How common is cheating in dental school?

[gumgardener2009]

Every year it seems that two or three people get caught cheating at my school. Sometimes the perps get a slap on the wrist. Other times they get a year's suspension. If we are one day going to be professionals confronting ethical problems everyday without someone physically policing us, how can we trust those who would cheat on an exam or a competency? Is cheating common at all schools? How does your school deal with cheating and how does it integrate ethics into the curriculum?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Biogirl361]

i don't know how many people cheat in dental school, but I am a senior in undergrad and i know a lot of people in my classes cheat. i tend to think if these people are cheating now, they aren't going to stop just because they are in dental school. my 2 cents is i think if it can be proven that someone cheated, that person should be given the boot from dental school. i mean, it is professional school... let's act like professionals.

 

[the big wand]

In the pre-clinic lab (not the exams), people tend to do stuff like that....and we call it "short-cut". Sometimes there are just too many things to do in the lab.......

 

[Biogirl361]

yeah, i am mostly talking about outright cheating on exams or like stealing someone else's waxup and claiming it or something outrageous.

 

[babieblueazn]

I see lots of people cheat in lab, lab reports i mean. I haven't really seen cheating in lecture.

 

[Woodsy]

i don't know how many people cheat in dental school, but I am a senior in undergrad and i know a lot of people in my classes cheat. i tend to think if these people are cheating now, they aren't going to stop just because they are in dental school. my 2 cents is i think if it can be proven that someone cheated, that person should be given the boot from dental school. i mean, it is professional school... let's act like professionals.

tight ass...



cheating, i don't do it, but if others do it..hey it's their loss. I don't care if others do it. Should they be given the boot? no. because dental school although professional school is still a place where you learn to be a professional. Mistakes and screw ups are part of the learning experience. Now by dental school one should already know not to cheat but if caught cheating, the most should be get zero on the test or exam and/or fail the course depending on severity. One time offence should not warrant an expulsion. Sometimes people need to be punished so that they won't make the same mistake again. Everyone deserves a second chance.

Cheating goes on in dental school. Cheating goes on in society. It's part of life...everyone has cheated on something at least once in their life, whether it is something simple like typing the God mode code in Doom or cheating the government out of millions of dollars in fraud, it is very difficult for me to believe that there is A SIGNIFICANT, keyword being significant majority of the population that hasn't done any type of cheating in their life. So it's part of our nature to find simple short cuts...it's just human nature. It's not an excuse and there should be reprecussions but explusion for first offence is too harsh. And i don't think too many schools have that no tolerance rule. If a school did, then you know many cases of cheating must have occurred for the school to set something liket hat...

anyways, my point is, in the end, it all comes out of the wash. Those who cheat themselves end up cheating their patients out of proper and essential care, and eventually it catches up to them. And if it doesn't, then this person is a very good cheater and would have been smart enough to make it without cheating anyways....

 

[45540]

cheating in dental school = 100%


I think most every dental school class has a record of old tests. Thus using old tests helps on the current tests because it's pretty much the same as the old ones, even though they aren't released by the department.

It's not necessarily cheating, but it is.

 

[aphistis]

...so is it cheating or not? You're taking both sides, and they're mutually exclusive.

 

[the big wand]

most every dental school class has a record of old tests. Thus using old tests helps on the current tests

My school doesn't have old tests. For medical courses, students have to sign on the exam booklet, swearing that they won't reveal the questions to anyone after the exam. Basically you have to mentally forget the questions once you're done with the test. Who will remember anyway, after the dreadful, clinically oriented, long-question exam? For dental courses, there are no old tests, except for those courses that are also taken by hygiene students. Those ones may or may not help, because different emphases for dentistry and hygiene students.

 

[45540]

...so is it cheating or not? You're taking both sides, and they're mutually exclusive.

grey issue ... depends if you're asking the faculty or the students

 

[Zurik5]

Pretty fockin' common....oh well!

 

[psiyung]

Believe it or not I haven't seen cheating at our school in the two years I've been here. No questions ever pop up from old tests here, unfortunately

 

[Woodsy]

i have upper years teaching me how to cheat lol...... And then we also have past tests and they get repeated, go figure.

 

[Midoc]

i have upper years teaching me how to cheat lol...... And then we also have past tests and they get repeated, go figure.

And you're proud of this?

 

[aphistis]

Who needs ethics when you've (supposedly) got an ML500 in the garage?

(Incidentally, Dan, long time no see. Welcome back. )

 

[Zurik5]

Who needs ethics when you've (supposedly) got an ML500 in the garage?

(Incidentally, Dan, long time no see. Welcome back. )

Are you being sarcastic, because I don?t appreciate it. Congrats on the wedding, what is it, one more month of freedom?

 

[psiyung]

Are you being sarcastic, because I don?t appreciate it. Congrats on the wedding, what is it, one more month of freedom?

Still cycling?

 

[aphistis]

Are you being sarcastic, because I don?t appreciate it. Congrats on the wedding, what is it, one more month of freedom?

Yeah, definitely sarcastic. And thanks for the wedding wishes...it's a month from Thursday.

 

[MountyDDS]

we had a guy get caught, and he left school. now he goes to Michigan SoD.

 

[Midoc]

Who needs ethics when you've (supposedly) got an ML500 in the garage?

(Incidentally, Dan, long time no see. Welcome back. )

I didn't really go anywhere, I just lurk more than post. But thanks though.

 

[Woodsy]

too many things to quote..

Midoc, am I proud of upper year teaching how to cheat? I think u missed my point. My point was that cheating is prevalent even if past tests are around. I just find it humorous and would like to share that tidbit to contribute to this thread.

And Bill, the ML 500 was a birthday gift from mom.

 

[LSR1979]

too many things to quote..

Midoc, am I proud of upper year teaching how to cheat? I think u missed my point. My point was that cheating is prevalent even if past tests are around. I just find it humorous and would like to share that tidbit to contribute to this thread.

And Bill, the ML 500 was a birthday gift from mom.

Does this "Woodsy" tool annoy anybody else? I get this constant "I'm better than you because my mommy who still wipes my ass buys me outrageous toys and I own my own house even though I've never worked a day in my life" attitude from him. He probably drives a Yugo and lives in a trailer.

 

[psiyung]

Does this "Woodsy" tool annoy anybody else? I get this constant "I'm better than you because my mommy who still wipes my ass buys me outrageous toys and I own my own house even though I've never worked a day in my life" attitude from him. He probably drives a Yugo and lives in a trailer.

 

[LSR1979]

You wish you were me.

Yeah I wish I were you about like I wish I had herpes.

 

[Woodsy]

LSR1979, that was a really classy remark you made. So I'm going to speak at a level that even a peon like you would understand

if i did have herpes, which is a relief that I don't...it would be from your mother.

 

[trypmo]

Guys, guys, guys... there's this wonderful invention called an Ignore List: it means that for someone who's on yours, you'll see their name but not the content of their post (unless you click to open it in a new window). It's saved me mountains of aggravation.

 

[gumgardener2009]

who let a Steelers fan on this thread?
I guess I shouldn't have expected scintillating debate regarding cheating in dental school since I find that students don't get that there's no difference between cheating in academia and being unethical in practice. We are a self-policed profession. If we can avoid giving degrees to unethical individuals, we can avoid many future problems.
Are there problems with the system? Yes, but we cannot lay blame at it's feet. Need for or use of a test file is a whole other subject. That lays in the realm of modernizing the whole dental education system (i.e., not teaching to the boards and making all the basic science courses that fill the first 2 years prerequisites to entering dental school).

 

[aphistis]

who let a Steelers fan on this thread?
I guess I shouldn't have expected scintillating debate regarding cheating in dental school since I find that students don't get that there's no difference between cheating in academia and being unethical in practice. We are a self-policed profession. If we can avoid giving degrees to unethical individuals, we can avoid many future problems.
Are there problems with the system? Yes, but we cannot lay blame at it's feet. Need for or use of a test file is a whole other subject. That lays in the realm of modernizing the whole dental education system (i.e., not teaching to the boards and making all the basic science courses that fill the first 2 years prerequisites to entering dental school).

You're never going to eliminate the need for preclinical basic science courses in dentistry, any more than you'd be able to do it in medicine. The whole reason they exist is to teach the material in greater depth & detail than possible in college, given the overall higher caliber of the students.

 

[gumgardener2009]

You're never going to eliminate the need for preclinical basic science courses in dentistry, any more than you'd be able to do it in medicine. The whole reason they exist is to teach the material in greater depth & detail than possible in college, given the overall higher caliber of the students.

I think that my basic science classes were better taught in undergrad, but once again we digress: this thread's about cheating.

 

[ItsGavinC]

Keep the personal slams out of the arguing. Thanks.