-
CycleTrack and SDN are teaming up to make medical school admissions more transparent and accessible! Read the announcement to learn how we’re supporting the future of CycleTrack’s free application-tracking tools .
books
Started by UPSY1
Get help with your application
Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.
The ones they tell you to buy once you get there and start the class.UPSY1 said:
Seriously, don't waste your time trying to teach yourself this stuff before you start dental school. Go enjoy the last several months of relative freedom you're going to have for a while.
For operative dentistry, start with The Art and Science of Operative Dentistry by Sturdevant. For dental materials, beats the heck out of me; let me know when you find a good one. For pharmacology, that's a fairly advanced topic and I'd look at biochem before delving into it. For oral pathology, a similar deal: I'd go to oral anatomy and histology first. I have no idea about Penn in particular. In general, go to half.com or ebay and get old editions of whatever books if you're not ready to drop a load of cash on this preliminary endeavor.UPSY1 said:
Some people may try to discourage you, but as long as you're not going around calling yourself a dentist (or a dental student) if you're not one (FYI I am neither), I don't see anything wrong with reading up on what interests you. In fact, studying (especially material we really like) makes some of us just plain happy, so I say go for it. Best of luck!
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
do you really have to buy all the books for first year dental school, or can i get away with using my undergrad anatomy/physiology/immuno/histo/biochem books for the basic science classes? i mean who reads the book anyway, don't we all just use them for the figures and for referencing specific topics?
Um, yeah. It was recommended to me, and I've learned a lot from it.toothcaries said:
I hate this old debate about whether there's a "proper time" to start reading about dentistry. I mean, I really loathe it. This will be my last comment on it, then, and I stand by my position. Bash away.
Talk to students from the class ahead of you. They will tell you which classes require a book and in which you can get away with using only the lecture notes (and old exams). Of course some people aren't exactly the greatest students so you'll have to figure out which opinions to trust.Biogirl361 said:
Try to get 2nd-year students to sell (at a reduced cost), loan, or even give you some of their old books. Failing that, consider purchasing the previous edition of each book used off Ebay. There's really no reason (at least at my school) to spend more than 1/4 to 1/2 of the loan money allotted for books on actual books. The remaining cash goes directly into your pocket.
One user had an excellent point, and I've found it to be true most of the time. When the class syllabus/notes are piled 2-3 inches thick, and the powerpoints for the class number in the 800+ range, you really don't have time to do any reading. And, most of the time it isn't necessary.
