We do have a problem with chair space at Nova. There are, unfortunately, not enough chairs for all of the students to fit into the clinic at once. There are approximately ~85 chairs for 200 students. Originally, when the school first opened, there were 100 chairs in the clinic. The first few classes had reduced numbers of students and everybody could fit into the clinic. We now have about 106 per class in the clinic (including international students). The number of chairs was reduced because of incorporation of special needs dentistry and the AEGD program. There are about 8 chairs for removable only, and 8 chairs for endo (mostly). 212 students for ~85 chairs...
So on some days, getting a chair for your OFF-time can be very difficult. For your ON-time (we have alternating on-off times depending on the day. for example monday and tuesday afternoons, and thurs and fri mornings are my on times), booking chairs is never a problem. Things can get tricky depending on if many students need to get caught up on their perio (cleanings, srp re-evaluations), but generally, I never have a problem getting a chair if I do it about a week in advance.
Simply put, you learn to work in the system and most people have enough time to see patients and get work done. Is it a perfect system? Far from it, but it's working.
I'm certainly not the one to start complaining all the time because there are enough kids who do. If I were a pre-dent, would I seriously consider a school with dedicated chairs? Absolutely. Would I change my mind about Nova and go somewhere else because of the chair situation? Absolutely not. Would I pay an extra 10k a year for my own chair? You bet.
Pre-dents must learn to ask some important questions about dental education and not just "what's your histology lab like." Ask 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years questions about the school. Remember, be objective and ask lots of questions.
-Mike
