Midwestern BMS graduate and current D1 - Ask me anything!

[WockaWocka]

I completed the Biomed program at Midwestern in Arizona, and I am currently a D1 at MWU. I am more than happy to answer any Qs.

Just for starters, I want to clear up some myths:

1) If I do one of the masters programs here, I am guaranteed an acceptance.

They only offer guaranteed interviews if you have a GPA of 3.6 and a total DAT within 1 standard deviation of the incoming dental class. This is not a guaranteed acceptance, as people with stellar stats have been rejected due to poor interviews.

2) I was a science major in undergrad so this BMS will be cake.

I personally know of science majors with 3.5+ who dropped out. The material isn’t extremely difficult, but it’s on a quarter system. You get bombarded with with so much info, it’s a running joke that it’s similar to trying to drink from a fire house. Keep in mind, it’s customary that 33% of those who get accepted do not graduate.

3) Everyone is competing for dental spots so it’s a highly competitive, cut-throat environment.

The dean has told me personally that through an internal review, it shows that dental students who successfully completed the masters program do better on average. Therefore, they are more inclined to take a masters student, and will be happy to accept all masters graduates as long as they have decent stats and interview. Plus, the biomed fosters a cooperative environment. Each year, students create class facebooks to create community study guides.

4) The price is outrageous and not worth it.

This is a personal decision. All I can say is that the masters program share a lot of professors and courses with the dental program, so it will be a lot easier for you the 2nd time around. There are also lots of opportunities to network with dental faculty and students through the various clubs available. This may be beneficial when it comes to interviews, as you may be interviewed by someone you crossed paths with.

In the interviews, they have a D2 that sit in and asks you questions. Don’t blow them off as they have a huge impact on your acceptance. I know of an applicant who was “borderline” but because of a bad interaction with the D2, the admissions committee took the student’s input and did not offer the interviewee an acceptance.

I’m sure there are other BMS programs that are just as great, if not better. But this is y experience and I hope it helps in your decision. If you have more questions feel free to ask.

And lastly, don’t give up. My undergrad GPA was horrendous. I believe my sci was 2.76 and overall 2.9. Took me a few years but I’m currently 1/3 way through my D1 year. Trust me, if I can do it, anyone can haha.

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[Incis0r]

1. What's your favorite part about being a dental student at MWU-AZ?

2. What kinds of hand skill/dental work have you done at this point in your dental education? Waxing? Any operative?

3. What is your break schedule like? How much time off between fall/spring, spring/summer, and summer/fall terms?

4. When do you take Part 1 of your boards?

5. What kind of clinical exposure do you get? Any rotations? Assisting?

 

[Destiny11]

How much would you owe after BMS and DM? What is your plan to pay off your loans?

 

[WockaWocka]

1. What's your favorite part about being a dental student at MWU-AZ?
Obviously I can't compare it other schools, but I really like the curriculum. It's system based, so you learn everything about certain systems each module.

They are really intent on prepping you for the boards, so they will try to structure questions on quizzes and exams to simulate potential board questions.

The faculty here are extremely friendly and genuinely want to help you. Even though we have a class size of 148, we have a ratio of 5:1 students to faculty in the sim lab. Depending on which bench you are at, sometimes the ratio is even smaller.

2. What kinds of hand skill/dental work have you done at this point in your dental education? Waxing? Any operative?

We have done waxing on almost all teeth except molars, class 1 preps, endo access on a central, and a composite veneer. We were also taught to use the rubber dam, and are expected to use it in the sim lab on all procedures done in the simulation mannequin.

3. What is your break schedule like? How much time off between fall/spring, spring/summer, and summer/fall terms?

Since it's run on a quarter system, we have 10 weeks of school per quarter. Starting in August, you go for 10 weeks and get 2 weeks off for Thanksgiving.
Back to school for 3 weeks, then 2 weeks off for Christmas. Once resuming the winter quarter, you go 7 weeks and then get 2 weeks off for Spring break (or maybe 1, not sure if they changed it for us yet). Then you finish off with the spring quarter.

Only 1st years get a 2.5 month summer, as many use the first half to study/take boards. After that, you only get 2 weeks off for summer: 1 in the beginning, 1 at the end of summer. The rest of summer, you are working in the clinic full-time.

4. When do you take Part 1 of your boards?

The summer between our D1-D2 year

5. What kind of clinical exposure do you get? Any rotations? Assisting?

Yes, we start rotations in the first quarter of our D1 year which involves mostly of observing and assisting. Then rotations will go through all specialties. We also have a laser rotation, which will allow us to get hands-on experience of the different lasers used in dentistry which is pretty neat.

 

[WockaWocka]

How much would you owe after BMS and DM? What is your plan to pay off your loans?

That really depends on person to person, but I paid a portion of my BMS tuition out of pocket. I think for the 1 year it's approximately 50K, and 60K for the 2 year program. It's roughly 400-450K for the DM. My plan is to move somewhere that is in high-demand for dentists, which will allow me to maximize my income. Work hard for 5 years, pay off the debt, and then re-locate.

There are a ton of different options out there, such as military scholarships and payments based on income. However, upon research and doing some calculations of my own, I feel that this is the best option for me. It may not be the best for you, depending on your goals and whether or not you have a family.

 

[Ashley985]

 

[2TH MVR]

How's Dr. Dennis Cufone?

 

[Destiny11]

That really depends on person to person, but I paid a portion of my BMS tuition out of pocket. I think for the 1 year it's approximately 50K, and 60K for the 2 year program. It's roughly 400-450K for the DM. My plan is to move somewhere that is in high-demand for dentists, which will allow me to maximize my income. Work hard for 5 years, pay off the debt, and then re-locate.

There are a ton of different options out there, such as military scholarships and payments based on income. However, upon research and doing some calculations of my own, I feel that this is the best option for me. It may not be the best for you, depending on your goals and whether or not you have a family.

I heard you don't have any specialty programs at your school...is that true? Do you have specialists of different specialties in your clinic (Orthodontist, Pediatric dentist, Prosthdontist etc.?)

 

[WockaWocka]

How's Dr. Dennis Cufone?

He’s great! I hear he’s really good at prepping you for the anatomy portion of the boards.

 

[WockaWocka]

I heard you don't have any specialty programs at your school...is that true? Do you have specialists of different specialties in your clinic (Orthodontist, Pediatric dentist, Prosthdontist etc.?)

We do have OS, which I believe is the only specialty but I’ll double check.

However, we do have a pedo department, which has a couple different pedo that rotate through during the week. Not sure about the other specialists in clinic. We do have a couple (prosthetic and perio) on the pre-clinical faculty.