D4 at UW, AMA

[JTLresces]

Hello,

I'm a fourth year at the University of Washington and will be graduating soon. I've got some down time during my clinic rotation so I'd love to answer any questions any has. I've got some experience working with pre-dents as well and can answer questions about applications or personal statements too

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[Dr.Deadpool97]

Hello,

I'm a fourth year at the University of Washington and will be graduating soon. I've got some down time during my clinic rotation so I'd love to answer any questions any has. I've got some experience working with pre-dents as well and can answer questions about applications or personal statements too

Hello! Im a UTHSCSA class of 25 student. I know its too early to think about this but I was wondering how hard is it for a new grad to find job? What is the pay gonna look like? I personally would like to start working in a rural area for the first few years to make a good money to pay back my loans and buy my own office. How realistic is my plan? Is it easy to find a good paying job as a new grad in rural areas? Thank you in advance for your time!

 

[JTLresces]

Still looking for a job myself. I think pay will depend on what type of work you want to do. Going rural is definitely a good plan to make money to pay back loans if that's something you're ok with. From what I know, there's a huge need for rural dentists and some of the jobs I saw in rural areas paid pretty well

 

[PerioDont]

I recall when I was applying UW had a rural scholars program for a few of their students. Any thoughts on that if it still exists?

 

[macsak]

I recall when I was applying UW had a rural scholars program for a few of their students. Any thoughts on that if it still exists?

called RIDE
it still exists...

 

[dPseh]

How has covid affected your school? Patient flow, encounters, requirements, etc.
Has the school gotten their major deficit under control?
What’s your projected debt from d school once you’re done?
We don’t get much representation from smaller state schools, so this will be interesting to hear.

 

[JTLresces]

I recall when I was applying UW had a rural scholars program for a few of their students. Any thoughts on that if it still exists?

Someone mentioned below that it is called RIDE and yes it still exists. It's a great program because in your 4th year, you get to go on a community rotation for 6 months (rather than the 1 month the rest of us have) which is basically a mini-AEGD. You get into UW first then you apply for the program

 

[JTLresces]

How has covid affected your school? Patient flow, encounters, requirements, etc.
Has the school gotten their major deficit under control?
What’s your projected debt from d school once you’re done?
We don’t get much representation from smaller state schools, so this will be interesting to hear.

In comparison to what I've heard from other schools, I think UW has actually handled it pretty well. Obviously things sucked at first but they have gotten a lot better. Any aerosol generating procedures (fillings, surgical ext, crowns, etc) require the patient to get a COVID test that is good for 72 hours from the date of the test. It's an annoyance for most patients since some of them need extensive care so they have to get multiple tests, but with it being easier to get the tests, things have gotten better. This has pushed me to work faster in most cases to avoid inconveniencing the patient. Patient flow is hit or miss for most people, just depending on the patients you get. Personally, I didn't get to do a whole lot until the most recent quarter just because my patients didn't want to come in. You spend a lot of time assisting others if you don't have a patient. Requirements have all gotten drastically reduced (besides perio for some reason) and I anticipate that many classmates will finish their requirements this quarter and spend spring quarter taking on cases they want for extra experience.

From what I know, the deficit hadn't been fully under control yet, but the school had gotten the losses down to a much more manageable level.... and then COVID hit, so not sure how things are looking now

My debt from school is going to be around $300K which I think is on the lower-medium range for most people. This is with living in cheap (by Seattle standards) housing near school for all four years and not having a family or anything like that.