My Arizona Experience (DS-1)

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Where is the trip to? Also, congrats in advance about the baby!
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The trip is to various clinics around the state. It sounds like a blast though, and the class will be staying in resorts/casino hotels. Basically, a great way to begin spring break.
 
So, we're on spring break right now, and have been all this week. The weather is great for spring break--it's been in the 90s lately and will probably hit 95 today.

We'll see...
 
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ladies first, congrats G :clap:
 
Originally posted by ItsGavinC
Last evening (Wed. the 10th) at 10:18 pm, my wife delivered our second child, a baby girl.

Now who do I put in my avatar? :)
Click to expand...

A pic of both kids.
 
Congrats Gavin!
 
Hey Gavin, does AZ give you insurance that pays for things such as child births, or do you have to pay for that out of your own pocket?
 
Congrats to Mrs. G and the little princess. That is fantastic. If it hasn't happened already, she'll have you wrapped around her little finger soon Gavin. Kids are awesome. :clap: :clap:
 
Originally posted by Shomeda$
Hey Gavin, does AZ give you insurance that pays for things such as child births, or do you have to pay for that out of your own pocket?
Click to expand...

We don't have any university insurance, which is one of my gripes. It isn't a personal gripe, but more or less a gripe that I stand behind when my fellow classmates are hard hit with crazy circumstances.

I take the standpoint that although certain situations may not affect me directly, if they affect my classmates than it is also my problem.
 
Quite a bit happening these days, hence my posts have slowed somewhat.

We've finished up our Pharm module, and we've had our first Pathology exam as well. Path was taught by Dr. Eversole from UOP dental school (any UOPers had him?).

We're still running through our Dental Hard Tissues module. It's been going for 6 weeks and we have another couple of weeks to go. Lots of time in the sim-lab, etc. etc.

Tomorrow we have a competency test in the sim-lab, so that should be a blast.

Interviews around here for next year's class are wrapping up and the process is winding down.

The official word is that this year, 1 out of every 4 (27%) of dental applicants applied to Arizona. This is fantastic for such a new school, and we are all expecting marvelous things in the future.
 
My competancy tests went so-so. My amalgam carving was well done (3.7 grade), however my actual prep received a grade lower than a 3.0. Due to that, I have to redo it this Friday.

Honestly, I thought my prep looked pretty well done. We did #30-O, and although I was a bit underextended in the mesial, the distal, buccal, and lingual areas were great. The depth also looked good when using my probe, but the instructors thought otherwise.

'Tis dental school life.
 
Lots of stuff happening.

We're in the middle of our Oral Soft Tissues (intro. to Perio) module right now, and we've completed our 9-week Dental Hard Tissues (operative) module.

We've also had our summer break lengthened by quite a bit, which has been heartening to all of us. It was previously 4 weeks long, but with the NBDE I thrown smack dab into the middle of it, it was really only 2 weeks since everybody will be studying prior to taking the exam.

The break is now 7 weeks long, with additional time added to prior to the exam (ie, we get out of school 2 weeks sooner) and the start of next year pushed back a bit also.

We're all getting excited to see next year's class arrive!
 
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Bill, I think so. Our curriculum has done a fair job of preparing us, and the 4 weeks of study time will nail it down.

I don't expect to get super-high scores, but I'm sure I'll do just fine.

In other news, how do you feel about our hashed "reputations"?
 
Did a MOD yesterday and a MO Class II today. Not too shabby. I've slowed my work way down in an effort to improve my technique. I'm hoping that speed will come once my technique is improved.

As it stands, I won't be making much money (or paying back many loans!) if every class II that walks through the door takes me 45 minutes to prep.
 
This Friday we have our first exam from our Oral Soft Tissues (Perio) module. Then, the following Wednesday we have our 3rd exam for our Pathology module. That is followed by our final exam for our Dental Hard Tissues (Operative/Dental Anatomy) module the following Monday.

Three killer tests in 9 days--that's what dental school is all about!

Unfortunately, I'm behind so I'm scrambling right now to study for Perio, when I probably ought to be wrapping it up and gearing up for Path. Path won't get touched until I'm done with Perio, though, which means I'll be behind for my DHT exam.

Ho hum. :eek:
 
Well, it's been a crazy couple of weeks. We've had lots of exams these past couple of weeks: two Path exams, our DHT final, and two Perio exams.

Our final perio exam is a week from Monday, and after that we won't have an exam until we have our Path final which will be in mid-late May.

It's a huge relief to have this gauntlet of tests completed, and I feel like I can start studying more heavily for the Boards now. I think most of my classmates feel the same.

I'm hitting the Dental Decks hard, and I've taken and reviewed several of the old Part I exams as well.

Although we've had a ton of exams in the past couple of weeks, we've also had lots of time off to study for these exams as well as Boards. For example, this week we had an exam Monday morning, an hour of class Wednesday afternoon, and an exam this morning. Essentially, we had 4+ days off this week, which sure is nice when it comes to prepping for the Boards.
 
I forgot to mention that our final week of lecture is the week of June 7, and our last exam of the DS1 year is on Monday, June 14.

That means we have about 6 weeks left of the school year, which absolutely RULES!

DS2 here we come...

(okay, okay, I'm jumping the gun a little, but I'm excited!)
 
Well, those rumors about the NBDE I going to a case-based/clinical format are true.

We just found out today that our school, along with some other schools (perhaps all of them, or maybe only a select few?) has the opportunity to beta test the new case-based NBDE I exam.

We'll be beta testing it in June, and then taking the real deal (original format) in July.

It appears the the NBDE I will be case-based, similar to the USMLE, in Summer of 2005.

After I take it in June, I'll let everybody know my impressions of the case-based exam. My first inclination is that it will be more difficult than the current model. The ADA has stated that they want to expand the NBDE to make it more interdisciplinary, which translates to "testing on a greater amount of knowledge" in my book.
 
Crazy Board studying is happening right now.

I've gone through the entire Biochem/Physiology stack of Dental Decks multiple times. I'm now moving on to the Micro/Path stack. Here's my study strategy with the Decks:

Go through a specific subject stack one time each day. At the minimum, go through the stack for each subject once every two days (or half the stack each day). For example, last week I went through the Biochem/Physiology stack 6 times in a week. The first time took me ~7 hours and involved refreshing/learning all the stuff on the back of the cards. Each subsequent time took less and less, and I found I was able to recall all of the significant information on the backside of the card without having to flip it over each time. The final time I went through Biochem/Physiology was on Friday, and it only took 90 minutes to roll through the cards. So, now I'm on to Micro/Path for this week.

I'm going to spend a solid week with each subject using the Decks, then I'll use old exams and randomize the Decks, etc. to supplement my additional studying.

I feel doing this with the Decks right now will give me a fairly solid base from which to build.
 
ItsGavinC said:
Oh yeah, it's also my birthday today. To top that off, I'm sick with a cold, and my school basketball team has our first game of the post-season tournament tonight.
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Happy belated birthday G !! :hardy:
 
hey, happy belated birthday, gavin. hope u got better.
How come you are studying for the board so early?
Isnt that happening next year?
 
ecdoesit said:
hey, happy belated birthday, gavin. hope u got better.
How come you are studying for the board so early?
Isnt that happening next year?
Click to expand...

It's happening in 64 days (July 12).

I'm trying to get an early start by building up, or refreshing, my knowledge base. For me, the more opportunities I have to associate with the material, the better I'll be.
 
Hi, Gavin, do you mind explaining how the board works?
I thought we take it during our second year.
And at AZ, do you take it on the end of 1st year?
Thanks for the info.
 
Passing Part I allows students to advance with clinical work.
Passing Part II allows students to receive the dental (either DMD or DDS) degree.
Passing a regional licensing board allows dentists to practice.

MOST schools take Part I after their 2nd year. There are a handful of schools that allow it to be taken after the first year. ASDOH is one of those. (Yah-E has a great thread on this in the Dental forum).
 
Thanks, gavin. Good luck on ur test.
I read over that thread.
Wow, thanks, Yah-E.
it is very informative.
 
We had an exam this morning at 8am over Infection control. It included questions on basic precautions, standard precautions, microbiology, sterilization, disinfection, etc.

This afternoon we have an anatomy review for the Boards, which runs for 3 or 4 days.

Things are really winding down now, even though we have class until the second week in June. The focus now is the Boards, and most of our classes now are reviewing information that is necessary to do well on Part I.

We also have a couple of competency tests in simlab before we get out for the summer. In two weeks we have a Class III exam, and another Class II exam (composite) after that.
 
Hi, gavin.
I had interview on 4/12 at the ATSU, but I didn't hear any news yet. How long do i have to wait which acceptance or rejection after my interview?
ItsGavinC said:
CAVEAT: I'm posting this thread because so little is known about Arizona. Of course, that is to be expected given that it is a brand new school. Other schools, such as Penn & Harvard, may have a foundation of 125 years upon which they stand. The application process can be expensive, so hopefully I can assist some people in making decisions. My goal is not to boast or brag, but to inform applicants about the school. And of course I hope to excite people about the school. If this doesn't interest you then don't read it. If it does interest you then hopefully I can be of assistance.
--------------------------------

? We had an open-house party this evening at the home of one of our deans. It was an awesome event and loads of fun. We have a diverse class, and it looks as though the male/female ratio is about 50/50 (although don't quote me on that).

? The President of the medical school was in attendance, as were the provosts of the other schools under the A.T. Still University system (Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine).

? Also in attendance was the dean of UOP, as well as deans for Buffalo, Louisville and Baylor! It really is awesome to see faculty from OTHER schools come out to support this new school. It is also a great symbol of how much faith administrators from other schools have in our new curriculum and our new method of dental education. After all, since when do deans from other dental schools attend welcoming parties for another school (especially if they have never taught or attended that school)?

That's all for now. More updates will be posted in the coming days. Orientation is on Monday, and classes will be following that.

I get lots of PMs asking about the curriculum, so here is a link to it from a previous thread where I explained it:
http://www.studentdoctor.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=68741

I'll be sure to let you know how the curriculum works out.

Feel free to PM me anytime. Take care everybody!
Click to expand...
 
tonykangus said:
Hi, gavin.
I had interview on 4/12 at the ATSU, but I didn't hear any news yet. How long do i have to wait which acceptance or rejection after my interview?
Click to expand...

Usually they are pretty quick. With our admissions, no news is good news--meaning they can still give you an admission at any time. I've heard that the class is probably full already, but I'm sure you'll hear something soon.

Sorry I don't have more info.
 
Last exam for us June 21st. We still have 4 practicals: Fri is a DOL + MO on 3 and 14 and tue is a maxiallary on primary dentition...forget the teeth and prep. Immuno exam mon, embryo slide exam thur and embryo written june 2nd...damn list goes on and on until the end
 
Well, from here on out we are basically having Board review courses. For example, this week we are reviewing embryology and oral histology (being taught by Dr. Davenport from UNLV dental school--excellent teacher!).

Our last day of class is June 21, but we have ~ 10 total days off between now and then (for example, we have tomorrow afternoon off, Thursday afternoon off, and Friday afternoon off) and we also have about 20 days devoted purely to Board review courses (no exams on this material, just for our review purposes).

So, school is essentially done after our final Path test this Friday, even though we'll still be busy.
 
Gavin,
Dr. Davenport is the teacher at UNLV that told us to send in our old Decks and get the 2004 ones.
 
ItsGavinC said:
Col Sanders, cool. I talked with him this morning about that.
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gavinC.
Thank you so much replying my question while you are busy.
I hope that I can become a ATSU family like you very soon and I will pray for your board exam.
 
I've been away for a while due to busily studying for Boards.

This past weekend, I had a nice 5-day weekend and took the opportunity to fly back home to Utah with the wife and kids.

Today we had a brief exam from 8-9.

Tomorrow we have an exam on hygiene from 9-10.

Friday we have Grand Rounds from 1-3.

Half days all next week with Wednesday completely off.

I wish we were out of school, but our current schedule is the next best thing.


39 days until the Boards... :D
 
ItsGavinC said:
This past weekend, I had a nice 5-day weekend and took the opportunity to fly back home to Utah with the wife and kids.

:D
Click to expand...

Small children on airplanes should be outlawed. Especially if they kick and scream the entire fight.
 
Friday I ran through all the Dental Anatomy & Occlusion deck cards. Yesterday I reviewed all of the Biochem/Physiology deck cards. Today I'm moving on to the Micro/Path cards.

I've been through each of the four card sections now 4-5 times, and that includes thoroughly reviewing the information on the back of the cards (very important!), not just reading the front questions.

Now I'm cycling through each subject stack every day or two to refresh/relearn some of the minutia that I might have missed in my first passes through the decks.

I'm also delving into the Kaplan Q-Bank for NBDE I a lot more, although I still don't like it. I'm getting 85-90 (75-85% correct) as low scores on the previously released NBDE exams, yet I'm only getting 15-25% of the Q-Bank questions correct. Some of them are really ridiculous and have no real play on the NBDE. Further, quite a few of the questions are case-based, which plays into my theory that they are actually USMLE prep questions. Here is a sample question:

"Which of the following would be MOST likely present on a biopsy of a thyroid gland and associated tissues that has a woody hardness when palpated but the needle biopsy shows no evidence of malignancy?"

A. Marked fibrous reaction with gland destruction

B. Masses of hyperplastic follicles

C. Multinucleated giant cells

D. Small foci of lymphocytic infiltration

E. Prominent lymphocytic infiltrate with gland destruction
 
Gavin, your little girl is soooooooo cute! AWWWWWW

:thumbup: :)
 
My class is having a Kaplan biochem review course during the early part of this week, but I'm opting to skip that and study on my own. I've been in enough "review" sessions to know two things: 1) there isn't enough time to review everything that ought to be reviewed, which results in the instructor either skipping huge chunks (which doesn't help with the way my brian links information) or going to quickly that none of the information is of any real help. Also, 2) 5-6 people ask all the questions and the discussion inevitably gets sidetracked which takes up too much time.

I put in 7 hours on my own today and really plowed through the material. I did the Micro/Path decks once through and really hit the backs of the cards hard, paying special attention to little facts that I may have missed previously.

I also did several chapters in the Kaplan book with anatomy (probably my weakest area if it comes to actual anatomical naming). Tomorrow holds more of the same.
 
Two things to cover:

1) This thread is ending (to the delight of many perhaps) when I take my Board exam on 7/12. If you read my initial post, I wanted this thread to give people some insight into a brand new school, and to somewhat experience the journey with me. Hopefully I've accomplished some of that. If it has worked as I intended, then some of you won't be applying to Arizona because you now believe it isn't the place for you, while others will for sure be applying because you know it is the only place for you.

In the middle of those to poles are most applicants, so hopefully I've peaked some interests and applicants will apply to find out about the school for themselves.

2) This in a way goes with the first point. I'd just like to say how excited I am for the classes at ASDOH that come after mine. Even the class that starts next month is going to have it SO much better than my class did. Parts of the schedule that needed fixing have been taken care of, and that alone will make things much smoother. The clinic building starts this month, and we'll be in it and seeing patients during our 4th semester (about 9 months from now). That will be an enormous asset to our program (obviously). As it stands now it's just really hard for me to show visitors much of anything other than the simlab. That's fine and dandy, but our clinic will be the hub of the school, just like at other programs, so I'm excited for it to happen.

I put in another strong 7 hours of studying today, and am feeling really great. It seems like the details are sticking constantly now, which is an excellent feeling. My only fear is that perhaps I've hit my "peak" much too early. I'm hoping that the details will still be sticking as the test date draws nearer.
 
I just had to tell you that your journal has been an enormous benefit to me. I will be applying to AZ (I already knew before I read the thread) so I felt I got a honest perspective. Your thread was honest in other ways-the studying, little time w/ family, etc,. Even people who aren't interested in going to AZ got a glimpse of what it was like to even be in dental school. Good luck to you on your boards, I know everybody who reads the thread is rooting for you. :thumbup:
 
Hi Gavin,

I wanted to also express my thanks to you for your great thread! I am relatively new to SDN and was interested in your thread from the very beginning. It seems that many of the things you wrote about really related to my own situation.

I appreciate the time and effort you put into to this (especially since you are a full-time student, husband, and father!) as it definitely provided some needed information to all those interested in a career in dentistry (whether at AZ or not).

Good luck with the rest of dental school, I know you will do awesome...and if things go my way, maybe I will be able to meet you at Arizona sometime!
:D
 
I studied DAO today pretty hard-core, and then finished the day off by taking a released DAO NBDE exam.

I had a hunch that DAO would be my worst subject, and even after my study efforts I think that is true. I passed the released exam, but not by much.

But to be fair to myself, several of the questions were just ridiculously worded (ie, I had no idea what they were even asking). Another couple were ones that I knew the answers to but didn't read the questions carefully enough (so it wasn't subject matter that I didn't know, which is somewhat relieving). Still, those extra points didn't raise me as much as I'd like.

My dental anatomy scores are my lowest, and I'm not sure what to do to raise them. It seems like everybody around here usually scores very well on DAO, which makes me feel even more like an idiot.
 
Do you guys know anyone getting into Arizona Dental School having 18/20 on DAT?
 
DDS2BE said:
Do you guys know anyone getting into Arizona Dental School having 18/20 on DAT?
Click to expand...

That should get you in no problem with a decent GPA. I got in with a 19/19.
 
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