even as "JUST A GENERAL DENTIST" you can do almost all the oral surgery you want.
Well, you can do
ALL the OS you want. As long as you've taken enough coned to feel comfortable, you are licensed to practice any area of dentistry you feel competent in. My (general) dentist takes on around a dozen ortho cases a year, and when one of the local oral surgeons injured his hand, he went back for some classes and now does tons of involved exos.
So just plan on passing for now; you'll just increase your stress with that kind of pressure and do more poorly. Also, it looks pretty bad to be talking about specialties in first year. It's like the college freshman who says he's already going to med school.
But back to your question: here's what I found helpful:
1. When an exam is approaching, count how many lectures you have to study for each exam. Start studying [that number] + 1 days before the exam. That way, you just study one lecture a night and save the last night for reviewing all of them. When I do that, it helps me to avoid procrastinating, and it also limits how much I have to absorb each night. However, if I just tell myself "I'll study early next time", I just won't do it. This way, you know which DAY you should start studying to make it work.
However, if it's more like a dozen lectures, do 2 a night and just start 6-7 days before the exam
2. Try to not study at the library and see if it helps. It sounds strange, but libraries have ALWAYS been more distracting and less efficient for me. You're more likely to talk with classmates, be distracted by noise and people walking around, and might zone out and go on IM for an hour. Try a coffee/shop restaurant environment (especially one WITHOUT wireless) or your home. Wear foam earplugs to reduce distractions.
3. Unless it's right before an exam, don't study with a group. The people who know more will just be teaching the others, and not at the same pace or in the same method as they need. It doesn't work for either party. It's sometimes helpful to give practice questions an hour before an exam, but usually, you'll be most efficient on your own.
4. As you're studying, write down a list of questions you have about the materials. When you've finished a lecture, e-mail your professor this list. First of all, you'll probably realize you don't need to ask a few of them (you'll figure out the answer), and also, it helps get another explanation from your prof. They love students with questions! Without writing down questions, you're probably skimming over stuff you dont' understand.
5. After an exam, meet with the prof and go over EVERY question you got wrong. You'll remember those ones much better afterwards than the ones you got right.
You'll learn a ton doing this and it also shows the prof that you care about learning the material. (Very helpful if you're between grades.)
6. Instead of furiously taking notes during class, try just sitting there and listening. Chew some gum or bring a lollipop (to prevent zoning out) and only write down things that aren't in the notes and slides. It's easy to miss things when you're writing everything down, and most stuff is on the powerpoints anyway!
See if these help....and you will adjust. Everyone does! Good luck
