Is anyone else scared?

[jenfromdablock]

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Yeah sure I've been accepted but is anyone else terrified?

1. I'm scared of not knowing anyone in a whole new state, away from friends and family.

2. I'm scared of being the "dumb one" in the class.

3. I'm scared of cadavers and passing out when I see them

4. I'm scared of failing out of dental school due to extreme work load

5. I'm scared that I won't pass part 1 and 2 boards

6. I'm scared that dental school will not be interesting/fun but rather excruciatingly hard

7. I know I have to work out but I am scared of exhaustion

8. I'm scared of debt, and paying it all back.


Someone tell me it's going to be alright.

 

[sjv]

1. Many people in same position as you.
2. Statistically unlikely.
3. Samesies.
4. Unlikely, you can even retake classes if that were to even happen.
5. >95% chance to pass, unlikely.
6. A mix of all of that.
7. What?
8. Worse comes to worse, there are various options to handle your debt. As long as you have a job somewhere, you'll be fine.

 

[distressstudent]

You're scared of failure. That's understandably. I know I am. But telling you that everything is okay is not going to do it for you; trust me. We are strangers and we can't always be there for you. We can tell you that all these dental related things are not as bad as you think, but what about other aspects of your life that we can't comment on? You need to calm your nerves and improve your overall mental psyche. But remember it is naturally to have our weakness; even 4.0 students have their worries. But a 4.0 students can always look at his gpa and go, "geeze. it is alright. i am doing pretty good". But you know that a GPA don't really represent what you hope it represent; and what if you don't have something like a good GPA to fall back on? That's why you need to find a source of stability in your life that you can always fall back on when life goes wrong; it can't be us. And let me tell you a little secret: it can't be success either. Success is a never ending quest and leaves too much room to fail. That's why you shouldn't place all so much importance to your academic and career success. Once you can look past that you will realize that there is nothing to fear but fear itself.

 

[NMC2010]

2. Material isn't supposed to be that hard, just lots more of it

3. Lol, they aren't so bad - by the end you'll be friends (anyone see that creepy episode of The Walking Dead this past season with the blonde girl befriending zombies?). The worst thing is when the cadavers have a lot of fat tissue. It is pretty slimy and can make the bodies smell unpleasant.

6. There's always podiatry school

7.
Ah... Girl look at that body [x3]
Ah... I work out
Ah... Girl look at that body [x3]
Ah... I work out

8. You're gonna be makin' bank bro (sis?). Do some military if you're concerned.

 

[Illfavor]

You should be scared. Anxiety is your body saying "tomorrow might be not great." And it's true. But over 5,000 people graduate every year. You were chose because you meet the conditions the schools have identified for success. You made it. The rest is about survival. Hardly anyone takes more than 4 years. If may be the worst 4 years of your life, but you will look back and be glad for it. We are all in this together. Don't worry about what everyone else does. Do what you need to do to get where you want to be. Do not compare. If you really want to be better than your classmates, do it when it really matters: when you're out in the real world.

 

[sgv]

1. I'm scared of not knowing anyone in a whole new state, away from friends and family.
Normal.
2. I'm scared of being the "dumb one" in the class.
Meh, dental school and college success is more about hard work, stamina, and good use of time.
3. I'm scared of cadavers and passing out when I see them
Don't look at their feet and hands. Unfortunately, you have to look at the face. There's no blood and you'll be distracted by the amount of dissection that you have to do.
4. I'm scared of failing out of dental school due to extreme work load
Don't be lazy. It's more than a fulltime job. Passing dental school isn't nearly as difficult as getting A's. When you hear people say how hard dental school is, they're probably talking about getting straight A's in dental school. This is all relative because I'm used to working hard for A's and just passing dental school would therefore seem so much easier.
5. I'm scared that I won't pass part 1 and 2 boards
It's pass/fail and most people spend a good week or two on it and pass.
6. I'm scared that dental school will not be interesting/fun but rather excruciatingly hard
It's boring. General dentistry is a bore. OMFS on the other hand...
7. I know I have to work out but I am scared of exhaustion
Fear is good. You should react to fear by trying very hard. Not wanting to flunk out is a good motivation to study.
8. I'm scared of debt, and paying it all back.
I can't really help you there. Live a humbling life for a while so you'll appreciate life more when you get higher income and get out of education debt. Unfortunately you'll probably always have debt of some form in practice loan or house loan.

Someone tell me it's going to be alright.
I don't lie and tell my patients when I'm giving anesthetic injections that the needle won't hurt. I tell them, "You will feel a pinch." Tell yourself that someone out there probably dumber than you passed dental school. Remember when the average GPA used to be 3.3? If they did it, you could probably do it too. But you'll still have to try harder than you did in college.

 

[jenfromdablock]

Don't schools use digital cadavers nowadays?

 

[LFA20]

Don't schools use digital cadavers nowadays?

At Lecom they have a software for anatomy.. Most schools still use cadavers.

 

[joeeeey3]

yeah I'm quite scared as well
adapting to new envrionment, making new friends, getting used to workload etc etc
but that's normal.
and once you get used to it after a certain period of time, you will start appreciating the blessings you've been given.

 

[jenfromdablock]

Honest to God, nothing scares me more than 400k debt.

 

[Ferneezy]

Honest to God, nothing scares me more than 400k debt.

as well it should. use that as motivation to get out from under it once you're in practice.

 

[Slumber]

1. I'm scared of not knowing anyone in a whole new state, away from friends and family.
It's like high school/college all over again, at least it was for me in NYC.

2. I'm scared of being the "dumb one" in the class.
Being smart in DS is more about hard works and time management since the materials are pretty much the same.

3. I'm scared of cadavers and passing out when I see them
Did you take zoology or human anatomy/physiology in undergrad? Well human cadavers are only bigger.

4. I'm scared of failing out of dental school due to extreme work load
Don't we all? But I think we'll be fine. After all, school admits accepted us (40% ish of total applicants) because they believe we can succeed.

5. I'm scared that I won't pass part 1 and 2 boards
P/F makes everything better, and we destroyed the DAT, standardized exams? No problemo.

6. I'm scared that dental school will not be interesting/fun but rather excruciatingly hard
Life is always interesting.

7. I know I have to work out but I am scared of exhaustion
Muscle soreness, embrace it!

8. I'm scared of debt, and paying it all back.
Don't we all?

 

[jenfromdablock]

as well it should. use that as motivation to get out from under it once you're in practice.

Buy a practice and assume even more debt?

 

[Daneosaurus]

OP, as for #3 - it's not that bad.

I am super uncomfortable with the idea of death. But, I work as a security officer in a hospital and some of my duties are to transport deceased patients to the morgue, release the bodies to funeral homes, uncover the bodies for funeral homes, and this past weekend I assisted the medical examiner. But, I felt absolutely numb toward. I think my anxiety toward the matter allowed me to no longer stress when I actually came across dead humans. Plus, cadavers look far less human than 1-3 day expired ones.

 

[Dentalguy8621]

Yeah sure I've been accepted but is anyone else terrified?

1. I'm scared of not knowing anyone in a whole new state, away from friends and family.

2. I'm scared of being the "dumb one" in the class.

3. I'm scared of cadavers and passing out when I see them

4. I'm scared of failing out of dental school due to extreme work load

5. I'm scared that I won't pass part 1 and 2 boards

6. I'm scared that dental school will not be interesting/fun but rather excruciatingly hard

7. I know I have to work out but I am scared of exhaustion

8. I'm scared of debt, and paying it all back.


Someone tell me it's going to be alright.

Not accepted yet but definitely have had these thoughts. Don't stress yourself over distortions like "What if this, what if that". A lot of those things could happen but will they? Likelihood is not high. Why not stress IF they do happen. Roll with the flow and congratulations on your acceptance.

 

[Demilaax]

I failed to make good friends at Highschool.
I failed to make good friends in College.
Lets hope I don't fail again... this is my last shot at school.

 

[NDPitch]

3. I'm scared of cadavers and passing out when I see them

Non issue. That's over and done with about 25 minutes into your first lab. By the end of the semester you're talking over the cadaver with your table mates about what you're making for dinner later as you pull apart the carotid sheath with a probe.