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I am applying to UOP and was wondering how grueling the schedule is. Anyone just finish D1 or is going through it right now?
Daily Life of a UOP D-school student?
- Thread starter kingcon9
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Yea, it's simple...
Wake up,
Go to class,
Take a dinner break,
Go back to class,
Come home,
Go to bed,
Repeat
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i dont have the specifics but my friend's sibling's at uop dental... and i've heard it's like 9-5 at school and basically studying for test/quiz for the rest of the day, sleep, get up, go to school.
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As a new D2, I can give you a little insight into the schedules of both a 1st and 2nd year student. Note that what schedule you have depends on the individual student as well.
D1:
-Class from 9-5, 5 days per week, with early fridays in 2nd and 3rd quarter.
-Weekly projects in operative dent and fixed prosth
-Average of about 1-2 tests per week (didactic and pre-clinical) with a quiz or two as well.
Personally, as a student looking to specialize, I stayed after most weeknights till 8-9 to work on lab projects and came in saturday mornings as well. I mostly study for 5-6 hours for a day or 2 before most didactic tests unless I think it will be a bear (anatomy, endo). All students manage to have decent social lives during first year, and there's multiple city sports leagues, groups going out partying, big school events (Halloween party is a big one), a surf club, the list goes on.
All-in-all, it's a beast of a year, but it's very doable at a level where it won't completely dominate every waking hour. Except for 3rd quarter finals. They will rule your life for 2 weeks. 😉
D2:
Much, much easier year. Large gaps of time are allocated to self study, which can be used for boards study, studying for class, or surfing. Half the day is devoted to seeing patients in clinic, half to didactics (or self study). Didactics are on par with the difficulty level of first year, but lab classes seem to be easier, probably because we've become accustomed to it. You still have the occasional long day though, but weekends are usually completely open.
My day today:
6:00: Wake up
6:45: At school
7:30: Set up operatory for patient, get chart
8-10: Pedodontics and periodontics class
10-1: See patient for 28-30 PFM bridge prep
1-2: Eat lunch, deal with broken computer
2-4: General pathology seminar on blood diseases
4-5: Complete lots of paperwork
5-whenever: Do whatever I want. Tuesday night is a designated "do nothing" night for me. If it were tomorrow I'd study boards for ~ 2 hours.
Note that starting next quarter, we can see patients at night clinic sessions on monday and thursday nights (4 times/quarter). In third year you do it every thursday and monday night.
Let me know if there's any other questions I can answer. Additionally, remember that anywhere you got o dental school, it's going to be an insane schedule (Even at UCSF despite what some people here might try to tell you) 😉
D1:
-Class from 9-5, 5 days per week, with early fridays in 2nd and 3rd quarter.
-Weekly projects in operative dent and fixed prosth
-Average of about 1-2 tests per week (didactic and pre-clinical) with a quiz or two as well.
Personally, as a student looking to specialize, I stayed after most weeknights till 8-9 to work on lab projects and came in saturday mornings as well. I mostly study for 5-6 hours for a day or 2 before most didactic tests unless I think it will be a bear (anatomy, endo). All students manage to have decent social lives during first year, and there's multiple city sports leagues, groups going out partying, big school events (Halloween party is a big one), a surf club, the list goes on.
All-in-all, it's a beast of a year, but it's very doable at a level where it won't completely dominate every waking hour. Except for 3rd quarter finals. They will rule your life for 2 weeks. 😉
D2:
Much, much easier year. Large gaps of time are allocated to self study, which can be used for boards study, studying for class, or surfing. Half the day is devoted to seeing patients in clinic, half to didactics (or self study). Didactics are on par with the difficulty level of first year, but lab classes seem to be easier, probably because we've become accustomed to it. You still have the occasional long day though, but weekends are usually completely open.
My day today:
6:00: Wake up
6:45: At school
7:30: Set up operatory for patient, get chart
8-10: Pedodontics and periodontics class
10-1: See patient for 28-30 PFM bridge prep
1-2: Eat lunch, deal with broken computer
2-4: General pathology seminar on blood diseases
4-5: Complete lots of paperwork
5-whenever: Do whatever I want. Tuesday night is a designated "do nothing" night for me. If it were tomorrow I'd study boards for ~ 2 hours.
Note that starting next quarter, we can see patients at night clinic sessions on monday and thursday nights (4 times/quarter). In third year you do it every thursday and monday night.
Let me know if there's any other questions I can answer. Additionally, remember that anywhere you got o dental school, it's going to be an insane schedule (Even at UCSF despite what some people here might try to tell you) 😉
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armorshell, GREAT reply, exactly what I was looking for! i'm soomewhat non-traditional, probably getting in when i'm 27, so UOP is one of my top choices b/c of the the 3-years, and b/c it's strong in clinical.
How are you doing in terms of your goals for specializing?
How are you doing in terms of your goals for specializing?
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The spectrum varies greatly on how people get through first year. Armor is on one end, I and several others are on the other, and you can figure out the average middleground based on our differences.
My average week at Pacific during the first year consisted of going to school about 9-5 everyday. But, I usually had about 1-2 hours of free time in the schedule about 3 days a week because of things like block sessions that ended early, lab classes that ended early, or taking an hour extra break from an all day sim lab class. Any days we had lab practicals we usually had an extra couple hours to hang out with friends, study, or go outside on nice days for a long lunch.
Friday night each week some of my classmates got together to play 3 on 3 basketball. I participated in most of the tournaments including the Wii-Olympics, Dugoni Dugout Softball Tournament, Holy Molar Golf Tournament...etc. I usually went out with friends 1-2 times a week. Pretty much every Friday was a night out at a bar or club, and Saturdays was either a day of hanging out or a night out or a movie night with friends. Other people went out even more than me.
As for studying. It wasn't daily for me. Usually I read over notes or portions of a book a couple times a week. Before a quiz, I might study 1 hour the night before. Before a minor test, I might study 3-4 hours the day before. Before a major test or Final, depending on difficulty, I would study anywhere from 3 hours to 10 hours on a couple days before. I usually only stayed after school late on lab work once a week. On more difficult weeks, (maybe 3-4 times a quarter) I might be in there 1 more night that week. On occasion, I would never go in late for lab work.
I also don't recall as many tests and quizzes as Armor does. During 1st and 2nd quarter...I remember 1 test a week on average and 1-2 quizzes a week on average. During 3rd quarter, I remember 1 test every 2-3 weeks cause most classes are based entirely upon a Final. Also, 3rd quarter had about 1 quiz every week, but only cause we had an attendance quiz in Basic Disease class that was 2 questions long. 4th quarter was a little weirder...about 1 test every other week, but at least 2 quizzes each week because there was always 2 microbiology attendance quizzes that were 5 questions long. Most of us didn't study beforehand for those quizzes, we just paid attention in class those days and took the quiz.
That's pretty general, but that's D1 for me. I had a pretty great time. I'm busier now in 2nd year, but that's only because I have a lot of class officer duties that take up my time.
My average week at Pacific during the first year consisted of going to school about 9-5 everyday. But, I usually had about 1-2 hours of free time in the schedule about 3 days a week because of things like block sessions that ended early, lab classes that ended early, or taking an hour extra break from an all day sim lab class. Any days we had lab practicals we usually had an extra couple hours to hang out with friends, study, or go outside on nice days for a long lunch.
Friday night each week some of my classmates got together to play 3 on 3 basketball. I participated in most of the tournaments including the Wii-Olympics, Dugoni Dugout Softball Tournament, Holy Molar Golf Tournament...etc. I usually went out with friends 1-2 times a week. Pretty much every Friday was a night out at a bar or club, and Saturdays was either a day of hanging out or a night out or a movie night with friends. Other people went out even more than me.
As for studying. It wasn't daily for me. Usually I read over notes or portions of a book a couple times a week. Before a quiz, I might study 1 hour the night before. Before a minor test, I might study 3-4 hours the day before. Before a major test or Final, depending on difficulty, I would study anywhere from 3 hours to 10 hours on a couple days before. I usually only stayed after school late on lab work once a week. On more difficult weeks, (maybe 3-4 times a quarter) I might be in there 1 more night that week. On occasion, I would never go in late for lab work.
I also don't recall as many tests and quizzes as Armor does. During 1st and 2nd quarter...I remember 1 test a week on average and 1-2 quizzes a week on average. During 3rd quarter, I remember 1 test every 2-3 weeks cause most classes are based entirely upon a Final. Also, 3rd quarter had about 1 quiz every week, but only cause we had an attendance quiz in Basic Disease class that was 2 questions long. 4th quarter was a little weirder...about 1 test every other week, but at least 2 quizzes each week because there was always 2 microbiology attendance quizzes that were 5 questions long. Most of us didn't study beforehand for those quizzes, we just paid attention in class those days and took the quiz.
That's pretty general, but that's D1 for me. I had a pretty great time. I'm busier now in 2nd year, but that's only because I have a lot of class officer duties that take up my time.
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I included practicals as tests. To OP, plans are going very well. Boards is the last big hurdle, which comes in January.
5
54807
First Year:
x-8: Last minute finalizing lab projects or studying for quizzes
8-5: most days for class.
5-6: Complain about Pacific over dinner
6-9: At least 3 days a week in lab cutting preps
9-x: Cram in some studying
Friday Night: Lab from 5-9
Saturday: More sim lab
Sunday: Waste time and more studying
Looking back on it, it wasn't as bad as I thought going through it. But it really does suck in comparison to 2nd year. We get about 1.5 years of curriculum or so done in that time. So yes, it's intense, but there are so many average people who have made it through. So you need not to worry.
You will not have time to do anything social if it's not important to you. Yet, there are classmates of mine who went out all the time because it's important to their well-being, and as a result, they did well in school.
Pacific is the most efficient educational experience I've been through. We still waste a lot of time but it's pretty good about removing the fluff and going quick and precise with lectures, exams, pre-clinical practice.
I regretted attending Pacific while I was in 1st year, but now all is well and looking back on it, 1st year was pretty well done.
x-8: Last minute finalizing lab projects or studying for quizzes
8-5: most days for class.
5-6: Complain about Pacific over dinner
6-9: At least 3 days a week in lab cutting preps
9-x: Cram in some studying
Friday Night: Lab from 5-9
Saturday: More sim lab
Sunday: Waste time and more studying
Looking back on it, it wasn't as bad as I thought going through it. But it really does suck in comparison to 2nd year. We get about 1.5 years of curriculum or so done in that time. So yes, it's intense, but there are so many average people who have made it through. So you need not to worry.
You will not have time to do anything social if it's not important to you. Yet, there are classmates of mine who went out all the time because it's important to their well-being, and as a result, they did well in school.
Pacific is the most efficient educational experience I've been through. We still waste a lot of time but it's pretty good about removing the fluff and going quick and precise with lectures, exams, pre-clinical practice.
I regretted attending Pacific while I was in 1st year, but now all is well and looking back on it, 1st year was pretty well done.
5
54807
Content-wise, dental school is easier than undergrad. You already understand chemistry and biology concepts, so now you're just learning more upon that.
It's hard because there is a lot, and then on top of all the the lab work, which you're either good at, or you struggle substantially for awhile.
Do yourself a favor, and go to Pacific for sure!
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check out www.drstudentdentist.com.
i believe webmaster is a D1 at UoP, i enjoy reading it. if she sees this, keep up the good work, and always wear your helmet.
i believe webmaster is a D1 at UoP, i enjoy reading it. if she sees this, keep up the good work, and always wear your helmet.
5
54807
NICE. These are always fun. Although he/she paints a very rosy picture of the struggles!!
You all who are interested in Pacific should post some comments to encourage them to continue their writings. It will become less important to this person as their year progresses and the work piles up.
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