Case or Pittsburgh

[MarcoRamius]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I have been accepted to both Case Western and Pittsburgh and was just wondering if any of you dental students or graduates are attending or have attended either school. If so I would really appreciate any input or thoughts about what you like or dislike about your school, the city, etc. Thanks so much for any opinions! 🙂

 

[Punchap]

I have been accepted to both Case Western and Pittsburgh and was just wondering if any of you dental students or graduates are attending or have attended either school. If so I would really appreciate any input or thoughts about what you like or dislike about your school, the city, etc. Thanks so much for any opinions! 🙂

Hey there,
I go to Case as an undergrad. right now. I'm sorry that I can't speak for the medical school, but I can tell you a little bit about the campus and the city...

I see your choices are down to Cleveland and Pittsburgh...both pretty similar as far as weather and aesthetics go. 🙂

The Case campus is in a culturally-advantaged part of Cleveland (it's nice being able to visit the art museum, botanical gardens, Cleveland orchestra, other museums - all within walking distance). University Hospital is an awesome place...I volunteer at Rainbow. There are a few good restaurants w/in walking distance of campus also.

I crave warmer weather and more sun, so I have a difficult time speaking well of Cleveland, but overall is it a decent place to live and the school's administration runs pretty smoothly (at least for me).

 

[oms2be]

I know some students at the Pitt dental school, and they train their students to be very excellent dental assistants. You do not get to dissect your cadaver in gross anatomy, you dont learn how to give blocks, the graduation requirements for crowns is only 7, and the patient base is very poor. Unless you have zero other options go somewhere else.

 

[tinker bell]

I like Case, the Sim lab is great. Good science basic too.

 

[tjb]

I know some students at the Pitt dental school, and they train their students to be very excellent dental assistants. You do not get to dissect your cadaver in gross anatomy, you dont learn how to give blocks, the graduation requirements for crowns is only 7, and the patient base is very poor. Unless you have zero other options go somewhere else.

Pitt requires 13 crowns for graduation, not seven. Although we don't dissect our own cadavers, we can do our own head and neck dissections if we'd like. We are taught blocks by the way. We have one of the strongest if not the strongest anesthesia dept in the country. Many of our students are trained in conscious sedation as well, one of the only schools to offer this. Our sim lab is new and state of the art. The patient population is typical just like most schools. We get plenty of patients. It's just a matter of getting patients with the requirements you need and the money to pay. Most students do just fine. The city I can't say much for!

tjb

 

[lnn2]

Pitt requires 13 crowns for graduation, not seven. Although we don't dissect our own cadavers, we can do our own head and neck dissections if we'd like. We are taught blocks by the way. We have one of the strongest if not the strongest anesthesia dept in the country. Many of our students are trained in conscious sedation as well, one of the only schools to offer this. Our sim lab is new and state of the art. The patient population is typical just like most schools. We get plenty of patients. It's just a matter of getting patients with the requirements you need and the money to pay. Most students do just fine. The city I can't say much for!

tjb

The man knows what he's talking about! You can also get certified in Nitrous Oxide sedation.I can't say much about the city either! Another neat thing about Pitt is the Implantology Dept. If u can find your own patients for implant then u can do it. Implant classes are a joke though. I hope they'll be more organized in the near future.

 

[tvandds]

Pitt requires 13 crowns for graduation, not seven. Although we don't dissect our own cadavers, we can do our own head and neck dissections if we'd like. We are taught blocks by the way. We have one of the strongest if not the strongest anesthesia dept in the country. Many of our students are trained in conscious sedation as well, one of the only schools to offer this. Our sim lab is new and state of the art. The patient population is typical just like most schools. We get plenty of patients. It's just a matter of getting patients with the requirements you need and the money to pay. Most students do just fine. The city I can't say much for!

tjb

What can you say about PBL at Pitt? How many appointments do 3rd and 4th year students get in a day/ a week?

 

[PantherPaws]

Usually 2 appointments per day. One in the morning and one in the afternoon, that is of course, unless a patient cancels on you.
PBL has its pros and cons. You start summer of first year and go for three semesters. You meet once a week for two weeks on one case. The first week to start the case and then research, the second week you discuss what you found. It is what you make it! Some hate it, others love it, and some just tolerate it.

JDUB

 

[tvandds]

Usually 2 appointments per day. One in the morning and one in the afternoon, that is of course, unless a patient cancels on you.
PBL has its pros and cons. You start summer of first year and go for three semesters. You meet once a week for two weeks on one case. The first week to start the case and then research, the second week you discuss what you found. It is what you make it! Some hate it, others love it, and some just tolerate it.

JDUB

2 appointments per day..that doesn't seem to be a busy clinic. I would think that having more appointments would expose me to more cases and that would improve my hand skills and clinical skills. Would you know the requirement for root canal at Pitt?
Thanks

 

[PantherPaws]

First of all, you'll be lucky to do what a practicing dentist accomplishes in 20 minutes in 4 hours. You may think you can bang out a crown prep on #2 in 10 minutes, but untill you get there you have no idea how long it will take you. So, yes 2 appointments per day, as it is with most schools I'm sure...
As for the endo requirement, I'm not sure as to the exact number, but I would imagine it being around 10-15 or so. And, that is for anteriors. Usually you won't do any molar endo unless you are special.

JDUB

 

[smang]

Pantherpaws
How do you like the beautiful city of Pittsburgh itself? Do you live in Shady side? Are the simclinics open at reasonable hours to practice? I live about an hour away from Pitt and just recently got accepted to Maryland and Penn. This is a tough decision. Any regrets of going to Pitt, would you go there if you could do it over again. What is your perspective of the program and are you happy in living in the burgh.

 

[KY2007]

2 appointments per day..that doesn't seem to be a busy clinic. I would think that having more appointments would expose me to more cases and that would improve my hand skills and clinical skills. Would you know the requirement for root canal at Pitt?
Thanks

I don't know of any dental school in the country that gives its dental student more than 2 appointments per day. You have to get a freaking consult for everything, and fill out 20 forms just to do that. Oh yeah, and did I mention that at this point everyone is slow.

 

[PantherPaws]

Smang,

Yeah, I guess I'd do it over again and come to Pittsburgh if I had to start all over. Dental school is rough, but it'll be rough wherever you go. I like the burgh. I live like to minutes away from the school in Oakland. Shadyside is nice though, I lived there last year. Sim clinics are usually open when you need them. I have never had problems getting in there when I wanted. PM me if you have any more specific questions I can answer, but out of the 3 schools you've mentioned I believe the are all about the same. Don't fall into the trap of "that school will help me specialize" because it's all on you.. Out of all the 4th years that wanted to specialize here I don't know of any that didn't get what they wanted.

PP

ps...If you are only an hour away, you should really go to pitt. I really wish I was closer to home!

 

[Jediwendell]

I know people that went to both, and they both seem very well trained. Personally, I like Pittsburg a whole heck of a lot better than Cleveland, but that's just me. You're going to be there for four years, so you have to be able to stand the city. I don't know how much tuition is, but you should probably factor that pretty heavily.