Pacific's 3 year program

[indentition]

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Anyone else think that 3 years is not sufficient? I'm having a hard time deciding, and although I somewhat ruled out Pacific, it is still tempting, because it is only 3 years. Then again, I have a lifetime to practice dentistry. What are your inputs regarding 3 years for a dental program?

 

[darksky]

Anyone else think that 3 years is not sufficient? I'm having a hard time deciding, and although I somewhat ruled out Pacific, it is still tempting, because it is only 3 years. Then again, I have a lifetime to practice dentistry. What are your inputs regarding 3 years for a dental program?

not sufficient to do what ?

 

[in her drawer]

Anyone else think that 3 years is not sufficient? I'm having a hard time deciding, and although I somewhat ruled out Pacific, it is still tempting, because it is only 3 years. Then again, I have a lifetime to practice dentistry. What are your inputs regarding 3 years for a dental program?

Pacific is amazing. It's really hard to find a better school. Anyway, what are your other choices? I'll decide for you.

not sufficient to do what ?

Learn dentistry. 🙄

 

[darksky]

Pacific is amazing. It's really hard to find a better school. Anyway, what are your other choices? I'll decide for you.



Learn dentistry. 🙄

it takes time to learn dentistry. 5-7 yrs.

 

[dentalwife]

Anyone else think that 3 years is not sufficient? I'm having a hard time deciding, and although I somewhat ruled out Pacific, it is still tempting, because it is only 3 years. Then again, I have a lifetime to practice dentistry. What are your inputs regarding 3 years for a dental program?

3 years is plenty to get a dental education. Only people who havent attended the school think that it is insufficient. People who go to Pacific are freaking busy for 3 years (especially first and third years) but it is a great education and a great experience clinically. How do they do it? They cut out a lot of crap (dental psychology or other useless classes), expect you to come prepared to work hard, average 10 to 15 hours more in class each week than then rest of the nation and make night clinic (where you can see another patient in the evening) available second year and required third year. They have a pre clinical staff that is great (even willing to stay after school sometimes to help students catch on things that are difficult) and clinical staff that is top notch. Professors and staff are there to teach students, not to be butt holes and everyone tries hard to make sure that students are respected and helped and that their time is respected (all that drama at other dental schools takes a lot of time). No one leaves dental school at the level of a ten year practicing dentist but the more clinical experience you get, the closer you are to being up to speed, and at Pacific clinical time is emphasized.

 

[t2thDr14]

pacific starts july, and is year round, completing a four year program in 36 months.

if u compare it to another school that's four years, like UCSF it comes out to about 42 months...
1st year - 9 months
2nd year - 9 months
3rd year - about 12 months
4th year - about 12 months

while the four year program is still a bit longer, u need to consider the education u're looking for.

yes pacific will be more intense because it's accelerated and traditionally graded, but i say go to for the school that u think u'll be happiest at. every school is gonna be tough. do u want to look back on ur education years from now and regret ur decision?

i love that pacific is a clinically oriented school, with few specialties programs... so that means the dental students get to do most of the procedures. at UCSF, u don't get to do stuff like molar endos, perio surgery, implants... and u're even limited when it comes to crown and bridge.

i also love that pacific really prepares their students for practice management. so many dentists graduate with no idea how to run a practice... of course some of that goes with personality and leadership skills, but at least every pacific alum i've heard of has done real well after entering the real world.

i felt like i jived best with pacific's students (compared to the other schools) every time i've visited, and felt that i could really thrive there. i've never heard of a pacific alum gripe about their education... on the contrary, they're all extremely satisfied and donate millions back to the school through their alumni organization. u don't typically see that at other schools.

anyhoo, i can go on and on... but hope those are reasons enough to think twice about pacific ; ).

 

[gryffindor]

3 years aren't enough. Then again, 4 years aren't enough either. You leave dental school (3 or 4 years) with just enough knowledge to do some basic procedures and not seriously hurt the patient. More education comes after graduation with experience and pursuing continuing ed courses. So yes, the 3 years at Pacific will be fine for getting a dental education, if the other aspects of Pacific appeal to you (location, $$$ tuition, less time for breaks, etc.).

 

[t2thDr14]

and if u're concerned about getting more clinical experience... don't forget that there are GPR and AEGD programs. i'm planning on going into a GPR after dental school anyway... more experience, especially in a hospital setting, never hurts.

that said, while UCSF alum don't get as much clinical experience as pacific's during dental school, they make it up with the GPR. they'll just finish everything one year later than pacific's ; ).

 

[MrTeeth]

Anyone else think that 3 years is not sufficient? I'm having a hard time deciding, and although I somewhat ruled out Pacific, it is still tempting, because it is only 3 years. Then again, I have a lifetime to practice dentistry. What are your inputs regarding 3 years for a dental program?

you could always do a one year GPR, general practitioner residency, to get more case exposure after your three years at UoP. i'm staying away from them personally because i head that it's not a very strong school from the dentists that i know, but that could also be because they did not attend it. i want to enjoy my dental education and don't want to rush it, plus it's really expensive there even though you get out one year sooner. i would prefer to save a 100k or more, even though dentists don't have a problem paying their loans, but i would still want to buy myself a nice car or something with that money instead

 

[cocokeala]

pacific just cuts out the useless long breaks that most schools have. personally i dont care for long breaks which are good for relaxing i guess, but on the other hand i dont want to lose my hand skills during a 2 month summer break.

i guess your story would be different if you were married or wanted to have a job while in dent school. as for me, i will be 100% dental student so pacific's intensity works for me.

 

[Eid]

When do you have to make your decision by for uop or ucsf?

 

[indentition]

you could always do a one year GPR, general practitioner residency, to get more case exposure after your three years at UoP. i'm staying away from them personally because i head that it's not a very strong school from the dentists that i know, but that could also be because they did not attend it. i want to enjoy my dental education and don't want to rush it, plus it's really expensive there even though you get out one year sooner. i would prefer to save a 100k or more, even though dentists don't have a problem paying their loans, but i would still want to buy myself a nice car or something with that money instead

That's my rationale right now with Pacific v. UCSF/UCLA.

I definitely want to stay in California.

UCLA's curriculum appears just as rigorous, but I guess there's more courses deemed irrelevant by some people. The 1 extra year working argument does not really fly that well in working immediately (My pre-tax income would have to be pretty high to pay off that 100k in a year).

I guess the source of my skepticism comes from the fact that I only hear great things about Pacific from Pacific Dental Students and alumni, and not other colleagues/peers of Pacific Dentists (I'm not sure what to get from patient input, as they may not know what good dental work is).

And to the earlier post, I'm starting to believe you are right. Being a adequate dentist can take 3-4 years, but being a great dentist would take a lot longer. I am looking for an education that would build a solid foundation in dentistry.

It's all good -- in the end, we will all become dentists.

 

[armorshell]

copypasta'd from a post of mine in the dental forum:

So as I'm sure everyone expected, the mandatory backlash from a (future) UoP student 😛

I promise I'll try to be civil...

The fact that all those schools went back to four year programs (except one) indicates that it was a bad idea.

I just don't see how you can cram in all the things dental students need to learn now in just three years.

Because you don't understand how it happens, doesn't necessarily mean that it can't. The commission on dental accreditation reports the accreditation status of University of the Pacific is "Approval without reporting requirements" (http://www.ada.org/prof/ed/programs/...ddsdmd_us.asp), which according to the commissions status definitions (http://www.ada.org/prof/ed/accred/standards/predoc.pdf) means they meet or exceed the requirements outlined in that document to graduate dental students. Considering that on the last accreditation visit in 2000, on which the University received 18 superlative commendations with no recommendations, they probably exceed it.

I can also add, that while I'm sure there are several dental schools around the country that have 16 quarter, 30 credit/semester, year round curriculums, I can't seem to find them. Every school I interviewed at and researched besides UoP has a significant amount of "break ", whether it is a lighter class load or straight up time off. The faculty at UoP suggests the majority of their "time crunch" comes from eliminating breaks and vacations, and starting 2-3 months earlier than other school, not from removing essential curricula.

I'm not trying to convince you that UoP is the greatest dental school in the world, but it is a great school.

I suppose the only good thing is that you only pay three years of tuition but in all probability, the schools will cram four years worth of tuition into three years.

You hit the nail right on the head here, we get four years of education, and we pay for it 🙂



CLIFFS:
1. Accreditation = sufficient
2. ...
3. Profit

 

[armorshell]

Also, are there really people out there thinking that some of the more "prestigious" schools are teaching super secret dental techniques that ONLY those schools grads know about, making them ULTRA DENTISTS?

Drop in on the dental forum and lurk a bit, you'll notice that their own row instructors can't even agree on what looks good and what doesn't.

The only factor you should consider when you're figuring out where you want to get your degree, is "Is this school going to work for me?"

Some people want prestige. Fine. Some want clinical experience. Go for it. Some want to have shared medical classes, some don't. Some want to live in the country, some in the city, some want to specialize some don't. Some want to be done asap, and some want to spend years and years in school. Some people want to get out with as little debt as possible, and some "don't want to be cheap" with their education.

Whatever floats your boat, there's a school for you. There's no rankings for a reason. Dental school as with all education is what YOU make of it. You can't depend on a school to make you great, you're going to have to do that yourself.

 

[in her drawer]

Also, are there really people out there thinking that some of the more "prestigious" schools are teach super secret dental techniques that ONLY those schools grads know about, making them ULTRA DENTISTS?

Drop in on the dental forum and lurk a bit, you'll notice that their own row instructors can't even agree on what looks good and what doesn't.

The only factor you should consider when you're figuring out where you want to get your degree, is "Is this school going to work for me?"

Some people want prestige. Fine. Some want clinical experience. Go for it. Some want to have shared medical classes, some don't. Some want to live in the country, some in the city, some want to specialize some don't. Some want to be done asap, and some want to spend years and years in school. Some people want to get out with as little debt as possible, and some "don't want to be cheap" with their education.

Whatever floats your boat, there's a school for you. There's no rankings for a reason. Dental school is what YOU make of it.

[YOUTUBE]QhTiJEYqqY8[/YOUTUBE]

 

[t2thDr14]

well said armorshell.

thanks ihd, that was great. =)