Staying on Top of Your Game in Dental School

[Aspire2Inspire17]

Incoming D1 and I would like to know what are the current hacks and tools that dental students use to stay on top of their game. Do you drink coffee to stay energized and focused? Does waking up early and working out ensure an accomplished day. Tell me/us your secret to a successful dental school run.

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[MolarPower]

Personally for me I never went to class other than the mandatory ones and used all that time to podcast and get ahead in lectures prior to an exam. Usually when I feel myself get unproductive I would change up what I am studying (the material) or do something else related like practice questions. Also yes lol coffee def helped me stay focused throughout. My advice is just work hard, be organized and you will do great! Congrats btw.

 

[Aspire2Inspire17]

Personally for me I never went to class other than the mandatory ones and used all that time to podcast and get ahead in lectures prior to an exam. Usually when I feel myself get unproductive I would change up what I am studying (the material) or do something else related like practice questions. Also yes lol coffee def helped me stay focused throughout. My advice is just work hard, be organized and you will do great! Congrats btw.

Thank you! That's great advice, you are definitely self-initiated in your study tactics. The reminder about staying organized and putting forth the effort is always appreciated.

 

[MolarPower]

For sure and don't worry too much about others in your class in terms of how they study. Do what works for you and stick with it. It may be a bit of trial and error during the beginning of the year to see what works for you but when you find it stick with it! Also try to keep a balance to not getting burned out I just finished my first year and towards the end I was pretty burned out lol.

 

[FanOfCostco]

Personally for me I never went to class other than the mandatory ones and used all that time to podcast and get ahead in lectures prior to an exam. Usually when I feel myself get unproductive I would change up what I am studying (the material) or do something else related like practice questions. Also yes lol coffee def helped me stay focused throughout. My advice is just work hard, be organized and you will do great! Congrats btw.

This is the real mvp

 

[fit2]

Take it easy before school starts. Continue to do what you've been doing so far in once D school starts but don't hesitate to be dynamic in how you study/schedule things. You will have a lot of stuff coming your way so be wise with your time, focus on efficiency etc. If you start off in a good foot, that'll help a lot!
I didnt drink coffee before school now thats the first thing I want when I wake up in the morning.

 

[ab117]

Always study like crazy for the first exam in a course. You don’t know what to expect yet. Scoring well on the first test can give you a huge advantage, I’ve been able to score mid 70’s on the final and get an A because of a buffer from early on.

 

[Ivy.ch]

Definitely agree with @ab117 above. Build up your A buffer! As an example, when finals rolls around, you could throw all of your time at Path (where you need a 92 to finish with an A), because you can afford to neglect Dentures (only need a 80) and Pharm (only need a 65). And usually the first exam is the easiest, so maximize its weight in the final grade! Always keep spreadsheets with the grade breakdowns so you can play around with numbers like this so you know exactly what you need.

 

[TanMan]

Incoming D1 and I would like to know what are the current hacks and tools that dental students use to stay on top of their game. Do you drink coffee to stay energized and focused? Does waking up early and working out ensure an accomplished day. Tell me/us your secret to a successful dental school run.

Gunners at my school would get diagnosed with adhd and subsequently given adderall by their physicians. Since it's a "legitimate" medical condition, you can't say that it's unfair.

 

[Ivy.ch]

Gunners at my school would get diagnosed with adhd and subsequently given adderall by their physicians. Since it's a "legitimate" medical condition, you can't say that it's unfair.

Common, but not needed to succeed. Don't go down that path unless you've taken a good look in the mirror and think you really might have a condition. Because once you go there, I don't know how you drop the prescriptions and come back to normal habits.

 

[Aspire2Inspire17]

Thank you for all the great feedback! Biopsych taught me to definitely not play with "enhancers" if I don't really need them due to the long-term effects. I will take all of this into consideration and pass along the great info.

 

[pubhealthdent]

Incoming D1 and I would like to know what are the current hacks and tools that dental students use to stay on top of their game. Do you drink coffee to stay energized and focused? Does waking up early and working out ensure an accomplished day. Tell me/us your secret to a successful dental school run.

Working out in the morning before class was a lifesaver for me. Woke me up better than any amount of coffee could and TBH by the end of the day theres no way I would have had the ambition to go to the gym. Attendance was mandatory for me so no choice to skip and use my time more effectively. But usually in class, I was busy studying for an upcoming test or reviewing material and not really paying attention to lecture.

Biggest thing is finding out what methods work for you. Everyone's different. For me, the first couple months were all trial and error to determine what study habits and scheduling worked best for me

 

[AONLINE]

Gunners at my school would get diagnosed with adhd and subsequently given adderall by their physicians. Since it's a "legitimate" medical condition, you can't say that it's unfair.

Gunners at my school get diagnosed with some sort of learning disability and they get twice as much time for exams and quizzes. It's BS and unfair, but that's the nature of dental school.

 

[TanMan]

Gunners at my school get diagnosed with some sort of learning disability and they get twice as much time for exams and quizzes. It's BS and unfair, but that's the nature of dental school.

Yeah! I forgot about all those students that have a learning disability and get unlimited time/private room/schedule whenever they are ready/etc... which is fine with me. I hope they are a lot slower in clinical practice.