are filled with so much lab time and soooo many projects and other didactic classes, and commuting on top of all of it could and probably will drain you, and you might burn out quick.

 

[TanMan]

Thank you so much! Just trying to compare schedules to see if it's worth commuting.

I think you're missing the bigger picture: mandatory vs elective classes. Even if your schedule was full from 8-5 every day, but none of them were mandatory, then it doesn't really count because you don't have to be there. If you had to choose a school, this should be a big factor in your decision.

If you rely on notes, either find a class note taker or if you're on a 10 week quarter rotation, find 9 people who want to do 1 week rotations so it frees up 9 weeks out of the quarter. I don't think you should commute, since it's a major burden on the ones that did it in my school. Thankfully, our classes were not mandatory, so most of the traveling slackers (or on campus slackers) just showed up when needed.

And yes, there is the implication that most of dentistry can probably be self-taught and/or self study.

UCLA:
D1 Fall:
View attachment 287847
D1 Winter:
View attachment 287850
D1 Spring:
View attachment 287852
D2 Summer:
View attachment 287853
D2 Fall/Current:
View attachment 287857

Things change week by week. I'm fairly close to home, but I would highly recommend against commuting unless it'd be less than an hour each way (if even that tbh...). D1 and D2 are filled with so much lab time and soooo many projects and other didactic classes, and commuting on top of all of it could and probably will drain you, and you might burn out quick.

Commutes are a killer for a lot of people, especially at UCLA. If you're coming from Simi Valley, Chatsworth or up north, you're screwed unless you get in by 5-6am. They would have to take into context the mode of transportation, going against or with traffic, and class timing. If the commute is going to take away from valuable patient/studying time, probably not the best to have a long daily commute. However, some people thrive on a rigid schedule, some will wither and die from having such a rigid schedule based on commute times.

Are you in second year yet? If you are, ask your 4th year to do a bunch of 2nd/4th year procedures with you (if it still exists). Free restorative points without doing anything.

 

[artist2022]

Are you in second year yet? If you are, ask your 4th year to do a bunch of 2nd/4th year procedures with you (if it still exists). Free restorative points without doing anything.

The end of this quarter is our competency exam for direct/indirect so after that we can do our 2nd/4th yr projects next quarter.

 

[TanMan]

The end of this quarter is our competency exam for direct/indirect so after that we can do our 2nd/4th yr projects next quarter.

Awesome, do 2nd/4th year implants. My 2nd year ended up with 400 points just by watching

 

[PrivatePractice5]

UCLA:
D1 Fall:
View attachment 287847
D1 Winter:
View attachment 287850
D1 Spring:
View attachment 287852
D2 Summer:
View attachment 287853
D2 Fall/Current:
View attachment 287857

Things change week by week. I'm fairly close to home, but I would highly recommend against commuting unless it'd be less than an hour each way (if even that tbh...). D1 and D2 are filled with so much lab time and soooo many projects and other didactic classes, and commuting on top of all of it could and probably will drain you, and you might burn out quick.

Thank you for sharing this! As well as your input. I appreciate it.

 

[princeafrica]

D1 here, I commute 30min.

Fall 2019: http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/c...s/2019 Fall - Didactic Schedule_7-24-2019.pdf

Spring 2020: http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/c...ring - Didactic Schedule FINAL 11.20.2019.pdf

You can see D1-D4 schedules here

 

[Quinque]

Here's my 2 schedules from first semester D1 at Texas A&M, we finish some classes/start some new ones mid-way through semester (some classes go semester long). So basically our schedule changes halfway through semester

 

[ToothJockey]

Is attendance mandatory for lectures?

 

[artist2022]

Is attendance mandatory for lectures?

Depends on the school. For UCLA, some yes and some no.

 

[ToothJockey]

Depends on the school. For UCLA, some yes and some no.

For classes that have attendance, is it clickers/questions during the lecture like it was in college?

 

[artist2022]

For classes that have attendance, is it clickers/questions during the lecture like it was in college?

Here it's attendance quizzes online and sign-in sheets, and professors noting your attendance and participation during case-based learning sessions.

 

[PreDentTechySon]

And yes, there is the implication that most of dentistry can probably be self-taught and/or self study.

This is very true for much of the didactic classes. If you have the option of studying/attending lectures electronically at home, I would recommend it. Class attendance was not always mandatory and our lectures were recorded most of the time. It was amazing to watch them at 1.5-2.0x speed and get the important information for exams. Use your time at school for things you can’t do at home (i.e. sim clinic, lab work, seeing patients your 3rd & 4th years etc)

 

[zToothinator]

For classes that have attendance, is it clickers/questions during the lecture like it was in college?

For UNC some are required some aren’t. Those that are required have a sign in sheet or use PollEverywhere for in class questions.

 

[TanMan]

Attendance quizzes are typically bypassed just by taking the quiz and leaving right after through the backdoor. If you're going to have someone sign you in, on a sign in a sheet, please remember to have them spell your name correctly (true story) and use different color inks for each person. We had an overzealous professor that did "handwriting" analysis because everyone signed in but only 15 people physically showed up.

This is very true for much of the didactic classes. If you have the option of studying/attending lectures electronically at home, I would recommend it. Class attendance was not always mandatory and our lectures were recorded most of the time. It was amazing to watch them at 1.5-2.0x speed and get the important information for exams. Use you’re time at school for things you can’t do at home (i.e. sim clinic, lab work, seeing patients your 3rd & 4th years etc)

Exactly, you got better things to do with your time. Time management is key, and not every class is going to make you a better clinician.

 

[setdoc7]

Dental education needs to change. These discussions point out that traditional lectures are antiquated, that distance learning is preferable, and that dental students will bypass most accountability systems when they are able to. Nothing wrong with sitting at home and learning at your leisure and own pace. Unfortunately, the schools refuse to pick up on that. Further, instead of boring professors we could have some out of work actors (not hard to find in LA and NYC) do the video lectures. They would probably be more engaging.

 

[fit2]

Dental education needs to change. These discussions point out that traditional lectures are antiquated, that distance learning is preferable, and that dental students will bypass most accountability systems when they are able to. Nothing wrong with sitting at home and learning at your leisure and own pace. Unfortunately, the schools refuse to pick up on that. Further, instead of boring professors we could have some out of work actors (not hard to find in LA and NYC) do the video lectures. They would probably be more engaging.

agree with this so much! it's so rigid and useless. just memorize and spit then forget. seems like they could care less if you knew anything or not. dentistry is definitely doing but I think you should still have an integrated understanding of phys/path and also a more integrated understanding of all the dental classes cause they seem so random

 

[schmoob]

Dental education needs to change. These discussions point out that traditional lectures are antiquated, that distance learning is preferable, and that dental students will bypass most accountability systems when they are able to. Nothing wrong with sitting at home and learning at your leisure and own pace. Unfortunately, the schools refuse to pick up on that. Further, instead of boring professors we could have some out of work actors (not hard to find in LA and NYC) do the video lectures. They would probably be more engaging.

Don’t get me started on clinic floor faculty. Most of them are retirees who don’t need the money and are mainly there to socialize. If it was production based there would be incentive to really help the students complete more procedures and would attract more of a younger faculty demographic that can keep up with the students.

 

[setdoc7]

The faculty for the most part are not trained as teachers or mentors. It drives me crazy as well.

 

[2TH MVR]

It costs money to have REAL teachers. Last I heard .... Limited budgets necessary to keep costs down means low teacher salaries.

 

[OrphanageCaretaker]

Here's USC's schedule. Midterm week versus another typical week. Monday mornings we have PBL until 12, then Cariology lab from 1-5. Tuesday is Cariology lecture from 1-3pm. On Wednesdays and Thursdays we might have rotations or modules that vary throughout the trimester. Other than that Wednesday is Morphology lecture and lab. Thursday we have days off, but a lot of people are usually in Sim lab practicing rubber dams, class 1's etc. On Friday's we have the second PBL of the week. The trimester schedule is very do-able here, finals get very hectic (but that's at every school)