Dental School Class Schedules... 17 classes?!

[onlyahobo]

So, I think I'm pretty confused. I was comparing the first year schedules of 2 schools I'm interested in and was surprised by their first fall quarters. I know dental school is going to be difficult, but 17 courses were listed. Granted a few of these were labs and I'm sure they're not all 5 credit classes, but how does this work? It doesn't mention that some are only recommended, or that you select from the list of options, it simply lists 17 classes and the professors. What's the deal?😕

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[armorshell]

So, I think I'm pretty confused. I was comparing the first year schedules of 2 schools I'm interested in and was surprised by their first fall quarters. I know dental school is going to be difficult, but 17 courses were listed. Granted a few of these were labs and I'm sure they're not all 5 credit classes, but how does this work? It doesn't mention that some are only recommended, or that you select from the list of options, it simply lists 17 classes and the professors. What's the deal?😕

Welcome to dental school. My first year averaged >30 credits per quarter including one quarter with 10 finals in one week.

 

[MAR89]

Yeah I have a tough time conceptualizing these crazy course loads as well. I understand that the credit load is massive, but there is simply no way that dental school is undergrad x 3, as one would be led to believe. Of course I'm speaking from no experience whatsoever, but it's just not humanly possible to have 30+ credits a semester, given that each credit unit requires as much time and effort as it does in undergrad. I understand dental school is a huge step up in workload and difficulty from undergrad, but surely there is no "credit equivalency" so to speak. I would assume that a 21 credit semester (which is the max possible at my university) consisting of 50% upper div. bio courses in undergrad really marks the uppermost limit for a lot of students. I know some dental schools require students to take the courses pass/fail, which of course lightens the load significantly (I would assume), and I'm sure there are a number of other such factors that make the curriculum, in actuality, much less daunting than it appears to be on paper. I guess I'm just not buying into the whole consternation argument. I'm not doubting the difficulty of the curriculum, but if the 30+ credits a semester were equivalent to taking 30+ credits of upper level bio courses during undergrad for a letter grade, most everyone would flunk out, end of.

 

[gigawatt]

I don't know...I doubt that people like armorshell are posting for shock value so I'm inclined to believe them in terms of the rigorous course load. I think that you will be surprised how you rise to the occasion.

Looking back, think about how daunting that first speech, paper, project, etc. was in middle school. Then that was a joke in high school. Then what you did in high school was cake compared to what you could handle in college, and so on. It may seem insurmountable now, but you adapt and find ways to survive and succeed.

 

[TK2006]

I don't know...I doubt that people like armorshell are posting for shock value so I'm inclined to believe them in terms of the rigorous course load. I think that you will be surprised how you rise to the occasion.

Looking back, think about how daunting that first speech, paper, project, etc. was in middle school. Then that was a joke in high school. Then what you did in high school was cake compared to what you could handle in college, and so on. It may seem insurmountable now, but you adapt and find ways to survive and succeed.

I totally agree with this. Somtimes we are more capable than we consider ourselves to be.

 

[MAR89]

Yeah good point gigawatt. I'm sure we will rise to the occasion, just as those currently in dental school are. I'm not doubting the course load or the thoughts of current dental students on here, as I value their wisdom 😛 I'm just doubting the difficulty of the curriculum as it appears on paper, and it's in this respect that I share the op's reaction.

 

[baseballjunkie]

My first quarter is 28 credits. Welcome to dental school...

 

[onlyahobo]

Thanks for your responses guys. Looking back on 15 credit quarters, I'm actually remembering a lot of free time even with the tougher labs and classes. If dental school is a week of packed days I guess it is completely possible. On the bright side, if we're that busy 4 years are going to fly by! Also, we'll never feel like we're not getting our moneys worth in education.

 

[yappy]

So you guys actully think 30 credits in DS is the same as 30 credits of 3-4 hundred level science credits? I would challenge any dental students to go to UCLA and enroll in: pchem, microbio, anatomy, phys, linear algebra, serology, immunology, biochemistry, virology, inorganic chemistry, advanced physics... cap at 30 credits; and say that load was the same as in dental school.

One thing that is true too is that people typically play up their current challenge.

 

[Vicviper]

My first semester was 25 units, and it definitely required at least double the work I put in for my 13-14 unit semesters in undergrad. Think about it, in undergrad, you're in class for maybe 4 hours a day, maybe 6 tops if you have a lab. When you start going to class 8-5 every day of the week, the units start piling up, and you realize just how long that is, and how painful it is to sit (or sleep 🙂) through that many hours of lecture in a windowless room.

Class units are usually based on how long you're in lecture for every week, so, have 50+ hours of lecture a week means lots of units. The thing about dental school is that the classes aren't individually hard - if you took two or thee of them in a semester, it wouldn't take an extrordinary amount of work to get A's in them, but when you're taking 6-7 sciences at a time (first semester: general histology, oral histology/embryology, microbiology, Biochem I, Biochem II, dental anatomy, etc), they really start to make it difficult to do well in all of them at the same time - on top of having to come in at night to finish lab work.

Do I think dental school is 2-3 times more difficult than undergrad? Sure, at least for the first semester or two, depending on when you take boards at your school. Is it doable? Sure, it just takes a lot of adjustment from undergrad.

Now that I've started my second year, and done with boards, it really scales back, and is much heavier into the pre-clinic, which takes an equal amount of "studying" (going in to practice), but it is much more enjoyable.

Another thing to note, many dental schools have part-semester classes, i.e. you only take this skull anatomy class for 2 weeks, but you go to class for 10 hours a week + lab, so it's still a 2-3 unit class, and so some schedules have really crazy high unit numbers.

 

[theskibumjohnso]

3rd year UK fall semester has about 39 credit semester hours, they also fail to mention the lab work that is extra for pt's in clinic (crown and dentures) and don't mention the extra out of class time for the lab classes. It is busy but do-able.

 

[FutureDent020]

So you guys actully think 30 credits in DS is the same as 30 credits of 3-4 hundred level science credits? I would challenge any dental students to go to UCLA and enroll in: pchem, microbio, anatomy, phys, linear algebra, serology, immunology, biochemistry, virology, inorganic chemistry, advanced physics... cap at 30 credits; and say that load was the same as in dental school.

One thing that is true too is that people typically play up their current challenge.

Dental school is not that hard and you are right, the credits are different. 10 of our 26 or so credits are only one day a week. You waste a lot of time in Dental School with certain classes.

 

[bevoMBA90]

Dental school is not that hard and you are right, the credits are different. 10 of our 26 or so credits are only one day a week. You waste a lot of time in Dental School with certain classes.

Back in my day, we had 22 classes in year 1. But some classes were only 1 or 2 credit hours and you only went once or twice a week (i.e., intro to clinical lab and dental materials) for 8 weeks. Others were bears like Gross Anatomy: 12 credits and you lived there. Others were cake: Dental History 1.5 hours credit.

 

[spud daddy]

Dental school is not that hard and you are right, the credits are different. 10 of our 26 or so credits are only one day a week. You waste a lot of time in Dental School with certain classes.

Hahahaha I wish I could say that. I think everyone's experience is different. We all went to different undergrad institutions and will go to different dental schools. I did pretty well in undergrad and am doing extremely well in dental school but for me personally, dental school is A LOT tougher. 8 am-4 pm classes everyday are brutal. I only study 2 hours a day to stay sane but I know plenty of people in my class that stay up until midnight every night studying.

 

[armorshell]

Dental school is not that hard and you are right, the credits are different. 10 of our 26 or so credits are only one day a week. You waste a lot of time in Dental School with certain classes.

The ones I reported above were calculated exactly the same as my undergrad calculated credits: 1 hour in lecture per week = 1 credit, 3 hours in lab per week = 1 credit.

 

[FutureDent020]

The ones I reported above were calculated exactly the same as my undergrad calculated credits: 1 hour in lecture per week = 1 credit, 3 hours in lab per week = 1 credit.

I was just throwing some numbers around, but now I am looking at my schedule. We are technically in the midst of 32 credits. However, 15 of those credits are full year courses. Those courses include DA and Operative lecture at 3.5 credits; Operative lab at 6 credits; DA lab at 3 credits; and intro to clinical dentistry at 2.5 credits. The courses that will conclude at the end of the semester are Histology @ 5 credits, Physiology @ 6 credits, Correlated sciences @ 1 credit, Radiology @ 2 credits, and Gross Anatomy @ 3 credits. Gross anatomy was in the summer semester (our only class) and we spent 20 hours a week (4 per day including Lab +Lecture). So besides Gross Anatomy and ICD which we spend 4 hrs a week in, you are correct, the credits matchup. My point was that Radiology, ICD, Correlated Sciences and DA / Operative lecture are all pretty cake classes. Not all credit hours kick your *****. However, Histology, Physiology, Gross, and Labs are quite time consuming and worthy of the credit hours.
In undergrad, I had to put pretty even effort into all my courses. In school so far, most my effort goes into Operative Lab, Physiology, and Histology. And this makes sense since those 3 courses make up 17 credits

 

[americanpierg]

I was just throwing some numbers around, but now I am looking at my schedule. We are technically in the midst of 32 credits. However, 15 of those credits are full year courses. Those courses include DA and Operative lecture at 3.5 credits; Operative lab at 6 credits; DA lab at 3 credits; and intro to clinical dentistry at 2.5 credits. The courses that will conclude at the end of the semester are Histology @ 5 credits, Physiology @ 6 credits, Correlated sciences @ 1 credit, Radiology @ 2 credits, and Gross Anatomy @ 3 credits. Gross anatomy was in the summer semester (our only class) and we spent 20 hours a week (4 per day including Lab +Lecture). So besides Gross Anatomy and ICD which we spend 4 hrs a week in, you are correct, the credits matchup. My point was that Radiology, ICD, Correlated Sciences and DA / Operative lecture are all pretty cake classes. Not all credit hours kick your *****. However, Histology, Physiology, Gross, and Labs are quite time consuming and worthy of the credit hours.
In undergrad, I had to put pretty even effort into all my courses. In school so far, most my effort goes into Operative Lab, Physiology, and Histology. And this makes sense since those 3 courses make up 17 credits

I missed the part where he said all dental school curriculums are the same...

To the OP, Yes, you're spending about ~35-40 hours in the classroom/labs every week, which would come to around 30 credit hours... just like how undergrad credit hours are calculated.

The DIFFERENCE on why its not 2x as hard as undergrad is because there are less classes. It's much easier (for some people at least) studying for 5 classes than it is studying for 10 3-credit classes. Going to 4 classes for an hour each 3 times a week with 2 exams in each class throughout the semester... or going to a class for 3 hours 4 times a week with an exam every 2 weeks...

 

[FutureDent020]

I missed the part where he said all dental school curriculums are the same...

The point of my post was to explain to the OP that different classes require different work loads. I wasn't trying to say all curriculums were the same or that armorshell was wrong. I was listing my curriculum to help explain my point.

 

[Ostracized]

Yeah I have a tough time conceptualizing these crazy course loads as well. I understand that the credit load is massive, but there is simply no way that dental school is undergrad x 3, as one would be led to believe.

I'm in 3rd year dental school and I would beg to differ.

 

[yappy]

And you must walk to school, in the snow, uphill both ways.

Do they hand out mandatory F's in dental school? Are they attempting to write tests in order to weed/fail students? I've talked to alot of students and it seems like if you have a legit UG it is not 3X as difficult. Given the amount of time it takes most students to get good grades taking 4 sci / term there woundnt be enough time in the week to learn it all if it was 3X. I imagine you spend alot of time in class but I doubt this translates to the same amount of out of class time as UG for every class you take in DS.

I'm in 3rd year dental school and I would beg to differ.

 

[spud daddy]

And you must walk to school, in the snow, uphill both ways.

Do they hand out mandatory F's in dental school? Are they attempting to write tests in order to weed/fail students? I've talked to alot of students and it seems like if you have a legit UG it is not 3X as difficult. Given the amount of time it takes most students to get good grades taking 4 sci / term there woundnt be enough time in the week to learn it all if it was 3X. I imagine you spend alot of time in class but I doubt this translates to the same amount of out of class time as UG for every class you take in DS.

Why don't you just get in and find out for yourself since you seem to know all about dental school anyways.

 

[Medwell]

Are there any engineering undergrad dental students? How does the difficulty compare for you guys?

 

[armorshell]

Are there any engineering undergrad dental students? How does the difficulty compare for you guys?

An engineering major with FBF as an avatar? Blast it with piss.

 

[armorshell]

Are there any engineering undergrad dental students? How does the difficulty compare for you guys?

Yeah, my class had a bunch. They always complained about how hard it as adjusted to memorizing loads of information instead of just interpreting and utilizing concepts.

 

[FutureDent020]

Yeah, my class had a bunch. They always complained about how hard it as adjusted to memorizing loads of information instead of just interpreting and utilizing concepts.

Exactly this

 

[yappy]

I plan to do just that. refute my ideas with logic not by attacking me for not being in dental school. I'm just saying I dont think dental school will be 3x as hard academically b/c there are roughly 3x as many credits. why give people the wrong idea? I've known a few students who went on to DS and not one has said that there DS was 3X as hard as UG. I'm sure it's very hard though.

Why don't you just get in and find out for yourself since you seem to know all about dental school anyways.

 

[wwdaffodils]

I plan to do just that. refute my ideas with logic not by attacking me for not being in dental school. I'm just saying I dont think dental school will be 3x as hard academically b/c there are roughly 3x as many credits. why give people the wrong idea? I've known a few students who went on to DS and not one has said that there DS was 3X as hard as UG. I'm sure it's very hard though.

How much work you'll have to put into dental school depends on where you've been before dental school (undergrad, course work, major, etc.) and where you see yourself after dental school (residency plans, straight into private practice). Some kids in my class manage to have a good amount of free time; some kids are studying most of the time but still manage to go out a couple times a week; and some kids are always complaining about how much they study-- and you can see it in their tired faces that they're not kidding. You can guess, but you really won't know where you'll fall on the gradient until you actually get to school and see how you adjust to the massive amount of information you're expected to learn. For me, I'd like to think I had a pretty tough undergrad curriculum, but in hindsight undergrad was a cakewalk. I remember when I studied for the DAT, I studied about 8-12 hours straight every day for about a month, and I thought it couldn't get any worse... and now it feels like I'm studying for the DAT all the time .

 

[spud daddy]

I plan to do just that. refute my ideas with logic not by attacking me for not being in dental school. I'm just saying I dont think dental school will be 3x as hard academically b/c there are roughly 3x as many credits. why give people the wrong idea? I've known a few students who went on to DS and not one has said that there DS was 3X as hard as UG. I'm sure it's very hard though.

Logic didn't work with you when it was presented nor did actual student advice and opinion.

 

[dentalWorks]

Im sorry dudes, but, this thread is useless.

EVEN if dental school is 3-5 times harder than undergrad, its not like its a lifetime of misery, its 4 years, you go in and your done. Approx 4500 new dental students enter USA dental schools each year, and more than 90% of them eventually graduate with DDS/DMD, they adjusted to the heavy course load and SO WILL YOU.... Period

 

[Ostracized]

Here's good concept: dental school is definitely 3X harder than undergrad IF you are trying to maintain the same grades in DS as you got in UG. I just can't fathom getting straight As in dental school. I just go for a pass and I'm happy.