Other hygienists currently in dental school like me?

[Nicejam]

I am a first year dental student and hygienist for 11 years prior. Looking for other hygienists in dental school now so we can discuss experiences and curriculum and support each other.

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[I am dental S]

Hey, I am also a dental hygienist and I am starting school in summer. quick question are u still working or no? I've an opportunity to work on weekends but im not sure if i should do it or not.

 

[mroerdh22]

Hygienist for 7 years, starting this fall!

 

[irishmom]

16 year hygienist and just started my second year of DDS school.

 

[Rapunzel_RDH]

Hi there!! I'm currently a dental hygienist. I've been working for 4 years. The past year I have been working full time and doing an evening post bacc program. I'm planning on taking my DAT and applying next cycle. Did it seem like having the experience of dental hygiene made you a more competitive candidate? I spoke with the dental school I went to DH school at and their main advice was study hard for the DAT. I definitely plan to do so. My undergrad GPA for hygiene school and the subsequent Bachelors completion was 3.5. I'm looking at a 3.6 for my post bacc program which is better than I could have imagined with working full time. Any encouragement or words of wisdom would be GREATLY appreciated!! Glad to have found this thread!

 

[ItsaGreatDay]

Hi there!! I'm currently a dental hygienist. I've been working for 4 years. The past year I have been working full time and doing an evening post bacc program. I'm planning on taking my DAT and applying next cycle. Did it seem like having the experience of dental hygiene made you a more competitive candidate? I spoke with the dental school I went to DH school at and their main advice was study hard for the DAT. I definitely plan to do so. My undergrad GPA for hygiene school and the subsequent Bachelors completion was 3.5. I'm looking at a 3.6 for my post bacc program which is better than I could have imagined with working full time. Any encouragement or words of wisdom would be GREATLY appreciated!! Glad to have found this thread!

I've been a RDH for 10yrs, took a yr of prereqs, DAT, and applied this cycle... have my first interview this coming week! Still finishing my last couple prereqs as well. Oh yes, of course still working, and have 3kids. I'll let you know after the interview if my career as a hygienist seems to be viewed as an asset or not, but personally I think it will be a huge help if I do get in. I only studied ~20hrs/week for 6weeks for the DAT, b/c I felt such pressure to get my application completed in June, but just didn't have more time/day to squeeze anymore into that timeframe... if I could do it over, I'd have allowed myself an extra two weeks to study b/c I think I could have improved my score. (I got a good score, but it could've been impressive, which would have had far greater impact on early interviews than applying two weeks earlier!) So as much of a rush as I know we are all in to catch up on lost time, my advice is not to rush the DAT studying!

To the OP, sorry that I'm not relevant yet! How has your first year of DS been? Do you feel your experience as an RDH has helped much in DS?

 

[Rab497]

I've been a RDH for 10yrs, took a yr of prereqs, DAT, and applied this cycle... have my first interview this coming week! Still finishing my last couple prereqs as well. Oh yes, of course still working, and have 3kids. I'll let you know after the interview if my career as a hygienist seems to be viewed as an asset or not, but personally I think it will be a huge help if I do get in. I only studied ~20hrs/week for 6weeks for the DAT, b/c I felt such pressure to get my application completed in June, but just didn't have more time/day to squeeze anymore into that timeframe... if I could do it over, I'd have allowed myself an extra two weeks to study b/c I think I could have improved my score. (I got a good score, but it could've been impressive, which would have had far greater impact on early interviews than applying two weeks earlier!) So as much of a rush as I know we are all in to catch up on lost time, my advice is not to rush the DAT studying!

To the OP, sorry that I'm not relevant yet! How has your first year of DS been? Do you feel your experience as an RDH has helped much in DS?

Hello,
I just wanted to say mother to mother and hygienist to hygienist you give me hope. May I ask, which prereqs did you already have complete before taking the DAT's and applying? I am not sure which courses I should have complete before attempting the DAT's and applying. I have been a hygienist for 5 years with a BS in Dental Hygiene. I plan to take all the prerequisites at my local community college but would like to finish most within a year.

 

[ItsaGreatDay]

Hello,
I just wanted to say mother to mother and hygienist to hygienist you give me hope. May I ask, which prereqs did you already have complete before taking the DAT's and applying? I am not sure which courses I should have complete before attempting the DAT's and applying. I have been a hygienist for 5 years with a BS in Dental Hygiene. I plan to take all the prerequisites at my local community college but would like to finish most within a year.

Here's what my 2yr plan of action to get into DS was/is like:
*note- be careful about cc credits, if you have particular schools you want to get into, b/c not all accept cc for prereqs
Summer 2016: Chem 1, Physics 1, Bio 1
(at cc. chem was a hybrid w/ lec online and lab at school; bio I was late to lect one day a week and always took photos of a lab partner's notes, due to work schedule. In order to take 12 credits condensed into 8weeks, I had to get Mondays off for those 8weeks, so I was only working Tue, Thur, and Sat)
Fall 2016: Org Chem 1, Bio 2, Eng 1
(at cc. Eng was online, and I skipped 1 lec a week in orgo and just covered the material myself. I went back to working Mondays, but I got an extended lunch break on Mon and thur to go to class. I started trying to go through a Precalc review book to get some of my math skills back to prepare for a math placement test I needed to take to get into the SIE program at MD and for the DAT)
Spring 2017: Org Chem 2, Physics 2, TA for Chem 2; applied to SIE program for fall; scheduled DAT for June 21; recruited Letter of Recommendation writers
(at cc. Again I skipped a lec a week for Orgo. The TA for Chem 2 was in order to have access to teaching notes for Chem 2 to try to learn the material prior to taking DAT, since I had to take Chem 2 at College Park, since they don't accept Chem 2 transfer from anywhere, as well as a line for my resume. I also tried studying for DAT a little throughout semester, as well as math, and worked on Personal Statement for dental application)
June 2017: Dental School Application and DAT
Had 6weeks after finals for the semester ended to study, but went back to my regular work hrs, and had a lot of family responsibilities too. Only managed a/b 20-24hrs/week studying! Used Chad's videos on coursesaver, DAT destroyer, Crack DAT, Feralis' bio notes, and free Bootcamp tests. If I could do it over, I'd have given myself an extra 2 weeks to study. If you get your application all completed, everything in and verified before Aug, I think you're fine. I re-worked my PS 4times, with input from a fellow SDNer who reviews PS every yr.
Fall 2017: Chem 2, DS Interview
At college park, SIE program- it's just 4 credits, but driving 1.5hrs each way with traffic 2x/week really eats into my time, so there's no way I can handle more than one class.
Spring 2018: BioChem, Eng 2
at college park, biochem is 1night/week, no lab, and Eng will be online again.
Fall 2018: DS, hopefully!!

I don't mean to hijack this thread, sorry for the long reply!

 

[DMD-DOC]

I am currently a first year dental student and continue to practice dental hygiene 8 hrs per week. Prior to dental school I practiced 4 days per week in a periodontal practice and taught at USC dental school 1 day per week. Good luck to all those who are applying. Reach out if you have any questions.

 

[ItsaGreatDay]

I am currently a first year dental student and continue to practice dental hygiene 8 hrs per week. Prior to dental school I practiced 4 days per week in a periodontal practice and taught at USC dental school 1 day per week. Good luck to all those who are applying. Reach out if you have any questions.

how are you able to still practice hygiene 8hrs/week? Do you work on the weekend? I would love to still work PT to help keep on budget, but I am concerned about overcommiting myself. I've heard first yr is super-challenging; do you find it difficult to keep up with the workload while working? Do you think being a hygienist makes first yr any easier?

 

[Rapunzel_RDH]

I've been a RDH for 10yrs, took a yr of prereqs, DAT, and applied this cycle... have my first interview this coming week! Still finishing my last couple prereqs as well. Oh yes, of course still working, and have 3kids. I'll let you know after the interview if my career as a hygienist seems to be viewed as an asset or not, but personally I think it will be a huge help if I do get in. I only studied ~20hrs/week for 6weeks for the DAT, b/c I felt such pressure to get my application completed in June, but just didn't have more time/day to squeeze anymore into that timeframe... if I could do it over, I'd have allowed myself an extra two weeks to study b/c I think I could have improved my score. (I got a good score, but it could've been impressive, which would have had far greater impact on early interviews than applying two weeks earlier!) So as much of a rush as I know we are all in to catch up on lost time, my advice is not to rush the DAT studying!

To the OP, sorry that I'm not relevant yet! How has your first year of DS been? Do you feel your experience as an RDH has helped much in DS?

I hope your first interview went well! I hope to take the DAT mid-May and will start studying after the holidays. Unfortunately I have to share DAT prep time with an online biochem course since so many schools are adding it as a pre-req now.

 

[ItsaGreatDay]

I hope your first interview went well! I hope to take the DAT mid-May and will start studying after the holidays. Unfortunately I have to share DAT prep time with an online biochem course since so many schools are adding it as a pre-req now.

interview went well, and I got accepted Dec1! i felt my hygiene experience helped me answer interview questions with real knowledge instead of hypotheticals and gave me a great deal of confidence.

If I may, I would suggest delaying your DAT until sometime in June, just to give yourself some time where you can focus purely on DAT material instead of splitting it with BioChem, even if it's just a couple weeks. I have no idea what Biochem is like, tho, since I take that next semester, too!

 

[Rapunzel_RDH]

interview went well, and I got accepted Dec1! i felt my hygiene experience helped me answer interview questions with real knowledge instead of hypotheticals and gave me a great deal of confidence.

If I may, I would suggest delaying your DAT until sometime in June, just to give yourself some time where you can focus purely on DAT material instead of splitting it with BioChem, even if it's just a couple weeks. I have no idea what Biochem is like, tho, since I take that next semester, too!

Congrats! Do you mind me asking where you were accepted? That's amazing. How many schools did you apply to? And how were your DAT stats? I do appreciate your suggestion and will consider it. There should be 3-4 weeks between the end of biochem and when I hope to take the DAT. Of course there's no real harm in moving it with enough notice. I just know it takes 2-3 weeks to upload to my application which I hoped to submit within the first few days of opening... It seems we are similar in that way . It's still 6 months away so I'm going to do my best to focus on things day by day until I can't any longer haha. I'm on here soaking up as much test prep information as I can. My school is buying me Princeton Review but I want to avoid using only PR. What did you seem to like best for studying? (If you can recall.) Congrats, again!

 

[ItsaGreatDay]

Congrats! Do you mind me asking where you were accepted? That's amazing. How many schools did you apply to? And how were your DAT stats? I do appreciate your suggestion and will consider it. There should be 3-4 weeks between the end of biochem and when I hope to take the DAT. Of course there's no real harm in moving it with enough notice. I just know it takes 2-3 weeks to upload to my application which I hoped to submit within the first few days of opening... It seems we are similar in that way . It's still 6 months away so I'm going to do my best to focus on things day by day until I can't any longer haha. I'm on here soaking up as much test prep information as I can. My school is buying me Princeton Review but I want to avoid using only PR. What did you seem to like best for studying? (If you can recall.) Congrats, again!

I pm'd you