As a recently graduated student from Case "School" of Dental Medicine I am now free to speak freely. DO NOT GO TO CASE!!!👎thumbdown
I could go on for years and years, and yes, every school has it's faults. The school's self-proclaimed motto is "The World's Most Powerful Learning Environment." So arrogant. They are nothing but a public relations machine. Everything they do is to impress the public, while the students benefit from little more than attendance in dental school. They claim to be a top school, but when the rankings were out, they weren't anywhere near the top. There is a reason people call it "Just in Case." Theyre so busy pretending to be squeaky clean for the upcoming Accreditations they forgot they were suppose to be educating students.
I've never heard anyone in the school mention that they think that CASE is the best dental school
The school lacks leadership. The Dean is too busy playing Interm Provost of the University or Dean of the Medical School. He spends one day a week (Thursday) in the dental school. The Director of Clinic (Sadan) is more concerned with his reputation and rules with an iron fist. Even speaking your mind or standing up for what you believe will get you kicked out of school or they will make you stay after graduation. We have one kid in our class who got in trouble for not agreeing with him and I don't know if he will ever graduate. Apparently his dissention was viewed as hostility or some crap like that and they kicked him out and made him get therapy. Total crap and everyone knows it, but what could we do. I hope he sues. Sadan hired his friend Teich to take over for him and the guy has done nothing but add paperwork to the curriculum and offend the staff. The student affairs person doesn't help students, unless they are female.
The new director did implement a bunch of stupid paperwork. The student affairs person only helping females is completely false.
As for curriculum, the teaching sucks. Everyone says that about dental school, but it did. We learned nothing, and only passed because we had copies of the exams before we took the tests. If we hadn't, nobody would have passed. Each year more and more students are failing Part I and Part II of Boards, but they blame us. They ask for feedback and punish us or ignore us if they don't like what we say. There is no internal control to make sure jobs are being done appropriately. For crying out loud, the sterilizer in Oral Surgery didn't get checked for maybe a year, and when it did get checked, it failed. Of course, Faddoul, the guy in charge of infection control, blamed everyone else and they got fired.
I thought that the first two years wear taught very well except for the Lander's classes. The classes third and fourth year are hit and miss depending on how serious your instructor takes the class. The last I heard Dr. Pyle took the entire second year class out for pizza because no one failed NBDE part I.
Their "paperless" computer system is a hoax and doesn't work. We had more paperwork at the time of graduation than when we started four years ago. The dent sim machines aren't accurate and can't even be used properly. The Sealant Program for kids is pathetic. Half fall off before the end of the day. The only thing you do lots of at Case is sealants. We're all qualified Sealantologists.
I agree that the current paperless system sucks...but with that said it is a transition period that is taking forever. I loved the DentSims and I thought that sealants rocked and was very well done. I also know that my selants were placed well and correctly. [/COLOR]
Patients frequently have 3 or more appointments before you can begin any work. With the increase in class size and decrease in patients both coming to the school and in patient retention (would you come back four four appointments for one filling?) I cannot see how future students will get anywhere near enough experience. Furthermore, they don't even have enough places to put each student. They sell the one student per cubicle routine during tours but that is no longer true. Not even close. Lack of adequate patients is the BIGGEST reason to not attend Case!! Only slightly disturbing is their response-"it's not our job to find you patients." There are no current plans to attract more patients either.
I have plenty of patients and have not had problems completing my requirements. The school gets 15-20 new patients per day. There are plenty of patients the problem comes with luck of the draw. What patients do I get vs what patients do you get. I may get a new patients who needs a prophy...while you get one who needs 3 RCT 4 Crowns and a bunch of operative.
To graduate you only have to do 3 root canals, and many have trouble getting to do that many and do some on extracted teeth. And molar root canals, rotary, and warm gutta percha aren't taught or allowed "officially", so welcome to the 15th century in endo. But that's ok, because they don't think GPs need to do endo. Or extractions. We learned injections and extractions at the free clinic, not at school. In fact, those who never went there showed up and had no idea the first time how to extract a tooth. To gradaute you extract 25 teeth, compared to other schools that extract many times more. Most preceptors don't use amalgam so you rarely do them. Implants are frequently confiscated by the AEGD Director for his private practice or his students so restoration of an implant is luck of the draw. Some get some, many get none. You don't do any ortho at all. Pedo is nothing but cleanings. Most esthetic cases aren't allowed because Sadan thinks nobody at the school except himself is qualified, so no veneers. So if you are hoping to be a dentist who does no root canals, extractions, amalgam, veneers, pedo, implants, and ortho I think you will find Case to be a great school.
I did three endos by the third month of my junior year. But I do agree that I would like to have more eperience in it. I haven't had many patients who have needed endo. But I will agree that it totally sucks that we are not taught rotary or verticle condensation. I don't know what the deal with that is. But with that said the head of Endo is the best. If you want to do Molar endo or rotary you just have to ask him and he will let you do it back in endo. I think having 25 extractions is fine. I would rather spend my time doing crown and operative. The free clinic Rocks! I haven't had any implants taken from me and I have done three. Pedo is a joke for sure. I haven't done any veneers but they are done in my group all of the time. A student the other day placed 6. But I have heard that Sadan likes to nab them.
And BTW, Cleveland is a really boring place to live. Case has been voted Top 10 Least Social Campuses in America every year I was here. And the weather sucks too. On the positive, the Browns, Cavs, and Indians all had great seasons last year!
Cleveland for sure SUCKS!
Don't be afraid about coming to CASE. I have really enjoyed my time. The facutly have been great with the exception of Dr. Fadoul. The only things that I don't like are the city, and the price tag. I love dentistry but I HATE DENTAL SCHOOL! But I would hate dental school anywhere. Just the hoops that we have to jump through are crazy!
( I just liked that one)
