Goign to buffalo

[boyan]

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Hello,

Please post here anything related to Buffalo.

UBTom, as a current student I will leave the first post to you ....

 

[UBTom]

We actually have a pretty good contingent here..

Two of my classmates are also around.. Griffin04 and Docdrtysanchez.

Funny how I don't see many (actually, any) posters from the Class of '05, '06 or '07 from UB here. Oh, wait... They are busy studying. That's why.

And yes, I'm slacking off because we just finished our National Board Part-II today. I got hammered, but that's okay.. The important thing is that it's OVER! (whee!)

 

[speter33]

Tom how much do u struggle getting patients? Is it at all a problem getting good clinical experience at Buffalo?

 

[boyan]

OK ... belive it or not but JUST NOW the mail came and I went to get it ... I have a letter from buffalo .... I have not opened it yet .... but I am going to right now ....

 

[speter33]

U have a nak for suspense

 

[boyan]

I am really serious. I checked the status online and I knew that I am accepted but never got anything in the mail. Now it is 100% official

 

[jota]

Congrats! And congrats to UBTom for being done with the boards

 

[UBTom]

to SPeter33:

There are two kinds of patients that I struggled a bit to get: Fixed (those who are WILLING to pay for bridges and crowns) and completely-edentulous patients (those who need both a Complete Upper and Complete Lower dentures).

Fixed is a bit fickle because crowns and bridges are expensive. Even though UB charges only $333 for a crown, it is still quite a chunk of change and most patients are a bit hesitant to pay for a crown. I try to remind them that if they go to an outside dentist it will cost them upwards of $600 for a crown.. Unfortunately money is money. 😛

Completely-edentulous patients are a bit difficult to find because these days people are keeping their teeth longer and longer. They are out there though, and fortunately for us we only need to do one completely-edentulous case during our time in clinic to satisfy that particular graduation requirement.

These two kinds of patients you might have to try to find on your own, but when 4th year rolls around, our clinic directors will give priority assigning patients to the seniors who needs that kind of cases to graduate so at least we aren't totally out in the cold.

HTH!

 

[boyan]

Tom can you give us some information about the number of procedures we have to do in each field: for example - 20 extractions, 5 crowns, 5 root canels and so on ...

 

[UBTom]

Root canals - During 3rd year you have do at least two single-canal RCTs (incisor, canine or premolar). During 4th year you have to do at least one molar.

Fixed - ideally they want you to do 4 units during 3rd year, and 9 units in 4th year.

Removable - 2 arches in 3rd year, 6 arches in 4th year. (must include at least 1 partial denture and the aforementioned 1 CU/CL case.

Perio - Gotta do at least 1 perio case (4 quadrant scaling and root planing) in 3rd year, at least 2 in 4th year, and 1 perio surgery.

Operative - Gotta do A LOT. I lost count of how many cavities I've filled over the past few semesters.. 😛 Restorations are worth X points for Y surfaces and you have to accumulate 180 points of operative during 3rd year and 280 in 4th. I think by the time my class is done we would have filled all of the cavities in Western New York, LOL..

There isn't any set requirements for extractions.. You'll get to do plenty of those on OMFS rotations though.

Buffalo is definitely a clinic-oriented school.

 

[UBTom]

It's official-- For the 4th year in a row, Amherst NY (right across the street from UB) is again the safest city in the U.S.:

http://www.morganquitno.com/safecity.htm

 

[gryffindor]

We're not in school 24/7 at Buffalo. I was asked about the vacation time we get, so I'll post it here.

We get a good amount of vacation. First year you will start in early August with orientation, and classes start in mid-August. You get Labor Day, Yom Kippur, and then three days (Wed, Thurs, Fri) at Thanksgiving. Christmas break is two weeks. Martin Luther King Day off, 1 week in March for spring break, 1 day at Easter, Memorial Day. First year ends in the third week of June (like around the 20th) and second year doesn't begin till the middle of August, so that is lots of time off.

Second year ends in the first week of June (like the 5th) and third year starts in the middle of August. However, boards fall in the middle of July (like the 15th) so really it is 5 weeks of studying for boards, and 4 - 5 weeks off after boards.

Third year ends in the first week of June and fourth year starts in the middle of August. Fourth year you are required to do an externship over the summer, but there are many choices for that. For example, my externship involved a few days after school before school let out and one Saturday morning of my time. So I had the entire 10 week break to do whatever I wanted. The majority of students did 2 or 3 week externships where they came to school each day to do things like the Pedo externship, Emergency, Oral Surgery, Endo, Perio, etc. Summer research can count as an externship. You can also arrange to do an externship experience in another city and have it count. Four students worked for the Indian Health Services at sites around the country. UBTom did his at Bellvue Hospital in NYC. The only stipulation about the externship is that it cannot be done in a private office/private clinic setting. Some ambitious students have been setting up some mission trips to Central America this summer which will also count.

So there is plenty of time to do stuff over the summers. You'll have plenty of time on the weekends second semester of second year, all of third year and now in fourth year to puruse hobbies you might have (ski, shop, sleep, etc.). First year and first semester of second year are tough and time is limited in those years. There is plenty of time fourth year to waste time on the weekends doing absolutely nothing school related.

158 days till May 8, 2004.....

 

[boyan]

Thank you very much for the Info. It really helps. I cant wait to start school ....
I am also mailing my depostit today!

 

[WS2004]

I think I might be leaning towards Buffalo, too. . .thanks for the great posts! The extra info really helps this decision. 🙂

 

[gryffindor]

Tom is right about the requirements, but you forgot one. Every student has to do at least one bridge to graduate (either FPD or resin-retained).

You have to do the minimums and the school will provide you with the patients to meet the minimums. If you want more experience in a certain discipline, you just have to be a little aggressive about it. For example, I have done 5 root canals so far (and hopefully no more!) when it is kinda tough to even get the 3 you absolutely must do. There are seniors doing some crazy esthetic fixed cases - 6 unit bridges, canine to canine porcelain crowns, seniors working in the Esthetic Dental Center, etc. But you have to be persistent to get these cases if you want them.

For example, I hate pulling teeth. There is plenty of opportunity to pull tons of teeth in oral surgery - the hospitals we rotate at (Buffalo General Hospital and Erie County Medical Center) are teeming with patients in the walk-in clinics waiting to get their teeth pulled. So many that we sometimes have to send them home at the close of the day without pulling their teeth because we just don't have enough people to do it. But when I am on my Oral Surgery rotation, I am very happy to let the eager junior students do the work while I'll take the history and "supervise" and offer my words of wisdom as a senior. If you love pedo, we have to do 2 weeks of pediatric dentistry every semester junior & senior years, and that is A LOT of pedo. You will see tons of kids and do prophies and operative. But it doesn't end there. Children's Hospital (where we go for 1 of the 2 weeks) is overflowing with kids. You are more than welcome to go do extra clinic sessions on Saturdays and work in the clinics there over the summer if you are inclined to get more experience with kids.

The experiences are there, you just have to seek them out if you want to do more than the minimums. However, the minimums are more than enough to keep you busy. The only discipline we are lacking in any clinical exposure is ortho. Ortho is a joke at our school. The bottom line of the courses and lectures taught by that department can easily be summed in one sentence - "What do you do in this case? Refer to the orthodontist."

Yay for Buffalo! It's great to see this excitement for our school!

 

[boyan]

Thank you again for the info.
From what I know the school could also offer you to minor in some specialty if you really like doing something specific. What can you minor in and how does that work?
Also how come the ortho department is lacking like this. What if people want to specialize in ortho - does that mean that they cant get good enough training and they are not competitive after this when applying for residency?

 

[UBTom]

Hey Boyan,

Welcome to the UB family! I'm sure your four years here will be rewarding. There will be trials and tribulations, moments of joy and sheer frustration, but that's part of the dental school experience everywhere I'm sure.

The minors offered at UB during senior year: Pedo, endo, perio, fixed prostho, and oral medicine.

Even though our clinical exposure to ortho is not that in-depth, Griffin04 tells me there are a lot of people in my class applying for ortho though (like 7) if that's any indication.

As far as being able to match into all the other specialty programs like OMS, perio, endo, pedo, etc., UB will indeed prepare you well for those. (Lots of people from my class are also applying OMFS this year too-- eight).

Unlike Griffin04, I love doing extractions. Instant gratification for me. 😀 Unfortunately, I'm too darn old to go into OMFS..

 

[boyan]

Hey, I have another question:

How are the exams structured at Buffalo - are they only multiple choice tests or you also have to write like essays; do you take them on the computer or paper and pencil? Do you also have to write lab reports like the way it is in undergrad? Just curious about all that ...

 

[UBTom]

Hey Boyan,

Almost all of the exams are MCQ-type tests. The only exams we had that were fill-ins would be:

- Gross Anatomy. You know how practicals work-- You walk around identifying tagged structures and answer questions like "what does the tagged nerve innervate?" etc.

- Preclinical lab practicals (includes Operative, Fixed, and Removable). You walk around identifying instruments, teeth, etc.

- Pediatric dentistry. Bunch of fill-ins and MCQs.

- Radiology. Bunch of fill-ins and MCQs

Except those, all the exams are MCQs and you use Scantron bubble sheets. The key to surviving exams at UB is to look at old exams. ALWAYS get together with a few classmates and share any old exams you all manage to get from an upperclassman. That way everybody will get A's. 😀

Some courses have homework assignments that you have to hand in, but those are pretty far in between.

HTH!

 

[boyan]

For those joining me at Buffalo please try this:

http://student.sdm.buffalo.edu/board/2008/index.asp

 

[sallyubc]

UBTOM and Griffin,

How come my application is still on hold, am sick of waiting!! am not getting a rejection which is a good thing but no interview as well... when do you think they will start interviewing Canadians...


😡

 

[UBTom]

Hi Sally,

I got an idea in which you can make a discreet inquiry. Open a hotmail or yahoo account and email an inquiry to Dr. Robert Joynt ([email protected]) from it. Ask him when does UB start to interview Canadian candidates this year. Mention that you have already been accepted to other schools (i.e. Case) and need the information to decide whether or not to send deposits to the other schools.

Don't mention your name of course. 😀

The worst he can do is not give you an answer. Good luck!

 

[xkurkox]

im in baby

called Baraba today had my interview yesterday

Thanks Tom and Thomas Cingel

 

[UBTom]

LOL, Tom C. is a good guy. How did you make his acquaintence?

Anyway, I guess the hard part for you is up next... Choosing which school you want to go to! Congrats!

 

[xkurkox]

Im 100% sure im going to Buffalo Dental... I liked it better then my two other top choices, stony brook which is the size of my basement lol.. and about the same as upenn, but after looking at the price... Tom C. was one of the students who talked to us, well we mostly spoke about how much snowboarding i can get in during school. By the way i mentioned your name during the interview and how much info i got about the school from your posts.

do you know any people graduating and leaving nice apt. ?

Paul

 

[UBTom]

Welcome to the UB Family! I'm sure you will have a good four years here.

Yes, there will be lots of vacancies when my class graduates... Lots of guys from my class live in various apartments in Amherst (including me). Probably around April most of us will have finalized our plans to move so that would be the best time to scope out one of our digs. 😀

One more thing I want to mention for all of you coming to Buffalo: Bring a bike if you can! We got an AWESOME bike trail system here.

 

[xkurkox]

So your saying the best time to come up and look at a place to rent is april? I have checked out the internet but there arent too much up to day info on rentals. Im looking for a studio or one bedroom apt my first year within 10 min driving distance. Would going to a broker be a good idea?

thanks Tom

 

[jota]

I second that the UB bike trail rules!!!

For biking, roller blading, running, whatever....

 

[xkurkox]

got into upenn im gonna frame that letter next to my Buffalo degree lol

 

[UBTom]

Hey Paul,

Yep, there will be PLENTY of nice apartments available come April when all the Seniors finalize their plans on moving out. Remind me when the time comes and I'll ask around to see who has the kind of place you are looking for and if they are looking for someone to continue the lease.

How much are you willing to pay for rent and utilities? Me, I'm paying $570/mo rent and $150 utilities (electricity, phone bill, cable tv AND BROADBAND!!) for my 2-bedroom apartment. Unbelievable. $720/month will get you a broom closet in NYC, but up here I'm living like a king. 😀


to Jota:

Welcome to the UB family too!

Just my luck-- They are going to finish up the bike trail connection eastwards with the rest of the Erie Canal trail system shortly AFTER I leave. 🙄 Ah well...

How far have you ridden the trail? The farthest I've gone was from the trailhead at the Pepsi Center all the way down the Niagara River to waterfront Buffalo on the shores of Lake Erie. Round trip is like 50 miles and boy was I sore afterwards.. 😛

 

[gryffindor]

Originally posted by xkurkox
So your saying the best time to come up and look at a place to rent is april? I have checked out the internet but there arent too much up to day info on rentals. Im looking for a studio or one bedroom apt my first year within 10 min driving distance. Would going to a broker be a good idea?

thanks Tom

Haha. There is no need to get a broker up here to find an apartment. Western New York is not a happening place where normal priced apartments are tough to come by. Come search around in April (you could even come in May or June and still be ok) and you will find more than what you are looking for.

I pay $375/month (utilitites included). That is a steal. I'd say average about $550/month for rent + utilities is a good estimate. You'd pay a little more if you need to live by yourself (like Tom does) or a little less if you are willing to put up with a roommate (like me).

Housing is the least of your problems in Buffalo.

 

[xkurkox]

geeze i check the weather in buffalo from time to time and it seems to snow everyday. The other day this guy from Buffalo told me they had 80 inches of snow on the ground once. I guess ill be snowboarding to class. Anyone else going to Buffalo here?
Whats with charging 3500$ for a ****ty laptop

 

[UBTom]

Hey Paul,

Yep, that was the Blizzard of '02. You want to know what's funny? That 80-inch storm happened over Christmas Break-- When nobody is here! 😀 I was in NYC for Christmas vacation and missed the whole thing.

We haven't had any significant snowfall yet this season except a dusting over Christmas... Again when nobody (except my poor classmate Griffin LOL) was here!

Moral of the story: NYC is a good place to visit during Christmas break.

Which laptop does the school want you guys to get? I'm pretty sure whatever it is you guys are getting must be better than that POS Apple Powerbook G3 my class got stuck with! 😛

 

[WS2004]

To any of the current Buffalo students:

I noticed on the website from the previous academic calendar that there is a 2 week orientation for the incoming class in early August before classes start. What exactly do we do during orientation?

Also, do you have a general idea of when the calendar will be posted for the coming academic year? I need an idea of when I need to be in Buffalo for a research program and for vacation plans.

Thanks! 🙂

 

[UBTom]

Hi WS2004,

When my class went through Freshman Orientation, it was 5 days cram-packed with so much stuff, with sessions such as:

- registration and financial aid stuff.

- checking into the preclinic labs and going through your kit issues (instruments, materials, and other items) to make sure you got everything,

- computing sessions to show the students how to use things like the MedLine search engine at the library, how to get on the net with the wireless network, etc. and to show the students how to use the Vitalbook electronic textbook thing.

- CPR training. All freshmen are required to go through a 1-day basic life support instruction session and exam to get certified.

- Meeting your upperclassmen mentors. Each freshman will have a sophomore assigned to him/her as a mentor. These guys have LOTS of old exams that will help you immensely in passing the courses. ASK FOR THOSE!!!

- Convocation and White Coat Ceremony to welcome you to the profession.

- And lots more stuff. 😀

Orientation was so busy during my year that every day for five days we started at 8AM and finished at 5PM. I think they might have made all that computer and IT stuff into a week-long thing so you guys won't feel so rushed.

Next year's academic calendar should be out sometime in June I think. Every year that's when I receive mine so I can map out my schedule for the next semester (i.e. mark off days off from school and important events in my schedule book).

Hope this helps!

 

[gryffindor]

WS2004,

They changed orientation to a full 2 weeks starting with the class of 2006. What you do for the first week is take a computer course to familiarize the first years with all the computer applications and the VitalSource stuff (the DVD with your books on it). This is a course that goes on your transcript. The second week is all the activities that Tom wrote about, minus the computing stuff b/c it's covered in week 1.

For the classes of 2006 & 2007, orientation has started the first Monday in August for first years so you should plan on being in Buffalo by that time.

 

[xkurkox]

I think the two week orientation is a great idea. It will give us more time to get to know each other and party together. It says we are going to a bar the first night. I see the guy/girl ratio kinda sucks though, but the undergrads arent far.

 

[WS2004]

Hi! I have a few questions about grading at UB for any of the current students there.

What is the grading scheme at UB? Is it solid A, B, C or scale are there +/-? How difficult is it to get an A in a course? Some professors at my school view a B as excellent and a knowledge that parallels a professor's in a course will get you an A. Is it this difficult at UB?

Also, did your grades in undergrad (for science majors) stay the same, improve or go lower in dental school?

I know that this might seem a but neurotic worrying about grades before I've even started but I just wanted to get a feel for what to expect!

Thanks 🙂

 

[UBTom]

Hi WS2004,

Don't worry-- You'll do fine. 🙂

The grading scheme at UB is the standard system most other schools use: 4.0 is an A, 3.0 is a B, 2.0 is a C, etc.

The grading for exams are pretty straightforward-- For the vast majority of our exams, curves are not necessary... 90 and up are A's, 89-80 are B's, 79-70 are C's. One must get at least a 70 in most exams to pass. There are some courses that are more difficult which require a curve though. It was pretty reasonable I think.

I feel it is not difficult to maintain a B average. If you put in a little more work you can get plenty of A's no probs.

The nice thing about exams here at UB is that the instructors are flexible about exam dates-- They will try to set exam dates so that you have only one exam on a particular day rather than having back-to-back exams. Back-to-back exams still happens sometimes though, but they do make an effort to minimize it.

The vast majority of exams here at UB are MCQ's (multiple choice questions). Only in certain subjects do you get fill-in/long-answer-type exams, like the practicals in Gross Anatomy.

Personally, I did better in dental school than I did in undergrad... But that's because in undergrad I was a party animal. 😀

Of the 89 people in my class since Freshman year, we are all still here (nobody got booted) except two Canadian students who transferred to the University of Toronto. 4 had to repeat a year because they failed one class (2 failed Gross, 2 did not meet the clinical requirements in 3rd year). My class has a large number of older students though so maybe we are more settled and mature, perhaps.

As long as you have a circle of classmates and get together for mutual support, share old exams and compare notes, and willing to do the work and not procrastinate, you will do awesomely!

HTH!

 

[WS2004]

Thanks! I really appreciate your response 🙂

 

[xkurkox]

Just finished reading The DaVince Code, I like your Mona Lisa.

 

[jack604]

...

 

[xkurkox]

I was really pissed by the fact that I would have to spend 3800$ on a laptop the school chose. So I emailed Dr. Jones who?s in charge of the dvd/laptop program. This is the reply I received.

?The specs have not yet been determined for this year. We usually meet with
the vendors each year in Feb/March. Last year the choices were the IBM
Thinkpad T40, 1.5 GHz and the Apple Powerbook G4, 1 GHz. Each had 40 GB
HArd drive and 512 RAM. The computer comes with a package of stuff
including a 4-year service agreement, wireless networking, computer locks,
USB cable, surge protector, computer case, printer, and software including
MS Office. We usually get a great price on the computer itself, much less
than the $3,800, so the $3,800 includes the rest of the package and an
estimate on what you may use in terms of paper and printer cartridges. So
in many cases you may not actually spend $3,800, but you will have
financial aid budget up to that amount. Hope this helps. We will
distribute information about this year later this spring. Dr. Pameal
Jones, Assistant Dean?

Doesn?t sound that bad after all.
🙂

 

[spooky42]

just got back from buffalo interview. off to penn now.

 

[UBTom]

I have a cousin who is an MS2 at NYU Medical School and she just bought a Thinkpad T40 through her school. That is one SWEET machine!

Over this past Christmas I took delivery of the smaller Thinkpad X31 which is pretty good too... But in retrospect I like the T40 better because its optical drive is built into the chassis rather than in a docking station like mine..

You guys are lucky-- During freshman year my class got stuck with a POS unreliable Apple Powerbook G3 which is a 10-pound ball-and-chain. 😛

 

[hi-speed513]

hi...just wondering if any non-New Yorkers have received interview invites/acceptances from Buffalo?