How rigorous is the courseload at Pacific compared to other schools?

[LuckyMiner]

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[armorshell]

It would be very hard for someone to answer these questions completely accurately, because there are very few people who have attended multiple dental schools, but as a Pacific student I can do my best.

1. There are very few things that are missing from our curriculum or covered less thoroughly, and you could find a lot of students here who would argue just the opposite. I keep very good track of what the boards cover that our school doesn't, and I've only found two things, both highly specific subjects in anatomy: anatomy of the hands and select cranial nerve ganglia. Additionally, I believe we "miss out" on such things as semester long fluff classes in things like public health, epidemiology, biostatistics, etc...

2. School hours are from 8-5 like most schools are, except theres an extensive amount of out-of-class projects in first year (Which I'm sure is the same at most other schools), and we have night clinic sessions 2nd and 3rd year. Many people spend 3-5 hours at school on the weekends to work on various projects. I can count on one hand the number of times I haven't gone in for a full saturday or stayed after class for at least a few hours.

Honestly, we get most of our extra year by:
1. Starting earlier than most schools, and having breaks that a shorter than average.
2. Having night clinic sessions.
3. Having an intense first year curriculum combining nearly all the core curriculum classes that most schools complete over years 1 and 2. Last quarter we had 9 finals in 3 days
4. Student selection. Pacific selects for people they think will be able to handle an rapidly paced curriculum and handle it well. They like to choose students who've already had undergrad versions of the classes you take in first year, and students who've shown they're very adept as taking tests and reading quickly (High DAT/RC).

I wouldn't worry about Pacific being less rigorous than other schools. Every licensing agency recognizes our graduates as licensed DDS in 3 years. Our 2nd year students aren't allowed to assist for the boards because they're recognized as equivalent to 3rd year students at other universities. Even the federal government recognizes our curriculum as equivalent to 4 years, and allows our students to get 4 years worth of stafford loans in a 3 year period.

Feel free to post if you have any more questions or think my points are stupid, etc...

 

[flat4]

Here's our newest intern. He goes by the screename "Brycethefatty".

I think he's graduating soon from UOP so he'll be able to answer any questions you may have for him. But he is the typical UOP student we see rotating thru our oral surgery clinic.

 

[LuckyMiner]

 

[SoCalDent]

Thanks for the reply! I know that 4-year dental school is quite challenging to begin with, so I think the Pacific students must be superheroes!

Hmm. Thats a good point.

 

[Gunner McGee]

Pacific is a good choice if you are willing to sacrifice free time now for getting out a year eariler.

 

[SoCalDent]

Pacific is a good choice if you are willing to sacrifice free time now for getting out a year eariler.

or if you're a superhero

 

[Gunner McGee]

It would be very hard for someone to answer these questions completely accurately, because there are very few people who have attended multiple dental schools, but as a Pacific student I can do my best.

1. There are very few things that are missing from our curriculum or covered less thoroughly, and you could find a lot of students here who would argue just the opposite. I keep very good track of what the boards cover that our school doesn't, and I've only found two things, both highly specific subjects in anatomy: anatomy of the hands and select cranial nerve ganglia. Additionally, I believe we "miss out" on such things as semester long fluff classes in things like public health, epidemiology, biostatistics, etc...

2. School hours are from 8-5 like most schools are, except theres an extensive amount of out-of-class projects in first year (Which I'm sure is the same at most other schools), and we have night clinic sessions 2nd and 3rd year. Many people spend 3-5 hours at school on the weekends to work on various projects. I can count on one hand the number of times I haven't gone in for a full saturday or stayed after class for at least a few hours.

Honestly, we get most of our extra year by:
1. Starting earlier than most schools, and having breaks that a shorter than average.
2. Having night clinic sessions.
3. Having an intense first year curriculum combining nearly all the core curriculum classes that most schools complete over years 1 and 2. Last quarter we had 9 finals in 3 days
4. Student selection. Pacific selects for people they think will be able to handle an rapidly paced curriculum and handle it well. They like to choose students who've already had undergrad versions of the classes you take in first year, and students who've shown they're very adept as taking tests and reading quickly (High DAT/RC).

I wouldn't worry about Pacific being less rigorous than other schools. Every licensing agency recognizes our graduates as licensed DDS in 3 years. Our 2nd year students aren't allowed to assist for the boards because they're recognized as equivalent to 3rd year students at other universities. Even the federal government recognizes our curriculum as equivalent to 4 years, and allows our students to get 4 years worth of stafford loans in a 3 year period.

Feel free to post if you have any more questions or think my points are stupid, etc...

We also don't have to carve teeth out of wax blocks !

 

[brycethefatty]

Here's our newest intern. He goes by the screename "Brycethefatty".

I think he's graduating soon from UOP so he'll be able to answer any questions you may have for him. But he is the typical UOP student we see rotating thru our oral surgery clinic.

I have a very clean a$$hole, so I would not be against performing this maneuver for your viewing pleasure

 

[SugarNaCl]

We also don't have to carve teeth out of wax blocks !

Grrrr... That just angers me. The torture that was learning to carve something that looked like a tooth. My first one looked more like a Q-tip cut in half. I did carve a pretty cool penguin though (about .5 inches tall) I guess if anyone wants a penguin shaped wax tooth, I'm your go to gal.