Questions about UCSF

[jker66]

Last summer, a UCSF first-year started this thread and it was really helpful to me and all the rest of the incoming dental students, so i thought I'd bring it back.

Let the questions begin.....

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[tooth decay]

How will the loss of the UCSF Dean affect the school?

 

[uclawill]

it already did.

they changed their deadline this year to october 15 for all materials.

the new ucsf speaker/counselor that travels around the country is very good, he knew alot about everything and had answers for all types of questions.


the october 15 thing is a big deal to me.

 

[djeffreyt]

Why is UCSF less cool than UW?

Discuss...

 

[tooth decay]

Why is UCSF less cool than UW?

Discuss...

I think it is because San Francisco is of a lower latitude than Seattle.

 

[jker66]

Because in SF, it doesn't rain 200 days/ year and, oh yea, it's in California...you're wasting my time.

Any real quesions?

Why is UCSF less cool than UW?

Discuss...

 

[jker66]

Here at UC, it's really not being showcased as something that will drastically change the school. If anything, Dean B. had some very strong views on student's practicing dentistry on service trips abroad, so that might be alleviated a little bit.

We're waiting to see what's going to happen too.

it already did.

they changed their deadline this year to october 15 for all materials.

the new ucsf speaker/counselor that travels around the country is very good, he knew alot about everything and had answers for all types of questions.


the october 15 thing is a big deal to me.

 

[tooth decay]

Last summer, a UCSF first-year started this thread and it was really helpful to me and all the rest of the incoming dental students, so i thought I'd bring it back.

Let the questions begin.....

Where do most of the dental students live...on campus or off campus? Also, what other things will a first year need....purchase laptop, etc.?

 

[wlee009]

How difficult is it to get campus housing?
I applied for avenue housing (the one near Parnassus campus) and have set the move-in date at the beginning of September. Do you think I have a good chance of getting a room?

 

[food4thots]

you should be able to get student housing, but it really depends what you want. a shared room is much easier to come by than a single bedroom.

 

[tooth decay]

Last summer, a UCSF first-year started this thread and it was really helpful to me and all the rest of the incoming dental students, so i thought I'd bring it back.

Let the questions begin.....

Is there a significantly larger proportion of dental patients who are HIV positive compared to other metropolitin areas? Have there been any incidents of students getting infected from their patients?

 

[in her drawer]

Is there a significantly larger proportion of dental patients who are HIV positive compared to other metropolitin areas? Have there been any incidents of students getting infected from their patients?

That sounds like a good question. I wonder if there is a difference between SF and other cities.

 

[jker66]

Most student's live in apartments (either student housing or rentals) within about 10 blocks of school. These is no such thing as "on-campus housing" because it's in the middle of the city and it's an all-graduate/professional campus. I think about 12 or 15 kids out of 80 live at Mission Bay which is an all-UCSF housing / graduate division research area down by PacBell park.

Actually if anyone is interested I know of a few people who have people moving out and are looking for people to take over. If you are curious email me at [email protected] and I'll see what I can do.

I would highly recommend getting a laptop too. I didn't take any notes on paper this entire year. We get (almost) all of our lectures online in advance. They still offer paper syllabi for some classes, but online is always available. I would estimate that about 50% of our class is fully electronic for notes and all of the lecture rooms have internet access so that's not a problem either.

Where do most of the dental students live...on campus or off campus? Also, what other things will a first year need....purchase laptop, etc.?

 

[jker66]

Um... I dunno. Why the curiosity? Is that relevant? I think it's pretty safe to say that it's probably the same as any other dental school.

That sounds like a good question. I wonder if there is a difference between SF and other cities.

 

[tooth decay]

Most student's live in apartments (either student housing or rentals) within about 10 blocks of school. These is no such thing as "on-campus housing" because it's in the middle of the city and it's an all-graduate/professional campus. I think about 12 or 15 kids out of 80 live at Mission Bay which is an all-UCSF housing / graduate division research area down by PacBell park.

Actually if anyone is interested I know of a few people who have people moving out and are looking for people to take over. If you are curious email me at [email protected] and I'll see what I can do.

I would highly recommend getting a laptop too. I didn't take any notes on paper this entire year. We get (almost) all of our lectures online in advance. They still offer paper syllabi for some classes, but online is always available. I would estimate that about 50% of our class is fully electronic for notes and all of the lecture rooms have internet access so that's not a problem either.

Does the school suggest which laptop to get-e.g. MAC vs. Windows? Do they suggest you buy it through their program? Any other items one must purchase prior to school? Thanks.

 

[jker66]

It's mixed maybe ~40% mac and 60% PC. I personally got a Tablet PC (where you can write things on the screen) and was one of the best decisions I have made since it made taking notes in lecture such a breeze. Other than that, you shouldn't need anything else.

Does the school suggest which laptop to get-e.g. MAC vs. Windows? Do they suggest you buy it through their program? Any other items one must purchase prior to school? Thanks.

 

[DMDreaming]

Is there a significantly larger proportion of dental patients who are HIV positive compared to other metropolitin areas? Have there been any incidents of students getting infected from their patients?

Actually, it doesn't matter. If you are practicing good universal safety precautions, you should assume every patient you treat has HIV, Hep B, or other communicable disease. It is possible for someone to have a communicable disease and not know it or lie and not report it on their health history.

 

[jeninny44]

That sounds like a good question. I wonder if there is a difference between SF and other cities.

Why don't you just go right out and say what you are really thinking?

 

[in her drawer]

Why don't you just go right out and say what you are really thinking?

Pool's closed.

 

[blasterx]

It's mixed maybe ~40% mac and 60% PC. I personally got a Tablet PC (where you can write things on the screen) and was one of the best decisions I have made since it made taking notes in lecture such a breeze. Other than that, you shouldn't need anything else.

What kind of Tablet do you have? I'm not a little familiar with them and was thinking about buying one.

 

[Eid]

jker66, thanks for doing this I have so many questions I don't even know where to begin! I never got to visit the school for my interview so I'm missing alot of the basic information.
Can't contain my excitement .. here goes...

1- Do you think your classes have prepared you enough for boards or do you feel like you have to do extra extensive studying?

2 - When do students first get any orientation to clinic? Will we need to have collected many teeth before school starts?

3 - What do most students do in the (wonderful and unbelievably) long summer breaks for D1 and D2

4 - I looked up Mission Bay on google Map, if a student lived there or around there, how long would you say it takes to get to ucsf without a car? I know Muni and Bart are awesome there, but just want to get an estimate of what can be a practical distance between home and school.

5 - How do 4th year rotations at different clinics work?

6 - Where do you see many ucsf grads practicing? How much of the graduating class is engaged in research/specialties/general practice once they're done? I just want to get a general idea, do many stay in the SF area because of an alumni network?

7 - Is it true that if you can't move in before september you're pretty much not going to be able to get any ucsf housing?

8 - Is there a used books website or resource we can visit? Is there one for specifically ucsf housing? What classes will we be taking first year?

9 - How would you say ucsf financial aid is? How much and how often are scholarships awarded? And this might be a noob question, but it gets evaded whenever I ask anyone for some reason: We fill out our financial aid forms and then the ucsf office applies for those loans for us, right? If i'm wrong them i'm in so much trouble.

 

[armorshell]

Pool's closed.

Not sure, I'd imagine that would be a hard statistic to measure though. Even if you look at HIV prevalence, usually they assess STD clinic walk ins, so it's not an accurate metric for the population at large.

Anyway, I'd imagine it's significant. I can't speak for UCSF, but UoP has CARE/Ryan White funded HIV clinic/research center.

 

[jker66]

I have an IBM x41T and it's bomb. The x60T is the newer model (faster cpu, more ram, bigger hard disk, etc) and I would recommend that to anyone looking for a tablet PC. Other people have the gateway and toshiba, but there's like 4 people that i know with the ibm model and they're all very happy with it.

What kind of Tablet do you have? I'm not a little familiar with them and was thinking about buying one.

 

[tooth decay]

If one were to start looking for apts near the school, what is the area we should be looking at? Also, do you reccommend bringing a car or not?

 

[jker66]

Whoa there buck-o...try to keep that excitement in a little bit for everyone's sake. I'll do the best i can fielding these

1- Do you think your classes have prepared you enough for boards or do you feel like you have to do extra extensive studying?

it depends what grade you want on the boards. If you want high 90's--no because nothing and no school can prepare you for that. If you want 80's then from what I've heard form upper classman--yes.

2 - When do students first get any orientation to clinic? Will we need to have collected many teeth before school starts?

YES!!! I cannot stress enough to start collecting teeth now. they never "go bad" so to speak, and it's not like you need a ton of them, but get a good jar or two and that's all you need. Clinic orientation? what does that mean? you start doing clinic stuff first year but it's on eachother and it is actually kinda lame

3 - What do most students do in the (wonderful and unbelievably) long summer breaks for D1 and D2

Research, Travel, work, just be "a kid" are the most common things to do. Some people do dental service trips. You can do whatever you want.

4 - I looked up Mission Bay on google Map, if a student lived there or around there, how long would you say it takes to get to ucsf without a car? I know Muni and Bart are awesome there, but just want to get an estimate of what can be a practical distance between home and school.

There is a shuttle that runs directly from there to campus ~20-40 min depending on traffic. it runs all the time...muni and bart are a wast of time for missions bay. I would recommend living within 10 blocks. That's easy to calculate... streets run alphabetically (N-->S) and numbered (E-->W) School is on the "J" street (judah = parnassus) between 4th ave and "1st" ave (arguello st.)

5 - How do 4th year rotations at different clinics work?

i dunno, ask a 4th year. i think they do like 3 weeks of externship somewhere of their choosing

6 - Where do you see many ucsf grads practicing? How much of the graduating class is engaged in research/specialties/general practice once they're done? I just want to get a general idea, do many stay in the SF area because of an alumni network?

Short answer--in California. Alumni network isn't that important for dental school, but it's very strong here.

7 - Is it true that if you can't move in before september you're pretty much not going to be able to get any ucsf housing?

I dunno. do you mean student housing?

8 - Is there a used books website or resource we can visit? Is there one for specifically ucsf housing? What classes will we be taking first year?

upper-classman are good for books, so is all of the same sites you used in undergrad. the bookstore is really good about prices. it's only a little cheaper online--I've looked for everything. You will be taking a lot. I will try not to scare you. Here goes: Gross anatomy, head and neck anatomy, histology, pathology, immunology, microbiology, tooth morphology, operative dentistry, crown and bridge, biomaterials, physiology, neurology and neuroanatomy, biochemisty, a little developmental bio, tooth development, oral radiology/pathology, and "intro to clinical dentistry (patient-centered care). and also a bull-$hit course on how to conduct clinical research. don't be overwhelmed though; it's all integrated together for the sciences and it goes by fast--really fast. everyone gets though it.

9 - How would you say ucsf financial aid is? How much and how often are scholarships awarded? And this might be a noob question, but it gets evaded whenever I ask anyone for some reason: We fill out our financial aid forms and then the ucsf office applies for those loans for us, right? If i'm wrong them i'm in so much trouble.[/QUOTE]

Yes, you have it correct. It depends on your need for scholorships, i suspect. But instead of going though student aid. Try some other resources like graduateleverage...I wish I had heard about them last year. For all you financial calculator people, it's a good deal because it's collective bargaining. It's a cool service for professional students that drives the cost of loans down.

 

[jker66]

inner sunset / cole valley / lower haight. see previous reply.

Having a car is convenient, not necessary. I recommend evaluating convenience vs. price of parking (tickets) and finding spots all the time.

If one were to start looking for apts near the school, what is the area we should be looking at? Also, do you reccommend bringing a car or not?