Questions for current dental students

[DentGirl4]

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[FONT=&#48148]I'm very confused right now....
[FONT=&#48148]For all these years, all I planned to do.. was to get a DDS…and get start working. However, I have recently gone through pivotal experience at my graduate school and developed a small interest doing dental research. I have GPR/AEGD in mind but I'm still keeping my options open for specialties too..
[FONT=&#48148]At this point, I only have experience shadowing under a general dental office and have little experience with dental research. As you can see I am not ready to dedicate all my life doing dental research or strive to go for any specialties YET. Instead, I want to explore or so called, experience more… .
[FONT=&#48148]From one of my interview, the dean actually told us that, "if you are not ready to dedicate doing research at least 15hrs/week, I would not waste your time knocking on PI's door and look for a position" .
[FONT=&#48148]So here is my question….
[FONT=&#48148]Did you guys always knew/planned on what to do beforehand (too late for me)? Or do I still have time to experience all the listed above and make decision while I'm studying at dental school?( oh boy, do I even have time for all these?) 😕.
[FONT=&#48148]Thank you guys for reading this long post 🙂.

 

[Sprgrover]

You have more than enough time to decide what to do with your career, especially at this point. If you do have a budding interest in dental research, my suggestion would be to apply to a few dental schools that do encourage some research at the undergrad (and by that I mean DDS/DMD) level. In the vast majority of dental schools, you won't have the time to really dedicate yourself to any research project. But you may just discover you do have a genuine interest, in which case there are a couple of routes you could take to gain any necessary postgraduate training. For example, a lot of dental researchers first specialized in a recognized specialty - for example in periodontics, prosthodontics, or orthodontics - and obtained a masters (usually a project relevant to the specialty; for example dental materials research and prosthodontics, growth and development/anatomy/physiology and orthodontics, microbiology/bone/immunity and periodontics), which lead them to pursue their research further. This is by far the most common route for most dental researchers. Others have gone for a masters in oral biology (not an ADA recognized specialty) and then developed their research careers or came into it from another field altogether, such as mechanical engineering.

Did I always know what I wanted to do beforehand? No. Did most of my classmates from dental school who came in with a clear vision end up fulfilling it? No. What were some of their reasons? - some discovered they liked something else, some had a change in priorities, and some felt they wanted to work for a bit and then make a decision. My advice is to first concentrate on getting into a good school that will help you keep as many doors open as possible, be open minded once in, and then think about post-graduation plans once you have some clinical experience under your belt and exposure to the various areas of dentistry.

 

[DentGirl4]

[FONT=바탕]Wow thanks Sprgrover,.
[FONT=바탕]The best advice I got from SDN so far! I'll keep your advice in mind....

 

[Sprgrover]

[FONT=바탕]Wow thanks Sprgrover,.
[FONT=바탕]The best advice I got from SDN so far! I'll keep your advice in mind....

You're welcome 😉

 

[wigglytooth]

Everything that sprgrover said. Find a place that will encourage you to embrace your interests. How do you know if you want to dedicate your life to something if you don't even try it? I've spent a good chunk of my dental school experience "dabbling" in research, and I intend on doing that for the rest of my career. To me, it's a welcome break from just clinical stuff and I have a chance to give back. I'm not looking to be famous or a "big deal" in dentistry - I just like that research lets another part of my brain work. Eventually I will have a family life and some sort of clinical private practice, so things might change for me when that happens. What's nice about life is that you don't need a definite roadmap, just things on your to-do list that will guide you along the way! If you find you like something more, or life changes, then do that. Keep doing what you think will make you happy and you won't ever go wrong.

 

[TammyDMD]

don't worry, it will all work out

 

[lemoncurry]

concentrate on getting in to d-school. once you are in, a whole new world of dentistry will open up for you and you will have more avenues to explore than you ever imagined.

 

[MonchichiMan]

I agree with all that has been said. Once you get in, which is the greatest challenge in dental school today, all kinds of options are open to you. I did a lot of research in dental school both independent and as a co-author and have been able to get two publications in well read journals. I am now in my 4th year and preparing for an AEGD. I did enough research to let me know that it wasn't what I wanted to do. It did however give me great insights in reading dental literature and being able to differentiate the appropriateness of materials and decipher what should be implemented into my practice.

Dental school is an awesome experience, focus on getting in and everything else will hall into place.