Instructors in dental school

[darwins11]

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My dental school experience was absolutly a nightmare. I had never disliked a school that much in my whole life. I always loved going to school.
The curriculum is very challenging- you have to study all the time and you don't even have time to study for everything. You don't have a life. I am fine with that-
But the most challenging of all was that a lot of the grading-such as lab classes or clinical grades are mostly based on your relationship with the instructors. I don't think the grading is fair. The instructors are very arrogant and they often lower your self esteem to a point that is unbearable. I was depressed all the time and wanted to quit school; but my family and friends kept me in. (also, it is so expensive that you are not allowed to quit).
In clinic, asking questions meant being incompetent. If you do not know something, you better figure it out by yourself. That was my mistake.
I felt so powerless. The instructors could treat you the way they wanted and nothing could be done about it. They talked a lot about ethics and compassion- this is a bunch of Bs. They often do not want to teach at school. The nicest people were the part time teachers-very few.
What dental school inspired me to become?
An instructor so that I can make a difference in someone's life. I want to be someone who would be there for the students- guide them, help them, encourage them, RESPECT them.....I will do that next year. I still have few more loans.
How was your experience?

 

[Daurang]

I agree and sympathize with you. Just serve out your four years jail term and get out. Time will fly by very quickly.

 

[toofshucker]

If you do not know something, you better figure it out by yourself.

That is called being a dentist. I agree that as dental students we should figure out how to do most things ourselves. It is what you will have to do in private practice. That being said, I am sorry it sucked so much for you, and I hope you are able to be the instructor you felt like you should of had while in dental school. Good luck, I am sure you will be great.

 

[Streetwolf]

Where is this?

My experience so far has been the exact opposite.

 

[rocknightmare]

Where is this?

My experience so far has been the exact opposite.

just wait a while you will feel the same to a degree - not to discourage you or anything but all dental schools have the same of issues (generalizing) to a certain degree. and i sympathize with op b/c i feel the same way some days

 

[pine88]

That is called being a dentist. I agree that as dental students we should figure out how to do most things ourselves.

I generally disagree with that statement. I do think learning to problem solve is very important for future dentists, but pretty much all of us do that anyway, and go to the teacher when we are either out of ideas or want to make sure we haven't missed any variables.
But we are in school to get instruction, because we are starting from nothing. I'm just a 1st years so for example, I was practicing a FVC on 20 over and over and over. Couldn't get it right. Then a tutor came by and gave me just a few pointers on seating position and a better way to angle the head. Made all the difference in the world. I've learned a lot so far, but I still don't know enough to always know what I'm doing wrong. That's why I need teacher to teach.

For the most part, our instructors here have been good. Don't know for sure about clinic, but the main complaint I hear from students in the clinic isn't rude, obnoxious teachers, but rather that teachers have different ideas about what treatment should be, so depending on who is supervising that day, you might have to change your whole treatment plan.

Sorry to hear your experience was so bad. I think it's great that you are turning it around into something positive.

 

[rocknightmare]

That is called being a dentist. I agree that as dental students we should figure out how to do most things ourselves. It is what you will have to do in private practice. That being said, I am sorry it sucked so much for you, and I hope you are able to be the instructor you felt like you should of had while in dental school. Good luck, I am sure you will be great.

i agree with you that dental students should try to figure things out for themselves, but i don't agree on the fact that a dental student should be afraid to ask questions.

 

[Shunwei]

My dental school experience was absolutly a nightmare. I had never disliked a school that much in my whole life. I always loved going to school.
The curriculum is very challenging- you have to study all the time and you don't even have time to study for everything. You don't have a life. I am fine with that-
But the most challenging of all was that a lot of the grading-such as lab classes or clinical grades are mostly based on your relationship with the instructors. I don't think the grading is fair. The instructors are very arrogant and they often lower your self esteem to a point that is unbearable. I was depressed all the time and wanted to quit school; but my family and friends kept me in. (also, it is so expensive that you are not allowed to quit).
In clinic, asking questions meant being incompetent. If you do not know something, you better figure it out by yourself. That was my mistake.
I felt so powerless. The instructors could treat you the way they wanted and nothing could be done about it. They talked a lot about ethics and compassion- this is a bunch of Bs. They often do not want to teach at school. The nicest people were the part time teachers-very few.
What dental school inspired me to become?
An instructor so that I can make a difference in someone's life. I want to be someone who would be there for the students- guide them, help them, encourage them, RESPECT them.....I will do that next year. I still have few more loans.
How was your experience?

I sympathize with you on what you said, and I do believe you. However, if it makes you feel any better, other professional schools have basically the same issues. I was in graduate school for a Ph.D. and the politics within the ivory tower are truly unbearable, what with the funding, thesis, sharing work, presenting data, and intramural competition, it was pretty bad. The way I see it is to treat dental school as an appreticeship--you learn your skills, don't mess up interpersonal relationships too much, and gain entry into a career. So in other words, don't take things personal, it's just a stage.

 

[Dental81]

I'm having the same experience as a 4th year dental student. There are a lot of great instructors but the few terrible ones overshadow the good ones. Many of the instructors just wait for students to fail so they can report them to their department chairs. As of now 3 of my classemates have been suspended from clinic. One may never get back into clinic. One has to repeat his third year. Thankfully it's the last year. Quite honestly dentistry is a challenge but it's the instructors and the enviroment why I probably would not attend my dental school again.

 

[Saddleshoes]

darwins11

My dental school experience was the most trying I had had to that point in my life also. The jerks that were clinical instructors, in particle, made my like rough.

One thing I learned was how not to teach to professional students. I now teach young dental professionals in the making as a part time job. I really enjoy it and I think I make a deference in their professional and personal development.

Please follow up on your inspiration to become an instructor. I can promise you a very satisfying experience. (not much money though)

 

[diagnodent]

Sounds like my experience. I hated dental school, but lasted. Just remember this is school and not real life. It does not mean you won't like being a dentist.

Hang in there and just remember to tell them this when they call you to donate money after you've graduated. Then don't donate.

 

[pine88]

I'm having the same experience as a 4th year dental student. There are a lot of great instructors but the few terrible ones overshadow the good ones. Many of the instructors just wait for students to fail so they can report them to their department chairs. As of now 3 of my classemates have been suspended from clinic. One may never get back into clinic. One has to repeat his third year. Thankfully it's the last year. Quite honestly dentistry is a challenge but it's the instructors and the enviroment why I probably would not attend my dental school again.

How do you get suspended from clinic? What happens then?

 

[1992Corolla]

boo-hoo, what did you expect? milk and cookies to go with your crayons? it is plain and simple called 'work' and 'jumping through hoops'. You are basically a 'yes sir/m'am' person for four years.

sounds like trolls or w-h-i-n-e-r-s to me.

that is all.

 

[djeffreyt]

boo-hoo, what did you expect? milk and cookies to go with your crayons? it is plain and simple called 'work' and 'jumping through hoops'. You are basically a 'yes sir/m'am' person for four years.

sounds like trolls or w-h-i-n-e-r-s to me.

that is all.

You've got all the makings of a great evil clinic instructor. j/k Corolla.

 

[tinman831]

What you speak of is nothing new. Countless students have gone through what you go through, and many students will follow. Think of it as a right of passage or the hazing you have to endure in order to become a dentist. Everyone manages to survive in the end. Don't get sidetracked or distracted by everything around you and instead, focus on that light at the end of the tunnel. It will come. It will come. 🙂

My dental school experience was absolutly a nightmare. I had never disliked a school that much in my whole life. I always loved going to school.
The curriculum is very challenging- you have to study all the time and you don't even have time to study for everything. You don't have a life. I am fine with that-
But the most challenging of all was that a lot of the grading-such as lab classes or clinical grades are mostly based on your relationship with the instructors. I don't think the grading is fair. The instructors are very arrogant and they often lower your self esteem to a point that is unbearable. I was depressed all the time and wanted to quit school; but my family and friends kept me in. (also, it is so expensive that you are not allowed to quit).
In clinic, asking questions meant being incompetent. If you do not know something, you better figure it out by yourself. That was my mistake.
I felt so powerless. The instructors could treat you the way they wanted and nothing could be done about it. They talked a lot about ethics and compassion- this is a bunch of Bs. They often do not want to teach at school. The nicest people were the part time teachers-very few.
What dental school inspired me to become?
An instructor so that I can make a difference in someone's life. I want to be someone who would be there for the students- guide them, help them, encourage them, RESPECT them.....I will do that next year. I still have few more loans.
How was your experience?

 

[Regmata]

Its all a game...learn to play and grow some thick skin...almost like military training for some. They break you down, then build you up.

 

[toofshucker]

I generally disagree with that statement. I do think learning to problem solve is very important for future dentists, but pretty much all of us do that anyway, and go to the teacher when we are either out of ideas or want to make sure we haven't missed any variables.
But we are in school to get instruction, because we are starting from nothing. I'm just a 1st years so for example, I was practicing a FVC on 20 over and over and over. Couldn't get it right. Then a tutor came by and gave me just a few pointers on seating position and a better way to angle the head. Made all the difference in the world. I've learned a lot so far, but I still don't know enough to always know what I'm doing wrong. That's why I need teacher to teach.

For the most part, our instructors here have been good. Don't know for sure about clinic, but the main complaint I hear from students in the clinic isn't rude, obnoxious teachers, but rather that teachers have different ideas about what treatment should be, so depending on who is supervising that day, you might have to change your whole treatment plan.

Sorry to hear your experience was so bad. I think it's great that you are turning it around into something positive.

Sorry. You are wrong. When you own your own practice it is completely up to you and no one else to know/learn what to do. If you can't do it today, how can you do it then? Dentistry will change and 10 years out of school, most of what they taught you will be outdated. You had better learn how to figure things out for yourself, or you will be doing yourself and more importantly your patients a huge disservice.

 

[armorshell]

Sorry. You are wrong. When you own your own practice it is completely up to you and no one else to know/learn what to do. If you can't do it today, how can you do it then? Dentistry will change and 10 years out of school, most of what they taught you will be outdated. You had better learn how to figure things out for yourself, or you will be doing yourself and more importantly your patients a huge disservice.

Did you even read what you just typed? You do know what CE is right? You do know that people who "Take it on themselves to teach themselves dentistry" are usually guilty of practicing without a license?

Who are you to jump on someone else's opinion, deem it wrong, and prove your assertion with another opinion? Did you even bother to read her first sentence?

 

[Soflex]

Um, sorry toof...how can you compare a first year dental student to a practicing dentist with years of clinical experience who owns their own office?

Don't propagate this whole horsesh*t notion that dental students can just learn clinical skills by simply reading a powerpoint and screwing around with a drill on their own. I cannot emphasize how much I have gotten out of talking to some of the veteran dentists who are bench instructors in our sim lab and having them demonstrate procedures for me. You can't just teach yourself dentistry by osmosis...for the outrageous amount of money we pay in tuition, we deserve some actual instruction. Like pine said, sometimes all it takes is a couple of pointers to make all the difference.

 

[pine88]

Sorry. You are wrong. When you own your own practice it is completely up to you and no one else to know/learn what to do. If you can't do it today, how can you do it then? Dentistry will change and 10 years out of school, most of what they taught you will be outdated. You had better learn how to figure things out for yourself, or you will be doing yourself and more importantly your patients a huge disservice.

toof, you should save yourself the money and skip dental school. Sounds like you don't need it 👍

 

[toofshucker]

Did you even read what you just typed? You do know what CE is right?

Duh. You are proving my point. If you don't learn now how to take some initiative and figure out what you need to do to learn how to do something, you never will. Dentistry is a "figure it out on your own" business. Heck, life is that way. Stop blaming others for what you fail to do. There are more than one instructor in your preclinic, go figure out how to do something. Heck, if your school is that bad, there are 60+ seniors that went through what you went through and I bet you could find one or two to help you out. Quit blaming others for your shortcomings, be an adult, take responsibility, and grow up.

You do know that people who "Take it on themselves to teach themselves dentistry" are usually guilty of practicing without a license?

That is such a dumb way to retort me. We all know the context that my statement was given in. Come on, you can do better than that.

Who are you to jump on someone else's opinion, deem it wrong, and prove your assertion with another opinion? Did you even bother to read her first sentence?

And what are you doing with your second quote above?

 

[toofshucker]

Um, sorry toof...how can you compare a first year dental student to a practicing dentist with years of clinical experience who owns their own office?

Both, if they don't take the initiative to further their education by their own devices, will not progress. The same principle applies. Implants are, by in large, not taught in dental school. How are you going to learn how to do implants if you can't figure out where to go to learn the info? Same principle applies.

Don't propagate this whole horsesh*t notion that dental students can just learn clinical skills by simply reading a powerpoint and screwing around with a drill on their own.

You can and you will have to with some things. It is called life. NOW, it is easier to get a pointer or two from someone, but that is not always an option. Be creative. Try out different techniques in school and find out what works for you. If your teacher won't help you, there are 60+ students in your class and the same in the classes ahead of you. There will be someone who will help you.

I cannot emphasize how much I have gotten out of talking to some of the veteran dentists who are bench instructors in our sim lab and having them demonstrate procedures for me. You can't just teach yourself dentistry by osmosis...for the outrageous amount of money we pay in tuition, we deserve some actual instruction. Like pine said, sometimes all it takes is a couple of pointers to make all the difference.

Sure pointers can help, but if one source won't give it to you, go and find another that will. Don't blame your dental school shortcomings on one person.

 

[toofshucker]

toof, you should save yourself the money and skip dental school. Sounds like you don't need it 👍

Wrong. I just don't whine every time somebody doesn't hold my hand in every aspect of my life.

 

[armorshell]

Duh. You are proving my point. If you don't learn now how to take some initiative and figure out what you need to do to learn how to do something, you never will. Dentistry is a "figure it out on your own" business. Heck, life is that way. Stop blaming others for what you fail to do. There are more than one instructor in your preclinic, go figure out how to do something. Heck, if your school is that bad, there are 60+ seniors that went through what you went through and I bet you could find one or two to help you out. Quit blaming others for your shortcomings, be an adult, take responsibility, and grow up.

Is this supposed to be a retort to something I said, are are you just grasping at straws for something to soapbox about? When did I blame anyone else for my failures? If I ask a senior student for help aren't I "Not learning it on my own" and by your definition "Not a dentist?"

That is such a dumb way to retort me. We all know the context that my statement was given in. Come on, you can do better than that.

Was it? If dentistry is all about teaching yourself then how come we pay sacks full of tuition money for people to teach us? Why does the government mandate that we be taught at a program accredited to meet the educational standards required to practice safe and effective dentistry if we can just crack a book and learn it ourselves?

And what are you doing with your second quote above?

I never said that you were wrong, I actually agree that to a degree it's very important for there to be some self-discovery in your dental education. Everyone does things a little different and you have to find your own style.

However, I do think you're lauding something that is pure opinion as fact, hearing only what you want to hear, pointlessly name-calling and badgering and are so full of yourself you're in danger of bursting.

 

[Soflex]

I stand by my post. Toofshucker, your responses are patronizing and contradictory. Not really in line with the mission of this forum.

 

[pine88]

Stop blaming others for what you fail to do. There are more than one instructor in your preclinic, go figure out how to do something...Quit blaming others for your shortcomings, be an adult, take responsibility, and grow up

What? You aren't even making sense. Where are you pulling these responses from, because they have nothing to do with the original posts. Armor never mentioned anything about about clinic, problems, or any personal experience.

Both, if they don't take the initiative to further their education by their own devices, will not progress.

Do you realize that all we are saying is that it's reasonable for students to expect to be taught by their teachers and feel comfortable asking questions? How does that automatically become "taking no initiative to further their education"?


So you say we should be able to figure everything out for ourselves, because that is what we will do in private practice. And then you say don't complain when the teachers don't teach you, because you can go an ask one of the other students to teach you instead.
So...to paraphrase -
asking for advice from teacher --> Bad! Weak! You will never be a successful dentist.
asking for advice from another student --> preferred! Doesn't count as "not figuring it out on your own" because this person is not a dentist yet. This is what you are spending your 200,000ish dollars for.

Still don't see what you need to go to dental school for. To quote you on why you shouldn't expect teachers to teach you - "If you can't do it today, how can you do it then? ...You had better learn how to figure things out for yourself, or you will be doing yourself and more importantly your patients a huge disservice."

??

 

[dackmonkey]

What? You aren't even making sense. Where are you pulling these responses from, because they have nothing to do with the original posts. Armor never mentioned anything about about clinic, problems, or any personal experience.



Do you realize that all we are saying is that it's reasonable for students to expect to be taught by their teachers and feel comfortable asking questions? How does that automatically become "taking no initiative to further their education"?


So you say we should be able to figure everything out for ourselves, because that is what we will do in private practice. And then you say don't complain when the teachers don't teach you, because you can go an ask one of the other students to teach you instead.
So...to paraphrase -
asking for advice from teacher --> Bad! Weak! You will never be a successful dentist.
asking for advice from another student --> preferred! Doesn't count as "not figuring it out on your own" because this person is not a dentist yet. This is what you are spending your 200,000ish dollars for.

Still don't see what you need to go to dental school for. To quote you on why you shouldn't expect teachers to teach you - "If you can't do it today, how can you do it then? ...You had better learn how to figure things out for yourself, or you will be doing yourself and more importantly your patients a huge disservice."

??

👍

 

[juggamynugga]

a truly good dentist will constantly be involved in study clubs with their collegues, will talk about issues with fellow dentists to learn from their sucesses and mistakes, will be involved in organized dentistry and will never truly practice in an isolated environment. Of course there will be days where you are chair-side and need to think on your feet, but i think to say that life as a dentist is completely isolated would be a mistake. Sounds like the philosophies of the different schools are being perpetuated by their students.

Humanistic environment 👍

 

[MaxAnn]

Its all a game...learn to play and grow some thick skin...almost like military training for some. They break you down, then build you up.

I don't understand this logic, yet people keep using it. Thousands of dollars involved and students' entire futures are not games. It is real life and unprofessional instructors and administrators should be disciplined if not fired immediately.

 

[FutureDMD]

wow! sounds exactly like my dental school experience...may i ask where did d u go? bet its the same school!

 

[UKdent]

I had a totally different experience. So far the only thing i disagree with is a few of the non-dental academic classes that were taught beyound a PhD level, but that is life. You clinic instructors, are as they say, instructors. They know that we are dentist in training and will not downgrade you unless you in fact deserve it, as in asking the the same question 4 or 5 times. However they do expect you to know what was taught in your preclinical courses. Other than that anything that strays from the norm, they will go all out and help you in any way they possible can. I suppose we are just blessed, because it seems that this is not the norm for the other schools out there

 

[DeeEmDee]

It is right for them to be the way they are while teaching at the d-schools? I won't say yes or no. It's not my place to judge them.

If you are paying 6 figures in tuition and are at the mercy of these people for grades and instruction, it is abolutely your place to judge their professional behavior.

On a side note, I'm lauging my ass off at the couple of Internet Tough Guys(TM) in this thread and their pathetic inabililty to formulate a rational argument to back up their "please think I'm a macho man" cries for attention.