Case Western Dental School Experience

[dentaldore]

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Hey! I'm going to be interviewing at Case in a few months and I was wondering what current dental students thought about going to school there, the evolving curriculum and student life there. Any input would be helpful. Thanks! 😀

 

[2thdr4]

hello,
i graduated from case years ago and i can tell you it is a fabulous school,then and now. i just attended a reunion weekend, which included a tour of the school, updates facilities, research and view of future plans. i am certain you would thrive at case....good luck!

 

[dentaldore]

Thank you so much for the feedback! That really makes me even more excited about the school!! I'm glad to hear that you had a positive experience and enjoyed the reunion weekend. 🙂

 

[puncho]

hello,
i graduated from case years ago and i can tell you it is a fabulous school,then and now. i just attended a reunion weekend, which included a tour of the school, updates facilities, research and view of future plans. i am certain you would thrive at case....good luck!

I can tell you for a fact that many students over the past few years are not happy with the school and will not plan on donating in the future. It's sad that many former students speak well of the school and that a few (mostly one of the clinic directors) new faces that are put in power can ruin the experience.

To the OP, every school has their downfalls. You just have to try and get the most out of it.

 

[7 Iron]

I interviewed at Case last month and I was impressed with the school and one of my interviewers. (A second interviewer I had was kind of rough and gave me a poor impression). It's still one of my top choices. Might be top if it wasn't for the sky-high tuition...

 

[dentaldore]

I can tell you for a fact that many students over the past few years are not happy with the school and will not plan on donating in the future. It's sad that many former students speak well of the school and that a few (mostly one of the clinic directors) new faces that are put in power can ruin the experience.

To the OP, every school has their downfalls. You just have to try and get the most out of it.

Hmm...well, could you elaborate on what you're not happy about or how your experience was ruined? I appreciate your candid feedback.

 

[dentaldore]

I interviewed at Case last month and I was impressed with the school and one of my interviewers. (A second interviewer I had was kind of rough and gave me a poor impression). It's still one of my top choices. Might be top if it wasn't for the sky-high tuition...

Haha yea the tuition is pretty high. Sorry one of your interviewers was rough. Was it just that they asked tough questions? Congrats on all the interviews!! Looks like you'll have a tough decision regardless of where to attend

 

[puncho]

Hmm...well, could you elaborate on what you're not happy about or how your experience was ruined? I appreciate your candid feedback.

Where to start...well, the old clinical director left a few years ago and they brought in some new faces who have made life harder for all.

He implemented MORE paperwork which, as you know take forever to fill out. A few chart audits every semester which isn't bad, but if you miss something even as menial as this mandatory "caries risk assessment" and "perio risk assessment" then they add even more charts for you to have audited. Anyone considered moderate perio risk (basically 90% of the patient pool fall under this risk category, like having a 4 pocket or something) has to get perio residents to come and do a consult/sign the sheet. Perio was already hard enough to find/get to come over. All this takes away from the actual time in the clinic.
We told him multiple times to add these mandatory forms into the chart along with all the other forms such as med/dent history for the initial admit. A simple solution, but for some reason was not done.

Quality assurance for everything that is sent out to the lab. After the preceptor approves of say, an impression, you need to get several forms, have it signed by the preceptor, have it signed by a quality assurance professor before it is allowed to be sent to the lab. As you're aware, everyone has a different philosophy and these QA people don't know what's going on with the patient.

He is not reasonable, constantly belittles students, basically a power trip on steroids. He has threatened to fail people (basically our class) if we did not get every, single patients we have seen after the initial admit (even if they never came back) to come in just to sign the caries risk assessment and perio risk assessment forms. It is hard enough to get some patients to come in regularly, let alone do the student a favour and come in just to sign something.

Not allowing students to bring in bags for sterilization after 5pm, and not allowed to hand it in the morning before 11am since bags "should not be unsterilized and left in your cube". Well, what about people who are actually doing work this late? We had to tell the dean multiple times before he changed it so we could hand it in up till 5:30pm.

The dean is so far removed from the actual clinic operations that he has no clue what's happening down there. We have meetings with him once a semester, and bring up points that concern us (as he asks us to do) and he talks around the subject. He's a nice guy and all, but does not always get things done for the students. Who could blame him, his main concern isn't the students, but when EVERYONE (students, staff, faculty - some of whom have thought of quitting) is complaining you need to take heed and fix the problem.

I have talked to alumni and they always say they learned a lot at Case, how they got great clinical experience. It's sad that Case is going BACKWARDS in education. We are not allowed to do any endos without any endo supervision (whose residents are also hard to find). Even if our preceptor who is perfectly comfortable with endo is not allowed to oversee us. Molar endos you will basically not get any experience in. You want a patient to get a RCT done? Have them wait at least 1 month to get it STARTED. Probably wait another few months for them to finish it. Case is probably one of the 5 schools in the nation that does not teach rotary endo. 3rd molar extractions? Even simple ones that are supraerupted and not close to the nerve we are not allowed to touch.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, there are so many other things larger and smaller that has just left a bitter taste in people's mouths over the last few years.

Incoming students are amazed by the dentsim clinic (I was as well). You use it for the first year and the thing is so annoying/inaccurate Let me guess, did the dean talk about the possibility of expanding and renewing the clinics (as he has been for the past few years)?

Don't get me wrong, I am very thankful that I had great preceptors and there are professors who are awesome and love to teach students (fewer and further in between now). You will get experience, just nothing that would "require" a specialty department. Like I said, every school has their ups and downs, but after seeing how steep of a downhill Case was on during my years that is the lasting impression I have of it.

edit: oops, I thought the alumni was the one asking about our experience. Regardless, the info still stands.

 

[HuyetKiem]

wow.. Is that bad at Case nowaday ? I had agreat clinical experience overall at Case.

 

[dentaldore]

It's interesting to get so many mixed reviews about Case's program. Puncho, I will definitely take your elaborate feedback into consideration. Have students complained about the procedures that are currently in place? If there are any other opinions out there about Case I would love to hear them! 🙂

 

[dentaldore]

bump 🙂

 

[conditioned]

So what would you advise to someone seeking admission at Case? Is it good from the standpoint of an International Dentist?
Please help!

 

[eleminopee]

Remind me to reply after May 15th, then I'd be happy to elaborate my experience at case 🙂