How chill is dental school? *DENTISTS/DENTAL-STUDENTS*

[artvandelay786]

How many hours do you typically spend studying for your classes and doing school-related work? Do you, on most days, have enough time to enjoy meals with your friends, significant other, etc? Do you, on most days, have time to exercise? If you stay on top of your studying, how stressful of an experience is D-school?

Also, if you don't really care about specializing, do you basically have a really relaxed life?

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[Dental Machine7]

First two years are very demanding. The basic sciences are a lot of memorization. After that 3rd year is more of a transition year with both clinic and classes. When I was first year, there were weeks when I had 2-3 exams per week, months with exams every week. There is time to eat in your own house but sleep....not so much.

 

[cmcner]

I have a lot of friends in a lot of different dental schools, and the answer to this question is really that it all depends on your school. Sorry no generic answer will be accurate.

 

[7 Iron]

Don't worry too much... you will find enough time to eat, sleep, work out, hang out with friends, etc. If you don't, you'll burn out... so you'll kind of just make the time naturally.

 

[Parklife]

I second the school thing. A top schools, you'll find more intense gunners who want to specialize. The school will be more research-oriented. The undergrad/grad campus will also be more intense. Everywhere else will be a lot more relaxed(student wise) course load would be about the same. The professors may be very friendly and approachable. I know at some schools, students go to professor's houses for BBQ.


It's always interesting to get a feel for a school when visiting. You can tell even if you're not a student. The atmosphere at penn is a lot different from the atmosphere good ole' GHSU.

It must be fun to be a dental student lol

 

[theleatherwalle]

it reminds me a lot of high school. Everyone knows everyone else, and little clicks do form.

 

[artvandelay786]

Interesting -- would you guys say that, on average, dental students are more relaxed and less stressed-out than their medical school counterparts?

 

[Parklife]

Interesting -- would you guys say that, on average, dental students are more relaxed and less stressed-out than their medical school counterparts?

🙄

Yes.

 

[John Durian]

Interesting -- would you guys say that, on average, dental students are more relaxed and less stressed-out than their medical school counterparts?

Yeah. First week of school, you see medical and dental students in the library. Second week of first year until the end of second year... it seems like all you see are dental students in the library 🙁

 

[diasIItema]

Interesting -- would you guys say that, on average, dental students are more relaxed and less stressed-out than their medical school counterparts?

Yes. Our school staff loves the dental students far more than the med students b/c, in their words, "we're not as uptight and neurotic." It's true. Despite an equitable work load, we have more fun.

 

[Dent4GA]

Well being this is my 2nd week of d-school I can only tell you that it isn't very relaxed. Our school combines our gross anatomy course with the med-students. The med-students get out around 12, or a little later depending on if they have anatomy lab or not. In the d-student world we have class from 8-5 which leaves a lot less study time for the same amount of work in anatomy. But then again it's only my 2nd week! 🙂

 

[Smurf12]

Dental Students at UTSD,

Please enlighten me as to what "Wet Wednesday" and "Thirsty Thursday" is, Mr. Innocence is still sitting right next to me.....

 

[AmpedUp]

I get my 8 hours of sleep...but I'm not a top student and I don't even care about my grades. I simply just know when to study and when to stop studying.

 

[Wakaaa]

Do you have free time? How much time outside of school do you study?

 

[setupben]

You will work hard, but it is only as hard as you make it.

Do you want to get a good residency, or specialize? If yes, then it is going to be very stressful. If no, then you can relax more.

Also, I have heard of some schools being easier than others. San Antonio has been quite the challenge.

 

[AmpedUp]

Do you have free time? How much time outside of school do you study?

I definitely have free time--more so in the weekends. I live it up!

studying outside of school -- probably 1-2 hours/day (closer to exam time, this number shoots up to 5-7 hours). it also depends on my mood. i study best when i am relaxed. if i'm not in the mood, i'll waste my time in the books and my recall definitely shoots down.

 

[toothexplore]

at my school we are writing 2-5 quizzes per week, so i'm literally "cramming" every night :|

 

[CMistry]

How many hours do you typically spend studying for your classes and doing school-related work?

You will spend a large chunk of your time daily studying for exams, unlike in college.

Do you, on most days, have enough time to enjoy meals with your friends, significant other, etc?

Yes, absolutely.

Do you, on most days, have time to exercise?

Yes, absolutely.

If you stay on top of your studying, how stressful of an experience is D-school?

It will still be stressful because you will have to choose what you want to remember come crunch time. Also it is very difficult to stay on top of studying when you have 2 exams a week and want to do things with friends/significant others.

Also, if you don't really care about specializing, do you basically have a really relaxed life?

Absolutely not, it is nothing like college. You will work very hard regardless of if you want to specialize or not. Perhaps if you are extremely brilliant or have a photographic memory you will get by a little easier; but know that for the most part school will consume your life.

Not trying to scare you, but give you a realization since I assume you're coming from college.

 

[trust068]

depends on your intelligence and how well you can study and lab skill. I think 1 day of dental school material is almost equal to 1 week of undergrad load. (i.e. 1 quarter of biochemistry covers 1 year of undergrad biochem). Also, you better makes no mistake and perfect your lab skill such as waxing crown and set teeth on dentures (depends on school). almost everyday was a bit stressful because you are expected to do well in school, quiz after quiz, competency exam after competency exam . sure below 75% is failure. you also need to worry about finding patients for your clinic requirements, have your lab case ready for sign off and process...etc. all i can say is that a lot of crap you need manage and your significant other would have to be really supportive. also keep in mind that since admission standard is getting higher and higher, you are competing among many top tip students in class. There are no dumb people in class....well maybe 1 or 2 that you have no clue how they got in but they usually get drop out pretty quick. yes dental school will drop out students that cannot catch up or clearly not ready without hesitation.

I was struggling, i usually slept only 5-6 hours a day. i also study in weekends too but I will always make my Friday night a relax night and occasionally Saturday too. however, although i was at the lower end of rank of my class....my school prepared me well for board exam and it only took me less than 8 days to prepare and pass.

 

[skifastrokclimb]

Dental Students at UTSD,

Please enlighten me as to what "Wet Wednesday" and "Thirsty Thursday" is, Mr. Innocence is still sitting right next to me.....

At the old school [dental branch building], thirsty thursdays were events sponsored by different student organizations where we would have a keg in the basement cafeteria after hours open to everyone. They were good opportunities to meet people from other classes as well as professors, in a relaxed setting. We have not had any in the new building yet, but I believe they plan to resume this practice.

________________________

In reference to the OP, maintaining sanity in dental school is largely dependent on time management. You can make time to go to the gym and do other things during the week, but when you are in class 8-5 every day and then are expected to study afterward, time can seem short. I can guarantee that very few dental students would describe it as a relaxing experience, regardless of their intent to specialize.

 

[sugartooth]

Absolutely not, it is nothing like college. You will work very hard regardless of if you want to specialize or not. Perhaps if you are extremely brilliant or have a photographic memory you will get by a little easier; but know that for the most part school will consume your life.

Not trying to scare you, but give you a realization since I assume you're coming from college.

Yep. My biological sciences degree seemed like a walk in the park after dental school, and I went to a relatively tough school. The best way I can put it in, going to dental school is like having a full time job, and going to school full time on top of that. Most days are spent in class/lab/seeing patients from 8-5pm, and then nights are for labwork/studying/treatment planning, calling patients, etc.

I don't want to say that you NEVER have any free time, because you'll eventually just get to the point where you need to take a weeknight/weekend day off for your sanity. You'll get used to the fact that there is ALWAYS something else you could be doing, so you might as well take a break sometime because the "to do" list never ends.

But on the flip side of the same coin - work hard, play hard. Dental school was simultaneously the worst, most stressful time, the hardest I've ever worked in my life..and also the most fun & rewarding time at the same time. I have so many awesome memories of the time I spent with friends & fellow classmates during that time.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...." Dickens must have been a dental student at some point.

 

[Dentalgirl1987]

I agree with most of the other comments about school being anything but relaxed. Dental school is not just academically demanding. Developing the hand skills to set denture teeth, perform root canal therapy, and drill/fill is really tough and takes tons of time. So of course you can make time to exercise etc... but you will be working really hard for the vast majority of the time.

 

[MrLowKey]

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