Is Dental school less stressful?

[agrinjeri]

I am a junior undergrad at a top 25 public university and I am stressed beyond measure. Writing a publication in biochemistry, having to rack up shadowing hours, taking pchem and anatomy/physiology among other science classes, doing club events, participating in sports, and having to study for the DAT all are suppressing my morale. So I wanted to ask if dental school is easier than my undergrad experience? I know Dental school requires around 30 credits a semester, but I have read about half are seminars and ethics classes that aren't too hard. Also studying for tests,working in the lab, and going to class is all that students have to do, or am I wrong?

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[Hillo]

I'm pretty sure... unless you're interested in research and clubs.

 

[The Dentisto]

I'm a first year, and I'd say I'm less stressed now than I was when I was in undergrad. But my classmates who are gunning to be at the top of the class, well, they don't sleep. As for me, I go to class, come home and put 1-2 hours a night into studying, and the rest of the evening is me time 🙂

It's also AWESOME knowing that I'm going to be a dentist at the end of this thing, which was never a certainty before. So aside from school being slightly less stressful, I'd say LIFE is incredibly less stressful, which is the key for me.

 

[CMistry]

Is Dental school less stressful?

No. Especially once you're into your clinical years.

 

[hellopeople]

Dental school is only very stressful if you are either very bad with your hand-skills or are trying to specialize. Specialization is very hard considering your competition.

I mean you'll be stressed from time to time, but nothing like what you seem to be experiencing. From my class, only a couple students have dropped so far.

I'm a D2 now, so I don't know about the clinical years.

 

[Bereno]

Totally depends on where you attend, and your goals coming out of D-school. For the school I attend, and the goals I am trying to achieve after D-school, I am far more stressed that undergrad.

 

[Ferneezy]

Totally depends on where you attend, and your goals coming out of D-school. For the school I attend, and the goals I am trying to achieve after D-school, I am far more stressed that undergrad.

ok i'll ask...what goals have you set for yourself that crank up the intensity of dental school?

 

[lwen5]

ok i'll ask...what goals have you set for yourself that crank up the intensity of dental school?

He is going for OMFS

 

[gryffindor]

Undergrad was cake compared to dental school. And I remember doing all of those things you listed except participating in sports. But the stress of dental school will depend on which school you attend and how hard you make it for yourself. If you are going to try for all As for a top 10 rank, yes, it will be harder. More time involved in memorizing minutia to get that 1 point on the exam that makes the difference between a B and an A in a 6 credit hour course. If you're ok with passing, then it will still be hard but you will have more free time.

 

[diasIItema]

I am a junior undergrad at a top 25 public university and I am stressed beyond measure. Writing a publication in biochemistry, having to rack up shadowing hours, taking pchem and anatomy/physiology among other science classes, doing club events, participating in sports, and having to study for the DAT all are suppressing my morale. So I wanted to ask if dental school is easier than my undergrad experience? I know Dental school requires around 30 credits a semester, but I have read about half are seminars and ethics classes that aren't too hard. Also studying for tests,working in the lab, and going to class is all that students have to do, or am I wrong?

I was one of the top students at my top 25 public university. 4.0, extensive extracurriculars, multiple leadership experiences, numerous university and national awards. Dental school makes all of that seem irrelevant. While I wouldn't say I'm "stressed," I am extensively more tense, busy, and tired than I EVER was in undergrad. Going to school from 8-5 with a 1-hour lunch break, plus having to come back to finish lab work and THEN study? Med students have far more free time than we do through the first two years.Granted, I go to all the social events and have had far more fun than I did in undergrad b/c I simply enjoy this peer group and city more. But I've never had to work so hard in my life. And I don't even want to specialize (but we all set an A standard for ourselves, don't we?)

 

[tooth knockn]

Undergrad was cake compared to dental school. And I remember doing all of those things you listed except participating in sports. But the stress of dental school will depend on which school you attend and how hard you make it for yourself. If you are going to try for all As for a top 10 rank, yes, it will be harder. More time involved in memorizing minutia to get that 1 point on the exam that makes the difference between a B and an A in a 6 credit hour course. If you're ok with passing, then it will still be hard but you will have more free time.

What school did you go to?

 

[tooth knockn]

Totally depends on where you attend, and your goals coming out of D-school. For the school I attend, and the goals I am trying to achieve after D-school, I am far more stressed that undergrad.

What school did you go to ??

 

[NDPitch]

Dental school in my opinion is pretty freakin' stressful. Way more so than undergrad. It doesn't even compare.

Our workload just got turned up to full blast as we near the end of this semester. There are not enough hours in the week to study head and neck anatomy and do your dissections and presentations in the gross lab, study histology and do the labs, study biochemistry metabolism pathways, study dental anatomy, practice for your waxing practicals, study biomaterials, waste time in case studies, AND figure out how to get enough sleep.

 

[gryffindor]

Dental school in my opinion is pretty freakin' stressful. Way more so than undergrad. It doesn't even compare.

Our workload just got turned up to full blast as we near the end of this semester. There are not enough hours in the week to study head and neck anatomy and do your dissections and presentations in the gross lab, study histology and do the labs, study biochemistry metabolism pathways, study dental anatomy, practice for your waxing practicals, study biomaterials, waste time in case studies, AND figure out how to get enough sleep.

Sounds like the D1 workload at my alma mater has not changed at all in over a decade.

 

[jmh018]

I read on SDN that passing through dental school is easy but trying to get straight As is really hard. I have found that to be true. I am not just "passing through." I have an equal mix of As and high Bs at the moment and I think that the Bs may become As later. It is a lot more work than my undergrad but my college was pretty easy compared to most other schools to be honest.

I think what makes dental school seem not so bad to me is I built it up in my head as the worst thing imaginable where I won't have time to see my wife for four years. As it turns out, I have a lot of free time. It really helps that I am very comfortable working with my hands and have done so for years so I don't have to practice most hands on stuff all that much. You will be fine. It is not as bad as some people say. If you can get in, you can make it through usually and have a life at the same time.

It is really variable depending on undergrad, dental school, and what you expect it to be.

 

[NDPitch]

Sounds like the D1 workload at my alma mater has not changed at all in over a decade.

Haha, apparently not. 🙂

The upcoming winter break will be a much needed 3-week sigh of relief.

 

[Bereno]

ok i'll ask...what goals have you set for yourself that crank up the intensity of dental school?

OMFS

What school did you go to ??

University of Washington undergrad
UConn dental

 

[Silent Cool]

OMFS



University of Washington undergrad
UConn dental

One difference about UCONN, though, is that the first two years are shared with med students, which will make your life a lot more stressful. Dental-only curriculums don't cover as much detail in the basic sciences. YMMV

 

[Ferneezy]

OMFS

i see. to be in the top x% of a class of 40ish is no small task.

so far so good?

 

[sgv]

If you just want to pass, dental school is a breeze. If not, it can be as stressful as finals week in undergrad except it lasts for more than a week. It last for 2-3 years.

I'm physically tired from all the lab work. I was never physically tired in undergrad. Only occasionally mental tired like during weekend before exam. In dental school, there's exams and lab competencies every week so I'm always mentally and physically tired.

Learn not to b1tch in undergrad so you dont bring that garbage habit to dental school.

 

[NDPitch]

Learn not to b1tch in undergrad so you dont bring that garbage habit to dental school.

Very true.

Complaining only makes it worse. Whenever I find myself in a particularly whiny mood, I make myself snap out of it and just keep on grinding through it.

 

[Bereno]

One difference about UCONN, though, is that the first two years are shared with med students, which will make your life a lot more stressful. Dental-only curriculums don't cover as much detail in the basic sciences. YMMV

True, but its hard to really know since I am only attending one school and cant see the others first hand. I am just hesitant to say "my school is harder than yours" lol

i see. to be in the top x% of a class of 40ish is no small task.

so far so good?

Its no small task for sure - not sure how its going to be honest. I'll find out at the end of the year haha. Thanks for asking 😎

 

[Bifenthrin]

Dental school is a lot harder than undergrad. I'm learning the hard way that you can't cram for your midterms and expect an A in dental school. -_-

The labwork isn't so bad, it's pretty enjoyable actually. But anatomy and biochemistry are going to be the death of me this semester. The pace is ridiculous, and if you burn out it's hard to get back into the groove of things.

 

[KittySquared]

Very true.

Complaining only makes it worse. Whenever I find myself in a particularly whiny mood, I make myself snap out of it and just keep on grinding through it.

Your anguish gets out in the most obscene and sarcastic remarks, broski.

 

[goffdent]

Dental school is definitely much harder. And for the people that say it's only hard if you want to specialize, that's B.S., It's often hard just to get passable grades in certain classes. When you're taking 2-4 tests a week, it's not easy no matter how you slice it. Once you get into clinic, it's harder because of time management and having to do lab work and do homework.

 

[Shunwei]

I am a junior undergrad at a top 25 public university and I am stressed beyond measure. Writing a publication in biochemistry, having to rack up shadowing hours, taking pchem and anatomy/physiology among other science classes, doing club events, participating in sports, and having to study for the DAT all are suppressing my morale. So I wanted to ask if dental school is easier than my undergrad experience? I know Dental school requires around 30 credits a semester, but I have read about half are seminars and ethics classes that aren't too hard. Also studying for tests,working in the lab, and going to class is all that students have to do, or am I wrong?

Sorry to break it to you, but dental school is quite a bit more intense. I too was graduated from a top 25 undergrad. It was certainly hard already, but I think dental school is even more intense. Each and every day there is always something to study for or to work on, be it quizzes, exams, finals, practicals, patients, lab projects, extracurriculars, etc. During my school hours I don't think I had many moments without always something hand to study or something at my hands I am working on. But in order to get something (getting paid and living the lifestyle of a dentist) you have to give as well, so consider it putting in your dues and it will be fine. As another poster pointed out it's actually fairly easy to pass if you just want that. But you still have to work, although the demands certainly drive some to more unsavory means of cheating.

 

[therev1990]

It is as stressful as you make it. You can put in the minumum amount of effort and get passing scores or you can gun it out with the top 20 percent of the kids in the class, put yourself under loads of stress by studying everyday and get your A's.

 

[Silent Cool]

The important thing to remember is that it is hard for everybody.

OP: you're obviously doing research, etc.. That's part of why you are stressed. Contrary to popular belief, you don't have to kill yourself in undergrad to get into dental school. Try taking it easy (ie, taking fewer credits per quarter or semester, bail on research--you don't need to do it, etc...). You can always spend an extra year in college doing research or publishing. It's not necessary to kill yourself doing that in undergrad and may quite likely be counterproductive because it will probably lower your grades. Dental school will always be there.

College is simply one gigantic hoop through which you have to jump. Be smart about how you jump through it. Get high grades, and if that means taking a lighter load or easier classes, then do it. Dental school is hard but it is a different kind of pressure because all you have to do it pass. Of course, if you attend a school with rankings you will need to perform at a higher level if you want to specialize, but don't worry about that now.

Scratch your clubs and spots. That's totally high school. I'm serious.

Likewise, don't worry about shadowing. That's easy to get. Do it on breaks, etc.., instead of during busy times. IT WILL ALWAYS BE THERE.

Just don't compromise your grades. From the sound of your post you seem to be doing the same things that I did in college, and I can tell you it was a mistake. I got ahead of myself, and only ended up behind. It's a marathon, not a sprint. Don't compromise those grades. GPA and DAT scores are 90%. The rest is mostly BS that no one cares about.....except your HS guidance counselor.

good luck.

 

[Bottle]

I think it will be different from one to another. Like other stated, it depends on your goal, and how stressed were you in undergrad. Some of us did average work which wasn't stressful at all, and some others like you who is trying difficult things might be extremely stressed. I say you will find dental school a piece of cake if you are not planing to go into specialty.

 

[CMistry]

As mentioned in most posts above, "just passing" dental school is no small feat. I would say it is much harder than averaging a 3.5/6GPA in college (typically what it takes to gain acceptance to dental school). Of course there is more pressure if you set your goals high, but overall for the average student I would assume dental school is much more stressful than college.

 

[UCSFx2017]

I wake up at 6-7 am every morning, pay attention to lectures from 8-12, and then drill and fill from 1-5 on most days. I'm usually a little tired and hungry when I get out of lab and the last thing I want to do is study. But I do it anyways because OMFS sounds so much more interesting than general dentistry. This schedule might sound daunting but you get used to it after a month.

When exams and practicals come up, I come in during the weekend or stay after class to work on my operative skills. Last Saturday and Sunday, I spent 4 hours everyday working on my hand skills and spent the rest of the day studying for an exam.
If you just want to be a GP then school stops at exactly 5 o'clock for you. There's very little studying and lab work involved until the weekend before the exam if you just want to pass dental school.

I wouldn't say that I'm more stressed in dental school than I was in undergrad because back then the options were either do very well in college in order to get into an affordable dental school or become unemployed. That's kind of stressful. But in terms of effort, it doesn't come close to dental school. In dental school, the worst that can happen is I'll make >$120K working from 8-5 pm, 4 days a week. That's not stressful but you still need to put in more effort than what was required of you in undergrad. Although dental school isn't inherently stressful, you can make it stressful by committing yourself to be at the top of your class, study for the CBSE, research, extern, and apply for OMFS residency. Also, patients -- you go from wearing pajamas to dining hall and paying for food using mom and dad's money in college to being responsible for someone else's health to the extent that you could seriously hurt or kill them in dental school.

For a frame of reference, I graduated college at the top 10% of my class at a lower ranked school, took 17-18 credits per semester, did research, volunteered, and had club activities but I never spent so much effort that I was left exhausted at the end of the day. I probably didn't have to spend this much effort in undergrad but I chose to because the courses were enjoyable at a relatively slow pace, research gave me a new frame of mind, and I met cool people.

 

[yappy]

I feel like dental school is more stressful than undergrad because you're forced to actually "use" the knowledge you've gained from the courses you take. This is represented in the tests that you take (practicals & secondary/tertiary written exam questions) and also in clinical/lab work. That means that in order to be successful you need to both know and perform.

Actually, in a lot of ways it's like having a job. Get used to performing.

EDIT:

Things that will make your life easier:
1.) Pathoma
2.) Firecracker
3.) Lippincott's Illustrated Reviews Biochemistry
4.) Don't be above youtubing a subject you don't fully grasp by reading text

 

[sfoksn]

Here at UCSF, I find that it is a lot less stressful and much less work compared to my undergrad. First two years is supposed to be didactically challenging but if you have a solid background in biology in undergrad then you will realize that the level of detail you learn in dental school is very shallow. Most of my bio courses in undergrad was more in-depth than my dental school classes. It felt like the classes were designed for non-biology majors, which makes sense, I guess. I had a lot of time for myself to get involved in research and multiple leadership positions. I enjoyed my first two years a lot.

I am in my third year now and it is a breeze as well. You just see patients all day at your own pace, no need to hurry or anything, requirements are very easy to meet. I guess the stressful part is patient management but with a professional attitude, it should not be a problem.

I am going into OMFS and it didn't make my dental school experience any harder, if anything it made it easier since I know that I just need to get by clinically. Some of my friends are stressing out because they are trying to master and learn as much general dentistry as possible while they are in school, since they really won't have such responsibility-free, hands-on learning opportunity once they get out of school.

 

[str8ner]

I am a junior undergrad at a top 25 public university and I am stressed beyond measure. Writing a publication in biochemistry, having to rack up shadowing hours, taking pchem and anatomy/physiology among other science classes, doing club events, participating in sports, and having to study for the DAT all are suppressing my morale. So I wanted to ask if dental school is easier than my undergrad experience? I know Dental school requires around 30 credits a semester, but I have read about half are seminars and ethics classes that aren't too hard. Also studying for tests,working in the lab, and going to class is all that students have to do, or am I wrong?

You are stressed because you care. That I'd say is a good thing. If you want to just get by, you will not be stressed in dental school. If you want to do well and perhaps specialize, you will be stressed. I found it easy to make a B's in dental school but A's were hard. The competition among the top 20 students is fierce and can get quite petty. For example, people would hoard old tests so that no one else would get a chance to study them. As a result, I was very stressed. The good news is that I am far happier as a specialist than I was as a general dentist. If I hadn't tried so hard in dental school, I would be stuck now.