Anybody work during dental school?

[carabelli3]

I am getting ready to begin dental school this August and was wondering how current students handle this...

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[NotPennysBoat]

I have heard of dental students working during 3rd and 4th year, but never 1st or 2nd. I know of a few students that worked during the summer break between 1st and 2nd year. The money you would earn working ~5 hours a week wouldn't amount to much after taxes.

 

[Tstarfish]

we had a guy in our class work full time during dental school- (in the morning before school and all day sat) so he could keep health insurance for your family.

I worked 3 part time jobs over my time in dental school- but I got to pick when I worked so that I could make sure it did not overlap with hard times in school.

One girl also baby-sat and another guy assisted in a pedo office on Sat.
Some people work so that they can pay someone else to do all their lab work.

Overall- you have to have really good time management skills to be able to work, but it is possible.
Also- don't tell your school because alot of them have rules against working.

 

[Doc Smile]

I have heard of dental students working during 3rd and 4th year, but never 1st or 2nd. I know of a few students that worked during the summer break between 1st and 2nd year. The money you would earn working ~5 hours a week wouldn't amount to much after taxes.

I am a first year and I work. I type verbatims for our class lectures - all of our lectures are recorded/podcasted and we pay people (me) to type them up word for word, hence, 'verbatim.' Anyway, this takes about twice as long as the lecture to type out, amounting to about 15-20 hours per week working, getting paid $0.75/lecture minute. Overall, this semester i have made quite the chunk of change. At IUSD, this has always been done except that past years have paid $1.00/lecture minute. The good thing about this job though, is it doubles as studying. So, I dont loose time from studying and I make money. It's possible! Just dont expect to have a life outside of school. . .

 

[dentaldawg32]

I am a first year and I work. I type verbatims for our class lectures - all of our lectures are recorded/podcasted and we pay people (me) to type them up word for word, hence, 'verbatim.' Anyway, this takes about twice as long as the lecture to type out, amounting to about 15-20 hours per week working, getting paid $0.75/lecture minute. Overall, this semester i have made quite the chunk of change. At IUSD, this has always been done except that past years have paid $1.00/lecture minute. The good thing about this job though, is it doubles as studying. So, I dont loose time from studying and I make money. It's possible! Just dont expect to have a life outside of school. . .

I wouldn't count that as working during dental school. If anything, it's helping your studies. Having a job outside of dental school is a completely different animal which I wouldn't recommend to anyone who wants to do reasonably well in dental school

 

[Doc Smile]

I wouldn't count that as working during dental school. If anything, it's helping your studies. Having a job outside of dental school is a completely different animal which I wouldn't recommend to anyone who wants to do reasonably well in dental school

Call it what you will, but the OP poll question was: "Anybody work during dental school?" Yes, I am getting paid for doing something.That is work, typing verbatims are very difficult and time consuming. I could cover 2x the amount of material during the time it takes me to transcribe. So, while it does aid in studying, it also detracts from it as well. For example, I have a verbatim to type tonight from todays GI Pharmacology lecture which is covered on our test this Friday. Now, instead of studying 2 or 3 lectures, as my study plan dictated, I will only go through that one lecture.

Its a double edged sword. There are plenty of opportunities in dental school (for IUSD at least) where you can work. In 3rd and 4th year, you can be a Gross Anatomy TA, bench lab instructor, do research, or be a PBL facilitator. All of which pay pretty decent.

Comprende? Or do we need to take this outside?

 

[SoulPower]

I am a first year and I work. I type verbatims for our class lectures - all of our lectures are recorded/podcasted and we pay people (me) to type them up word for word, hence, 'verbatim.' Anyway, this takes about twice as long as the lecture to type out, amounting to about 15-20 hours per week working, getting paid $0.75/lecture minute. Overall, this semester i have made quite the chunk of change. At IUSD, this has always been done except that past years have paid $1.00/lecture minute. The good thing about this job though, is it doubles as studying. So, I dont loose time from studying and I make money. It's possible! Just dont expect to have a life outside of school. . .

How hardcore do you have to be to literally study off a transcript of class. Seems like you'd be wasting a lot of time going through less than big picture stuff.

 

[dentaldawg32]

How hardcore do you have to be to literally study off a transcript of class. Seems like you'd be wasting a lot of time going through less than big picture stuff.

In an ideal world, all tests in dental school would be based on the big concepts and ideas. Unfortunately, it's not like that at all. Questions are often very specific and refer to a single obscure word that was mentioned on only one slide in an 80 page presentation (one of 10 such presentations per exam) Pretty much everyone in dental school understands the big ideas, so they need some way of differentiating the top 10% from the rest of the class. Typical questions are also very tricky e.g.

1) Scott's dog is not what color?

a) blue
b) red
c) green
d) a,b,c
e) all the above
f) only a and c
g) all the above except a and d
h) none of the above
i) none of the above except g

You get the idea. So, yes, transcripts are pretty helpful.

 

[Doc Smile]

How hardcore do you have to be to literally study off a transcript of class. Seems like you'd be wasting a lot of time going through less than big picture stuff.

I thought the same thing. .. until the first test. A recent poll from our class showed that 90% of students use the verbatims/transcripts for their major study tool. Its not just like a word doc with the transcipts. The words are in the 'notes' section of the powerpoint slide they are associated with. So if you dont understand how fats are absorbed in the pilli of the small intestine, and the one picture on the slide that the professor spent twenty minutes talking about isnt cutting it for you, then you go to the verbatim to actually learn what was discussed. My study habits/techniques completely changed since undergrad. Not only do I study 100x more, but I also make outlines and read verbatims, and study in groups, rather than my flashcard drilling I did in undergrad.

 

[UBERlowGPA]

What about bartending? I currently bartend Friday and Saturday nights from 10:30pm to 2/3am. I start dental school in July, but would LOVE to keep my job.

Do you think a late-night job would work out?

 

[Doc Smile]

What about bartending? I currently bartend Friday and Saturday nights from 10:30pm to 2/3am. I start dental school in July, but would LOVE to keep my job.

Do you think a late-night job would work out?

Yes, especially because you will be serving drinks to your classmates fo free? What school are you going to?

 

[UBERlowGPA]

Yes, especially because you will be serving drinks to your classmates fo free? What school are you going to?

UOP. I'd love to keep working, but the 3 year program scares me a little.

 

[Doc Smile]

UOP. I'd love to keep working, but the 3 year program scares me a little.

While I was working at a dental office in undergrad, one of their new dentists was a recent grad from UoP. . . Let's just say he wasn't clinically ready for their needs as a bustling practice. I am not saying all students from UoP are poor, he just wasnt as fast as expected - which I am sure is true for all dental schools - but that is my only reference to UoP; now I am just trying to add punctuation to make this run-on runny-onner: comprende?

Good luck to you. San Fran is Expensive as F*

 

[carabelli3]

Thanks everyone.

 

[OhioDMD]

Another possibility not mentioned is Resident Assistant in the dorms. Provided room and board and great access to coeds...lol.

 

[setupben]

I wouldn't count on working during dental school

During your first 2 years you won't have the time to do so.

During the second 2 years, your time will be better spend reviewing and learning how to be a great dentist. Even you don't have homework, you can be a better dentist through review.

So, honestly, unless you have an unusually high paying job, don't waste your time on it, just be a great dentist. You'll earn more in the long run.

 

[Doc Smile]

I wouldn't count on working during dental school

During your first 2 years you won't have the time to do so.

During the second 2 years, your time will be better spend reviewing and learning how to be a great dentist. Even you don't have homework, you can be a better dentist through review.

So, honestly, unless you have an unusually high paying job, don't waste your time on it, just be a great dentist. You'll earn more in the long run.

see my above post. . .

 

[Khompressor]

Do test questions really have that many choices? I'm screwed.

 

[John Durian]

Do test questions really have that many choices? I'm screwed.

I think a few of my undergrad classes (immuno and biochem for sure) had MC like that. It was such a pain in the ***** dude. I really hope they don't have anything beyond the letter 'E'

 

[Voltron2010]

i worked while in dental school. andit help out a lot. i picked a job at the dorm cafeteria, thisnwas perfect, cause i always got free food and was allow to take stuff home at the end of the shift. basically had no grocery bill, always had first dibs on the food, and during steak nite when most people paid double, i got it free plus seconds...

i not sure bartending and dental school gomwell bc of the hours. work study they know your a student so thenschedulenis always flexible.