Dental School for Research

[MissSmiley]

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Is there anyone that wants to go to Dental School to just do research and not open a practice? I am interested to see who out there really wants to just work on improving dentistry as a field...

 

[Suren911]

Is there anyone that wants to go to Dental School to just do research and not open a practice? I am interested to see who out there really wants to just work on improving dentistry as a field...

I might do this when I get sick of what I do, which I doubt. But if I were to end up doing research, I'll probably look into something along the lines of tissue regeneration. This would be quite fascinating to study, however, research is always fleeing. Today's significant discovery may be merely dust compared to tomorrow's glorious findings. Research depresses me a little. However, if you find something incredible, your name may be remembered for the next century, at least - like Otto Loewi.

 

[MissSmiley]

Today's significant discovery may be merely dust compared to tomorrow's glorious findings.

You might be right about that.. but how do you get to tomorrow's glorious findings if you never discovered today's small part.

Anyways... I was just wondering if someone interviewed at the dental school and stated this, would that hurt their chances? Is it better just to say you want to be a dentist and let that be it?

 

[Suren911]

You might be right about that.. but how do you get to tomorrow's glorious findings if you never discovered today's small part.

Anyways... I was just wondering if someone interviewed at the dental school and stated this, would that hurt their chances? Is it better just to say you want to be a dentist and let that be it?

That's true. I personally am not patient enough to do research. Nor do I like to be proven wrong by later research. Not enough humility on my part? Perhaps. I don't think wanting to do research would hurt your chances at all. Some schools are quite big on research and will make you do research while you're in dental school while others are more clinically based. Either way, schools won't look at your desire for wanting to do research as something bad. They may even like it. Just be honest about it.

 

[laundry]

I Today's significant discovery may be merely dust compared to tomorrow's glorious findings.

...lol...We'd still be eating berries and hunting snails if everyone followed that philosophy.

As for me, I will hopefully be doing DDS/PhD at SF and practice in the faculty practice thereafter.

 

[Suren911]

...lol...We'd still be eating berries and hunting snails if everyone followed that philosophy.

You don't think that's a good lifestyle? Do you consider that "primitive" and "uncivilized?" Who are we to judge the foraging/hunter-gatherer lifestyle to be backwards? It seems like you're insinuating that we somehow enhance our lives by making things so complicated and making scientific advances. Sure, it's nifty when we all have iPods hanging out of our ears, working 9-5 to make money, but foragers only spend about two hours per day gathering food. Nature supplies all they need. The rest of the day, they are simply enjoying themselves. How is research so beneficial to mankind is still beyond me. In the recent centuries, we've created more and more problems and pollution on earth than we ever have in the past. By improving health care and elongating our lives, we're only putting more pressure on the future generations to support the ever growing old folks population. Are we really working towards a better goal by being so scientific and shifting the world and its marvelous aspects by playing, oh dare I say, God?

 

[laundry]

Suren jan...

You don't think that's a good lifestyle? Do you consider that "primitive" and "uncivilized?" Who are we to judge the foraging/hunter-gatherer lifestyle to be backwards? It seems like you're insinuating that we somehow enhance our lives by making things so complicated and making scientific advances.

...are you high?

Sure, it's nifty when we all have iPods hanging out of our ears, working 9-5 to make money, but foragers only spend about two hours per day gathering food. Nature supplies all they need. The rest of the day, they are simply enjoying themselves.

... 2 hours? you have less clue about surviving in the wild than an amphipod...I wish you knew how stupid that sounded...

How is research so beneficial to mankind is still beyond me. In the recent centuries, we've created more and more problems and pollution on earth than we ever have in the past. By improving health care and elongating our lives, we're only putting more pressure on the future generations to support the ever growing old folks population. Are we really working towards a better goal by being so scientific and shifting the world and its marvelous aspects by playing, oh dare I say, God?

...lol...either you are really, and I mean really, good with sarcasm, or you are truly suffering a severe case or cretinism....

I'm sorry, I'm typically a nic guy, but this is stupid.

 

[UCSF2012]

Suren's usually very bold in her statements

 

[jigabodo]

Suren's usually very bold in her statements

She is. I mean, check out her avatar!

 

[bluejellybelly]

I prefer to teach dentistry but I was told by one comittee member that it might not look so good to say such, since they prefer clinical students. I always thought being a teacher was awesome to further the field of dentistry! So I lied at my next interview and said that I was just strictly interested in practicing. Of course, it didn't hurt me, even though I was surprised at the member's feedback.

 

[dr bojangles]

yeah, im looking into dmd/phd. tough road to go down, still have to talk to more people and explore all the options. research/teaching would be nice, but having a clinical obligation as well is key.

 

[Suren911]

...are you high?



... 2 hours? you have less clue about surviving in the wild than an amphipod...I wish you knew how stupid that sounded...


...lol...either you are really, and I mean really, good with sarcasm, or you are truly suffering a severe case or cretinism....

I'm sorry, I'm typically a nic guy, but this is stupid.

You can't ask me to take you seriously when you've insulted me and called me stupid. I am not offended, however. I am actually quite serious about my previous statements. I took an anthropology course and learned quite a bit about foragers who have lived in the wild for millenia. By no means does it makes me an expert on how to live in the wild. In fact, like majority of the people in the world, we have already lost our basic instincts that enable us to survive in the wild. Why? because we've become so dependent of technology. I offer you some case studies of why this commonly and ethnocentrically called "primitive" lifestyle isn't primitive, but rather, sufficient and efficient in creating a balanced ecosystem compared to our comfortable and "cultured" American lifestyle.

Case study 1: The Abelams. They are from the Eastern part of Papua New Guinea. Majority of their days consist of nursing their young and performing rituals. Time they spent gathering food is a measly portion of their entire day span as they harvest yams and hunt for small animals and fish for a living. Their diet is diverse and nutritional. The cyclic growth of yams gives earth rest and maintain a healthy ecosystem. In this way, they've been well served by nature for millenia.

Case study 2: The forest people or "Pygmies" of Congo. Men group hunt for animals several times a week. One large animal can feed an entire village for days. If they don't succeed, their women counter parts gather fruits and nuts, specifically Mongongo nuts which are high in caloric content. A handful has caloric equivalency of a 14 oz T-bone steak. Adults are well fed on an average of at the very bare minimum 3,000cal diet per day. Even small children know how to hunt and gather food. Only about 2-4 hours are spent on food gathering. They have no need to become sedentary, nor do they need iPods or computers or refrigerators. Simply efficient and eco friendly. Surely it would take us more than 2 hours to get food in the wild. We've lost our ancestral abilities to do so efficiently.

Case study 3: The average American life. We spend between 9-5 in a work setting. We produce pollution which is recycled in the air we breathe, not to mention radiation and freon destroying our bodies, natural habitat and the ozone. We've replaced nature with these wonderful technological advances, creating heaps of garbage dumps which are further recycled back into our lives. Intead of letting nature take its course, we're creating antibiotics to resist diseases and the inevitable death. Why are we making things so complicated? Is this all that great? We bust our backs to pay bills and deal with stacks of papers. Taxes and insurance, you name it. The inconvenience we've made for ourselves has become somehow, a blessing.

--

Sarcasm is another service I offer, but I was being quite genuine about what I had just stated. I welcome any counter arguments done in a friendly and respectful manner.

 

[laundry]

that's all very nice, but if you truly believe that

How is research so beneficial to mankind is still beyond me.

and think that somehow scientific reseach is all about

iPods hanging out of our ears, working 9-5 to make money

then, sorry, but you do sound pretty dumb...

If you look so highly at primitive cultures, then next time you get a cold stop and think about all the research advancement, cause it's the reason you don't die from it. It's also the reason you will live your 78-82 years, whereas your glorified indigenous people might live to 45-50 if they are lucky.

get a clue, instead of bashing scientific progress because you took an anthropology course and think that we should all go back to the good old days of berry picking.


Why are you wanting to become a dentist anyway? You are going to extend their quality of life, perhaps even life span, further stressing the planet. You will also help the candy business, cause, hey, why not eat candy if you can deal with the cavities. So now the candy factories will keep producing candy, and keep polluting...

oh yea, and about "playing God"...maybe you think stem cell research is also bad? Aren't you going to be a doctor? How can you be helping people if you think that extending their health just stresses the planet. I know you're trying to sound environmentally sexy and all, but this ain't the way to do it, kiddo. 👍

 

[dr bojangles]

suren911, though i appreciate your ability to defend your stance with knowledge you gained in an anthro course, this is not a book report. i'm gonna have to go ahead and give you the HIJACKED THREAD award for today.

back on topic.....missSmiley......i think it depends on the school you're applying to. you have to gauge what they want and translate it into your PS or better yet, the interview. schools like ucsf and harvard like to see research people, whereas uop, temple, etc. want great clinicians. this is not to say that all schools don't want a little bit of both, but your best bet is check the reputation of the school. for instance, i'm pretty sure that ucsf, harvard, asdoh, and uconn have NIH funding, which i'd correlate with A-game research.
i'm in a somewhat similar situation. good luck.

 

[Suren911]

that's all very nice, but if you truly believe that
and think that somehow scientific reseach is all about then, sorry, but you do sound pretty dumb...

If you look so highly at primitive cultures, then next time you get a cold stop and think about all the research advancement, cause it's the reason you don't die from it. It's also the reason you will live your 78-82 years, whereas your glorified indigenous people might live to 45-50 if they are lucky.

get a clue, instead of bashing scientific progress because you took an anthropology course and think that we should all go back to the good old days of berry picking.


👍

oh yea, and about "playing God"...maybe you think stem cell research is also bad?

Why are you wanting to become a dentist anyway? You are going to extend their quality of life, perhaps even life span, further stressing the planet. You will also help the candy business, cause, hey, why not eat candy if you can deal with the cavities. So now the candy factories will keep producing candy, and keep polluting...

Here we go with calling me names again.

I never said I prefer these so called "primitive" cultures. Your ethnocentric name calling and labeling other cultures as "primitive" itself shows how open minded and enlightened you are. You are judgmental and refuse to think outside of the box. We die for a reason, and it's for a good reason. So that we leave more resources for others. I'm not looking down on our world today. It has come to what it has come to. I fully accept it and am participating in this lifestyle myself. But I refuse to be narrowminded and judge other cultures as being primitive and inferior. Every culture has its positives and negatives, and I think of everyone as being equal. No one is inferior or superior than another.

Why are you questioning my goals? I wonder why all of a sudden this has become personal. But if you must know, I want to become a dentist because I want to help people. There are a lot of diseases that correlation to poor oral health. I take pride in the fruit of my work and will gladly serve others. I'm not some nihilist who thinks everyone should just die. If you could put down your pride and take a step back, you'd understand where I'm coming from.

At any rate, this is not an interesting argument.

 

[TheWiredNerv]

I'd imagine dentist engaging in research have practiced in some point in their career just to see techniques in action and the results of them. I'm sure many researchers would love to have more in their lab.

 

[MissSmiley]

Thank you for all those that actually provided helpful commentary...

I will definitely look at putting a spin on my personal statement to make it lean towards the clinical side... I hoped it would make me different, but unfortunately I think this particular difference is something the schools are not looking for.

I know very few dentists that actually decided to touch experimental procedures in their practice. I would have to say the only ones I encountered that actually did this, were the ones that taught at the schools and had their own practice.