Indiana SOD or OHSU SOD???

[TheNobleTooth]

I am narrowing my choices down to two dental schools despite the fact that I'm waiting to hear from four more dental schools.

One is OHSU located in Portland, and the other dental school is Indiana SOD located at the IUPUI campus.

Indiana's curriculum is PBL based, which kind of discourages me because some of the students there told me it's frustrating "teaching yourself" dentistry. Plus the tuition for non-residents is expensive. You also cannot apply for in-state tuition after your first year. That's a huge turn off for me. However, the faculties were friendly, the clinic was bustling with patients, and Indianapolis looked like a decent city. At least it's a clean city, unlike other bigger cities I've been to. Cost of living is cheap, compared to bigger cities as well. However, IU is quite a distance from home.

Then there's OHSU located in Portland near my hometown of Vancouver, Washington. The facilities are not new, similar case with Indiana. There is also no partitioning between the operatories (whatever you call that) between each student. Seems like there's no privacy. OHSU also has a tuition policy that's the same as Indiana's tuition policy ...non-residents pay non-resident tuition for all four years. Another downside, although a superficial factor, is parking. If I commute to OHSU, I have to park somewhere far from the health science campus and either catch the bus to school or bike up the dangerous steep hill. parking is only available to DS3 and more for DS4 students.

And like I said, the dental building is old at OHSU. However, they're planning on building a new dental school down the hill ..or something like that. I also found the tram / cable car ride to be quite interesting.

I also met with a DS3 student from OHSU during my interview. He said the most frustrating thing about OHSU is the dental lab work. I don't know much about Indiana's dental lab work requirements, but at OHSU, you have to complete everything by yourself. One mistake, and you do the whole dental lab work all over again.

Both dental schools have good board passage rate (according the interviewers at both schools) and decent clinical exposure given to students.

Can some current dental students at these schools help me out?????

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[aphistis]

I can't comment on OHSU, obviously, but I can offer a couple thoughts on IUSD.

1) IU isn't really a PBL-driven curriculum. You spend a few hours a week doing PBL stuff, but it's nothing like USC or the other exclusively-PBL schools. DS1's average 4-5 hours a week in PBL, and maybe 18-20 hours in traditional lecture/lab classes. For DS2's, 3-4 hours per week in PBL and 25-30 hours a week in lecture/lab.

2) Indianapolis ain't New York City. Most of the people who dislike Indy came in expecting it to be NYC/Chicago/LA/etc., and it'll never live up to that kind of expectation. It's a typical inland city of a million people or so, pretty inexpensive, kept in pretty good shape (especially the downtown area), and the people are generally pretty friendly.

3) Pre-clinic lab work is probably about the same as everywhere else. In clinic, our lab requirements aren't too bad compared to what I've heard about some other schools. For fixed pros, we trim our own dies & mount working models, then it's off to the lab and the next thing we see is the finished prosthesis ready for delivery. For removeable, we do it ourselves up to wax try-in, the it's off to the lab for processing. Depending on your clinic director, you may or may not be allowed to have the lab finish & polish processed dentures. RPD frameworks are sent out for casting, and denture relines/repairs are done by an in-house lab tech.

Hope this helps some. Good luck deciding.

 

[armorshell]

I once worked with a OHSU grad who broke a tooth while he was extracting it, thus implying all OHSU grads have poor clinical skills.

I hold a grudge old school

edit: Here I thought I was the only one on this board from Vantucket, Wa

You go to WSU-V?

 

[Lemming]

Hmmmm....OHSU. Don't know anything about either one from a "first-hand" perspective, but I'll most likely be attending OHSU, so that's the one I'd pick! The parking is a pain, but there are SECRET places to park around the school within minimal parking distances. If you are my friend I will let you in on my secret. The clinic is quite cramped, as is the whole school. The facilities are so-so, but entirely adequate in my opinion to take away excellent clinical experience. In addition, oral surg., endo and perio(soon) are on paperless systems, so you will at least have the option to check out some new-fangled technology if you want. The new school is scheduled to be built in year 3000. Ok, that's an exageration, but it ain't gonna be in the time that we are there, meaning that no more updates will probably take place b/c they are going to wait for the new building. So basically, what you see is what you get. The faculty seem to be good too. I've heard pluses and minuses for every school i've looked at so far...just be informed of the minuses to expect, and all will be well

 

[purduephigam]

A little off subject, but if you do go to IU, please don't become a Hoosier fan. It'll make me sad....

 

[armorshell]

By the way, PDX is probably the best city in the United States. Don't know if that matters to you, but still...

 

[divertete]

OHSU's facilities are definitely ancient, with the notable exception of the sim clinics -- they are brand new and gorgeous, which is good because you'll spend a ton of time there the first couple of years. The open clinic might look odd, but it's not really a problem, and I've never heard anyone complain about it.

You were misinformed about parking. Anyone can get a carpool permit, and park within reasonable distance of the school (about a 5-min walk). The upperclassmen get the perk of parking in the garage right next to the school (but they still have to carpool). Several of my classmates commute from Vancouver, both in carpools and via public transportation. I wouldn't endorse such a long trek every day, but it is possible!

Compared to aphistis's labwork, we're really not much different. However, we are required to cast a certain number of gold crowns before we are allowed to send them out (I think 5?). We are probably above average in the amount of work we do, but most of our time in preclinical lab is still spent working on clinical skills. (e.g. prepping, restoring)

Good luck on the decision!

 

[TheNobleTooth]

I can't comment on OHSU, obviously, but I can offer a couple thoughts on IUSD.

1) IU isn't really a PBL-driven curriculum. You spend a few hours a week doing PBL stuff, but it's nothing like USC or the other exclusively-PBL schools. DS1's average 4-5 hours a week in PBL, and maybe 18-20 hours in traditional lecture/lab classes. For DS2's, 3-4 hours per week in PBL and 25-30 hours a week in lecture/lab.

Whew! I thought Indiana was a hardcore PBL-based dental school. Yeah, honestly, I dislike PBL. The student who gave my group a tour said that one of the weaknesses of IU is the PBL program. He said it's very frustrating teaching yourself dentistry. I took that as if he was trying to discourage the prospective students from going to IU.

2) Indianapolis ain't New York City. Most of the people who dislike Indy came in expecting it to be NYC/Chicago/LA/etc., and it'll never live up to that kind of expectation. It's a typical inland city of a million people or so, pretty inexpensive, kept in pretty good shape (especially the downtown area), and the people are generally pretty friendly.

Oh yeah, I was surprised that the locals of Indiana were very friendly to me. Considering the fact that I'm a minority student. The locals remind me the of folks here in the Pacific NW.

I know that Indianapolis ain't no NYC or LA, but it still is a decent city/town. I really don't like big cities like LA. too much traffic, crime, gangs, etc.

3) Pre-clinic lab work is probably about the same as everywhere else. In clinic, our lab requirements aren't too bad compared to what I've heard about some other schools. For fixed pros, we trim our own dies & mount working models, then it's off to the lab and the next thing we see is the finished prosthesis ready for delivery. For removeable, we do it ourselves up to wax try-in, the it's off to the lab for processing. Depending on your clinic director, you may or may not be allowed to have the lab finish & polish processed dentures. RPD frameworks are sent out for casting, and denture relines/repairs are done by an in-house lab tech.

Hmmm... maybe IU sounds better than OHSU when it comes to doing the dental lab work.

Hope this helps some. Good luck deciding.

Thanks a lot!!

 

[TheNobleTooth]

Hmmmm....OHSU. Don't know anything about either one from a "first-hand" perspective, but I'll most likely be attending OHSU, so that's the one I'd pick! The parking is a pain, but there are SECRET places to park around the school within minimal parking distances. If you are my friend I will let you in on my secret.

Sure I'll be your friend!! Of course, the strength of OHSU, according the student who had lunch with me, said that camraderie is very strong at OHSU.
Parking, eh, looks like a pain in the butt to me. I'd wish the dental school would allow ALL their students to park in the parking structure. I hate walking up the hill to the dental school. And in case I was running late for class, I would definitely have to waste time biking up the hill (which I won't, cuz the road going up the hill is dangerous with drivers speeding!!) or catch the bus to the school.

The clinic is quite cramped, as is the whole school. The facilities are so-so, but entirely adequate in my opinion to take away excellent clinical experience. In addition, oral surg., endo and perio(soon) are on paperless systems, so you will at least have the option to check out some new-fangled technology if you want.

Hmmm...I never knew about the "paperless" system. I guess I don't really care about specialization for now. I just want to get a DDS or DMD!!
But speaking of the dental school facilities at OHSU, I think they're decent. I dunno, maybe I don't have high expectations as a lot of others here at SDN.

The new school is scheduled to be built in year 3000.

Naw. Mark (the big guy in the stud. affairs office) told me that the new dental school will start to be built in 2008. Eh, maybe he's just puffing hot air just to market the school. Who know.

I've heard pluses and minuses for every school i've looked at so far...just be informed of the minuses to expect, and all will be well

of course every dental school has its pros and cons. However, I'm still deciding.

 

[TheNobleTooth]

A little off subject, but if you do go to IU, please don't become a Hoosier fan. It'll make me sad....

But isn't the IU dental school part of the IUPUI campus? According to the student who gave my group a tour of the dental school, he said that the IU dental students are considered as "Jaguars." I guess that's the mascot of IUPUI. And of course, all the dental students have ID badges called "Jag Tags"..and that I thought was cool!

 

[TheNobleTooth]

OHSU's facilities are definitely ancient, with the notable exception of the sim clinics -- they are brand new and gorgeous, which is good because you'll spend a ton of time there the first couple of years.

LOL!! mark and the DS3 student who had lunch with me talked about the brand new sim lab. the funny thing is when mark gave my group a tour of the school, he never showed us the new sim lab! WTF!!??

The open clinic might look odd, but it's not really a problem, and I've never heard anyone complain about it.

I could care less about the open clinic. It just looks odd, because other dental schools I've been to have enclosements (partitions, or whatever you call those walls) around each operatory. I just feel bad for the patients who have to come to OHSU for treatment while Joe Shmoe across the operatory is watching you (as the patient) getting your molar extracted. The bottom line is there's no privacy for the patients.

Several of my classmates commute from Vancouver, both in carpools and via public transportation. I wouldn't endorse such a long trek every day, but it is possible!

Oh hell NO am I going to commute from Vancouver!!! That's crazy!!! I'm going to find an apartment near the health science campus and live there.

Compared to aphistis's labwork, we're really not much different. However, we are required to cast a certain number of gold crowns before we are allowed to send them out (I think 5?). We are probably above average in the amount of work we do, but most of our time in preclinical lab is still spent working on clinical skills. (e.g. prepping, restoring)

Good luck on the decision!

yeah, but the way the dental students were describing the lab work requirement sounded like they were really frustrated. The DS3 who had lunch with me told me that there are forty steps to doing a wax up (or something like that) and if you make one mistake, you have to do it all over again. Sounds like some time consuming requirement.

But yeah, thanks for the advice.