How are D3 and D4 compared to D1 and D2 in terms of stress and free time?
How are D3 and D4 compared to D1 and D2 in terms of stress and free time?
- Thread starter Bigbirdo
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D3 here. I'd say the days are more stressful, but I have more free time compared to D2 year. D1 year was by far the easiest year with the most free time. Schools will be variable with this.
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depends on what school you go to. clinic stress is a whole different kind of stress in my opinion, but overall i think it's better than D1 and D2
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More stress, more free time.
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Do you deal with your classmates in D3 and D4 less than you did in D1 and D2, because you are mostly in clinic now in D3 and D4.
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From what I've seen, DS1 is possibly the least stressful because its mostly school work like we've all been doing forever and there's a surprising amount of free time (might be different if you're on the specialization route). DS2 seems to be a ton of time in the sim clinic with lots of lab work that you can't possibly finish in class hours so you will have a bunch of work outside of class, aka less free time. DS3 is a lot less classes, but you're in the clinic finally and you kinda have no idea whats going on half the time so its pretty stressful but you have the most free time. I haven't talked to many DS4s because they're all busy getting their lives together, but it seems like the lots of stress there would stem from trying to pass all the licence exams and figuring out what the f*** you are doing once you're out.
Personally, I'm just a DS1 and have experience very little stress and has had plenty of time to go on all sorts of adventures. We are on a pass no pass system too (with the possibility to get an 'honors pass' at a certain cut off in the 90's decided by the instructor)
Personally, I'm just a DS1 and have experience very little stress and has had plenty of time to go on all sorts of adventures. We are on a pass no pass system too (with the possibility to get an 'honors pass' at a certain cut off in the 90's decided by the instructor)
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D1= not the biggest workload but the most difficult + stressful for me because adjusting to dental school life was not easy at 1st.
D2= more work but somehow got less stressful because I was used to it and knew what I needed to do to get the grades I wanted.
D3= clinic---new stresses but better than preclinic. more exciting. classes were pretty light except midterm/finals weeks. I worked hard to get a lot of requirements done.
D4= clinic no classes. super chill. pretty much done with requirements...senioritis. trying to still see patients but its easy to be lazy 🙂
- can be stressful especially with applying to residency/license exams/making sure your requirements don't fall through but everyone gets through it.
if you work hard and focus dental school gets easier through the years and all of a sudden its finally over!
D2= more work but somehow got less stressful because I was used to it and knew what I needed to do to get the grades I wanted.
D3= clinic---new stresses but better than preclinic. more exciting. classes were pretty light except midterm/finals weeks. I worked hard to get a lot of requirements done.
D4= clinic no classes. super chill. pretty much done with requirements...senioritis. trying to still see patients but its easy to be lazy 🙂
- can be stressful especially with applying to residency/license exams/making sure your requirements don't fall through but everyone gets through it.
if you work hard and focus dental school gets easier through the years and all of a sudden its finally over!
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Your friendly neighborhood Dr Kyak here, with some notes on stress during dental school.
Different types of stress. You spend the first 2 years trying to get into the clinic, and the last 2 desperately striving to get out of it. The initial stress of exams q2days shifts to patients who don't show up, faculty who seem like dicks (and absolutely may be) but in general are just trying to help you to learn our profession, cases that go south for no fault of yours and now you need another RPD to graduate, patient-boards that are incredibly high stakes, plus now you need to look for a residency or job, and that stack of debt is climbing to unsustainable levels.....
Here's what you do: find some damn hobbies. Whatever you do, provided it's not medicine or dentistry or patients or any of that. A good friend of mine is an auto mechanic every couple weekends, and no one knows that the #1 student in his class is a grease monkey q2 saturday. I lift weights, go bowling...during D1 I rebuilt a piano then became a Big Brother, and have started work on becoming a pilot. One classmate of mine has an unhealthy obsession with model trains. The Golf Bro Dentist Squad are easy to spot. People with families especially kids are stressed, but get to go home and play with tiny humans after school. Ideally, this is a hobby you can actively do for a few minutes to an hour or so, every day.
OTOH, some of your classmates will develop major problems with Sex, Drugs, or Rock'n'Roll. Some are "killing it on Tindr" but are becoming dead inside, plus now have this worrisome rash from a ONS that seemed like a good idea at the time but now they can't track down. Others begin lifelong struggles with alcohol/drugs (it's not a joke guys, please get help if you notice you're slipping) because they can't handle the stress. And I can't even imagine what a RocknRoll problem looks like.
We'll lose a dental student or two every few years to suicide.
Dental school stress isn't a joke. For me the overall level didn't change, just the specific agonist on my stress receptors.
Find stress antagonists. Develop hobbies that let you have dreams about something outside of occlusal anatomy (seriously, those nightmares were the "wake-up call" sign that I needed help). For you pre-dents, spend time learning how to sew or knit or fly or weave baskets before the real stress hits.
And if it gets to be too much, do something, anything, before you give up. Remember that it gets better. Spend time with your family. Go fishing. Get help from a psychiatrist. Go to the shooting range (a personal favorite when feces collides with air circulation appliances). Masturbate. Take a 5 minute walk outside. Ask the good DrK right here for a Rx to go kayaking. Go play chess at the VA and get some perspective on life. Whatever you do, go do that thing for a few minutes.
Invest a few minutes per day in making sure that you remain a functional human person.
We're in this together gang. Just remember: It gets better.
dk
Different types of stress. You spend the first 2 years trying to get into the clinic, and the last 2 desperately striving to get out of it. The initial stress of exams q2days shifts to patients who don't show up, faculty who seem like dicks (and absolutely may be) but in general are just trying to help you to learn our profession, cases that go south for no fault of yours and now you need another RPD to graduate, patient-boards that are incredibly high stakes, plus now you need to look for a residency or job, and that stack of debt is climbing to unsustainable levels.....
Here's what you do: find some damn hobbies. Whatever you do, provided it's not medicine or dentistry or patients or any of that. A good friend of mine is an auto mechanic every couple weekends, and no one knows that the #1 student in his class is a grease monkey q2 saturday. I lift weights, go bowling...during D1 I rebuilt a piano then became a Big Brother, and have started work on becoming a pilot. One classmate of mine has an unhealthy obsession with model trains. The Golf Bro Dentist Squad are easy to spot. People with families especially kids are stressed, but get to go home and play with tiny humans after school. Ideally, this is a hobby you can actively do for a few minutes to an hour or so, every day.
OTOH, some of your classmates will develop major problems with Sex, Drugs, or Rock'n'Roll. Some are "killing it on Tindr" but are becoming dead inside, plus now have this worrisome rash from a ONS that seemed like a good idea at the time but now they can't track down. Others begin lifelong struggles with alcohol/drugs (it's not a joke guys, please get help if you notice you're slipping) because they can't handle the stress. And I can't even imagine what a RocknRoll problem looks like.
We'll lose a dental student or two every few years to suicide.
Dental school stress isn't a joke. For me the overall level didn't change, just the specific agonist on my stress receptors.
Find stress antagonists. Develop hobbies that let you have dreams about something outside of occlusal anatomy (seriously, those nightmares were the "wake-up call" sign that I needed help). For you pre-dents, spend time learning how to sew or knit or fly or weave baskets before the real stress hits.
And if it gets to be too much, do something, anything, before you give up. Remember that it gets better. Spend time with your family. Go fishing. Get help from a psychiatrist. Go to the shooting range (a personal favorite when feces collides with air circulation appliances). Masturbate. Take a 5 minute walk outside. Ask the good DrK right here for a Rx to go kayaking. Go play chess at the VA and get some perspective on life. Whatever you do, go do that thing for a few minutes.
Invest a few minutes per day in making sure that you remain a functional human person.
We're in this together gang. Just remember: It gets better.
dk
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Bumping this for all those rising D1 students out there..
