Study Hours?

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DMD_DREAMING

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Thanks to all those that answered my previous post. This site is a great asset. Well, I have another question after reviewing some of the other post in this forum. This question goes out to current or former dental students. How many hours do you or did you actually spend studying? I read some posts that were hard to believe. Some students said they only studied a hour or two a night. I surely thought dental school would be alot harder. However, this would be welcomed information because one is in school the whole day usually 8:00 until 5:00. If anyone out there has any knowledge on the subject and feels like adding their two cents, I would appreciate it.
 
DMD_DREAMING said:
Thanks to all those that answered my previous post. This site is a great asset. Well, I have another question after reviewing some of the other post in this forum. This question goes out to current or former dental students. How many hours do you or did you actually spend studying? I read some posts that were hard to believe. Some students said they only studied a hour or two a night. I surely thought dental school would be alot harder. However, this would be welcomed information because one is in school the whole day usually 8:00 until 5:00. If anyone out there has any knowledge on the subject and feels like adding their two cents, I would appreciate it.
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I'll speak to my first semester of school. During that semester, we were in lecture from 8-5, with one hour for lunch of course. I started out putting a lot of time into studying, then realized that I could tone it down quite a bit and still get decent grades (or at least above the class averages).

Having said that, after going to school from 8-5 it is about all I can do to put in 4 hours. And even then, I couldn't keep it up for more than a couple of weeks.

The BEST option is to study during class in this situation. Even better would be to skip class (in my opinion), and put in 5-6 hours of studying (say 8-2) and then spend the rest of the day with family or hanging out and relaxing.

1-2 hours a night isn't unfathomable, and prior to my board study I was putting in about that much. It was fine and got me grades that were fine.

Dental school is NOT necessarily harder than undergrad, although I don't doubt that some schools or some courses are more difficult than undergrad. In general I've found the content to be much easier, although there is more to know.
 
were we supposed to study evey night? 😀

all nighters are still done, right?
 
Haha, everyone studies differently.

The spectrum...
Gavin<------------------------------------------>thisisit
Crazy Working<------------------------------------------>Crazy Relaxing

As I said in the other post, most will get away passing by going to class, taking decent notes, and studying the few nights before the exam. To spank the classes, the amount of work builds up exponentially for every linear point.

I.E. the effort to improve from 80-85 will be significantly less than the effort involved for improvement from 90-95.

Pick how well you want to do, get a feel for how you learn at the dental school pace, and study accordingly.

Personally, I study about 1 hour per night if I study at all. Otherwise, I'll half ass my after school hours, cook, eat, entertain my dog, watch tv, and look over 1 or 2 pages of notes if I get around to it. I used to be more hardcore, but toned it down because it was useless. I still forgot all that info.

I spend about 1 week before exam blocks to study for blocks of 4 or 5 exams, and maybe 3 days for blocks of 2-3 exams. It all depends on the difficulty level, what you know previously, how you study, and how quickly you pick up things.
 
Thanks for all the study habit info. In another related question, does the studying requirements slow down greatly after the second year?
 
I do not know how much I study a day/night. But I do know that I sleep about 4hrs/night on a normal week day. My day starts pretty much from about 5:30am every day (including weekend). I get up, study, review, go to class, then go home, study again. I don't hang out or go have fun. Occasionally I would go grocery shopping. Most of the time, I don't even waste my time cooking nor any house keeping works. I eat out, have people come and clean my place, do my laundry. If I have any time free, I'd rather use it to rest, go practice in the lab, etc....
Sound like a nerd. But I really do spend lots of time readings all of those text books relate to my study. And do not expect things to get better after first year. At UCSF, they said it is, but i doubt about it. Some other schools, they said first year is easy, but second year is hard. Who knows? Make sure you do your homework right. However, I do not believe in an easy way out. Every school has its toughness, and be prepared to stay up quite a few times if you have to.

:laugh: :laugh:
 
so when you guys study for a test, usually how many times would you read all the relevant material before taking it? thanks?
 
wow tinkerbell, your hardcore. i need at least 7 hrs of sleep every night. i think its more important to get good sleep than to study that much. sheeez i didnt think dental school was that hard (i'm going to be married when i go, i need some family time!). but then again, i dont plan on going into any residency, so as long as i pass, i'm happy.

omar
 
This is getting out of hand. This thread is about studying studying 😕
(Did I get that right?)
 
I usually read over everything at least 5 times to make sure that I don't miss any fine details. I read the text first, then lecture, then decide where should I concentrate on. Some prof. only cares about lectures, some do want the text materials. I read like 2 or 3 times before practicing old tests, then go back and forth, until I remember everything. The bad part about dental school is that we go by quarter system, and things go by pretty fast. Also, all exams seem to be together in one or two weeks (especially the second midterm wave). So, if you study a little bit, then go to another subject, you'll forget them all, when you come back.

I found that the key for me is to divide my reading schedule wisely. For example, physio and pharm are related, then do those reading together in one night. Also, if you think you understand the subject, you are still not done yet. I usually go back and find the finest print and commit those lines to memory first. Somehow prof. seem to just love asking those tiny lines, at the last slide of the lecture, etc. Trust me on this part, I have had it a couple of time, in couple of classes. Well, didn't people say you live and you learn????
 
tinker bell said:
I usually read over everything at least 5 times to make sure that I don't miss any fine details. I read the text first, then lecture, then decide where should I concentrate on. Some prof. only cares about lectures, some do want the text materials. I read like 2 or 3 times before practicing old tests, then go back and forth, until I remember everything. The bad part about dental school is that we go by quarter system, and things go by pretty fast. Also, all exams seem to be together in one or two weeks (especially the second midterm wave). So, if you study a little bit, then go to another subject, you'll forget them all, when you come back.

I found that the key for me is to divide my reading schedule wisely. For example, physio and pharm are related, then do those reading together in one night. Also, if you think you understand the subject, you are still not done yet. I usually go back and find the finest print and commit those lines to memory first. Somehow prof. seem to just love asking those tiny lines, at the last slide of the lecture, etc. Trust me on this part, I have had it a couple of time, in couple of classes. Well, didn't people say you live and you learn????
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:wow: speechless......
 
Now that is what I'm talking about!

in the Grading thread people are telling me they will study 2 hours and get a "C"...give me a break
 
Its sooooo hard for me to study right now. One exam left on mon
 
DMD_DREAMING said:
Thanks to all those that answered my previous post. This site is a great asset. Well, I have another question after reviewing some of the other post in this forum. This question goes out to current or former dental students. How many hours do you or did you actually spend studying? I read some posts that were hard to believe. Some students said they only studied a hour or two a night. I surely thought dental school would be alot harder. However, this would be welcomed information because one is in school the whole day usually 8:00 until 5:00. If anyone out there has any knowledge on the subject and feels like adding their two cents, I would appreciate it.
Click to expand...

what about study hours for the top 10 ppl in the class?
 
Studied very hard for the first 6 months of school (at school or studying from 7Am to 10PM), and was in the top portion of the class. Then decided I don't really care that much about grades and stopped studying and only looked at old tests for exams. (How is the pKa of something going to help me be a better clinical dentist)

Did well in the clinic and working with patients in 2nd and 3rd year and didn't study for NB II (with a score in the mid 80's). Everyone who has been paying attention in school shouldn't have to study that much for NB tests if they just want to pass. And I graduated in about the top 40% of the class, and am a great dentist (at least my pts. tell me that).

Being a good dentist doesn't have anything to do with studying in dental school b/c as soon as you graduate the info you learned is obsolete (like GV Black). Just pay attention, don't be a dumbas-, be personable and take a bunch of CE when you graduate. You'll be much better off than those who spent all nite studying and are sick of dentistry or think they know everything when they graduate. just my 2 cents
 
Pretty much everyone[most anyway] study the same amount (as much as they can)....the difference is top 10 ppl study more efficiently
 
So far i haven't had to study except 3 days before a test I'll start looking over material and maybe put in 8 hours per class to read the revelant material. But i've had the majority of the classes before and the dental courses haven't been too involved as of yet. Obviously I don't know my class rank since it's mid-semester, but it's somewhere in the top; I've gotten low A's on everything as of yet.

Oh well, i'm waiting for the real work to start in Gross and Physiology
 
tinker,

you are sooooooo describing my life as DS1.lol

i have a very similar schedule to yours except that i skip sundays. sundays are my church (football) days no matter what i have to do. the rest, yep i am just like you. get up at 5.30 have classes 8-5 then library for a few hrs then bed then same thing all over again. the weeks of exams, i am lucky if i get more than 4 hrs of sleep. just to give yo an idea, we had a biweekly exam 2 weeks ago so i studied all week. then had a huge gnathology project due on mon, craniofacial growth bio exam tue another biweekly fri, dental material exam mon and single tooth direct exam fri. there is no way in hell i could sleep more than 4 hrs a night and do well in all of those.
 
Study? I haven't really done much of that at USC yet.
 
PERFECT3435 said:
tinker,

you are sooooooo describing my life as DS1.lol

i have a very similar schedule to yours except that i skip sundays. sundays are my church (football) days no matter what i have to do. the rest, yep i am just like you. get up at 5.30 have classes 8-5 then library for a few hrs then bed then same thing all over again. the weeks of exams, i am lucky if i get more than 4 hrs of sleep. just to give yo an idea, we had a biweekly exam 2 weeks ago so i studied all week. then had a huge gnathology project due on mon, craniofacial growth bio exam tue another biweekly fri, dental material exam mon and single tooth direct exam fri. there is no way in hell i could sleep more than 4 hrs a night and do well in all of those.
Click to expand...
I think you and tinkerbell are over doing it just a bit. C'mon, dental school isn't that hard! Take it easy, there are more things to life than dental school. There is no reason it should take that much studying to get A's or even be #1 in your class, RELAX!!!

tjb
 
PERFECT3435 said:
get up at 5.30 have classes 8-5 then library for a few hrs then bed then same thing all over again. the weeks of exams, i am lucky if i get more than 4 hrs of sleep. just to give yo an idea, we had a biweekly exam 2 weeks ago so i studied all week. then had a huge gnathology project due on mon, craniofacial growth bio exam tue another biweekly fri, dental material exam mon and single tooth direct exam fri. there is no way in hell i could sleep more than 4 hrs a night and do well in all of those.
Click to expand...

Wow, seems like a path to destruction.

Either 1) your school is far too demanding, or 2) you are putting forth way too much effort.

I'm glad I chose the school that I did. Dental school just isn't *that* hard. Like I've said before, undergrad was much harder in terms of # of hours that were required.

I don't think most students are having the same experiences you are. I'd say most students are studying 1-2 hours/day TOPS.
 
Halitosis said:
what about study hours for the top 10 ppl in the class?
Click to expand...

I fell into this category and here is what I did. I took the class notes from the 2 years ahead of me and studied them along with mine. You can just ask your upper-classmen because there are always some guys who don't clean out their old junk. I took my own notes in lecture, which allowed me to answer some questions on tests that didn't make it into the class notes. This was important because being a gunner comes down to staying strong when your classmates slip up. It's not hard making an A on a test...but doing it consistently is where the difficulty comes in.

In terms of time, I would turn on my brain at 8:00am every morning in lecture, sit all day, do lab most evenings, and study until about midnight. Go to sleep, wake up, and repeat. I actually looked forward to weekends because I had a fell 2 days to study without lectures and labs interfering. A could never last more than about 12 hours on those weekend days. I would go from 9am to 9 pm or whatever.
 
PERFECT3435 said:
... get up at 5.30 have classes 8-5 then library for a few hrs then bed then same thing all over again. the weeks of exams, i am lucky if i get more than 4 hrs of sleep. just to give yo an idea, we had a biweekly exam 2 weeks ago so i studied all week. then had a huge gnathology project due on mon, craniofacial growth bio exam tue another biweekly fri, dental material exam mon and single tooth direct exam fri. there is no way in hell i could sleep more than 4 hrs a night and do well in all of those.
Click to expand...

That schedule sounds about right.
 
my study schedule:

Week before a test and pay attention in class. Usually that is good enough. Good enough so far on the tests.
 
ItsGavinC said:
Wow, seems like a path to destruction.

Either 1) your school is far too demanding, or 2) you are putting forth way too much effort.

I'm glad I chose the school that I did. Dental school just isn't *that* hard. Like I've said before, undergrad was much harder in terms of # of hours that were required.

I don't think most students are having the same experiences you are. I'd say most students are studying 1-2 hours/day TOPS.
Click to expand...

1-2 hrs of study? hardly think so. maybe you are right about our school being too demanding. its really not just me having to study soo much. seriously, at least 80 people out of 101 in my class study as much as i do. the part that hurts me the most is that i am struggling. i study all the damn time and still struggling.

i just feel that our school gives us waaaay too much in little amount of time. now, if we didnt have the DAMN PBL, then i wouldn't have to spend so much time studying.
 
PERFECT3435 said:
the part that hurts me the most is that i am struggling. i study all the damn time and still struggling.
Click to expand...

Becuase the measure of success for studying isn't the amount, it's the quality.

A solid and well-mapped 2-3 hours can yield much more than going for 7-8 hours a day, every day.

If you are indeed putting in that much time and seriously struggling, then I'd advise you to revamp your process. If it isn't working, then stop doing it.
 
ItsGavinC said:
Becuase the measure of success for studying isn't the amount, it's the quality.

A solid and well-mapped 2-3 hours can yield much more than going for 7-8 hours a day, every day.

If you are indeed putting in that much time and seriously struggling, then I'd advise you to revamp your process. If it isn't working, then stop doing it.
Click to expand...
you're right on the money, and I am glad someone on this thread mentioned this. I know people in my class that study three days prior to the test, and manage to get a high B, and then we have the people who actually understand how to study who can study the day prior and get the same grade. Quality over quantity. 👍
 
PERFECT3435 said:
1-2 hrs of study? hardly think so. maybe you are right about our school being too demanding. its really not just me having to study soo much. seriously, at least 80 people out of 101 in my class study as much as i do. the part that hurts me the most is that i am struggling. i study all the damn time and still struggling.

i just feel that our school gives us waaaay too much in little amount of time. now, if we didnt have the DAMN PBL, then i wouldn't have to spend so much time studying.
Click to expand...

I feel your pain, man 😀 I had never studied this hard my life! didn't study on weekends, didn't even know what an all-nighter was before d school!

For PBL, use Medline and online resources. Don't spend too much time on it, just get it done and over with. Whoever came up w. PBL program needs to be shot!

Up at 5.30 everyday? man, that's suicidal! Relax! or you'll be burned out very soon, especially during the final exam wk. it's only the 1st semester.
If you're studying that much but still struggling then you're not studying effectively. 1st semester sometimes is hard to adjust comparing to undergrad.

Get a study partner(s). Get help from your Big (upper classmen). I gave my Little my old exams, notes w. previous exam questions marked. Talk to upper classmen, even professors to find out what to expect, what the exam formats will be like for particular professors. Upper classmen are a big help, they know and understand exactly what you're going through. If there's any handout, try to study it during class, underline keywords, mark anything the professor emphasizes...etc Look at old exams if any, it'll give u a general idea what will be on the exam; or talk to your professor for help.
Study "actively", rewrite the notes, shorten the notes, draw diagrams, outlines, keywords....etc whatever you find helpful in helping you understand and memorize the materials. Study whichever is more important, upcoming exam materials first. Sometimes there's nothing that u can do except playing catch up!
IMHO prioritize and time management is the key.
 
for those of you in dental school right now who had an intensive science undergrad major (and did well in it), do you think that undergrad anatomy, physiology, biochem, etc etc helped you out when you took those classes in d school?
 
I was a biochemistry major in undergrade, and I do think it helps me somewhat. Anyways, I forgot most of the stuff, but it comes fast. I can image the strain biochemistry, and histology must give to art history majors. At least, everything is not unfamiliar.

As far as studying, I study 2-3 hours week days, and 8-9 on weekends. Sometimes I feel it is too much, but I try to stay positive and think positively about school. I think the most important thing about studying is to understand you way of learning, and experiment with other method to increase the efficiency. Right now, I am try to figure out how to reduce this study time.

I realize that if I put the same effort I do now in undergrade I would most likely pull all A?s.
 
Spent 5-6 hrs/wk for studying after school and memorized the old exams.... failed most of my first set of exams.

Increased my study time to 10-12 hrs/wk, bought and read more books, took more naps and skipped many of lectures... Got Bs and As on the second set

I'm still working on my final set of exams
 
Biogirl361 said:
for those of you in dental school right now who had an intensive science undergrad major (and did well in it), do you think that undergrad anatomy, physiology, biochem, etc etc helped you out when you took those classes in d school?
Click to expand...

For sure. Many of the texts have been the same (I went to BYU and now go to ASDOH).
 
Biogirl361 said:
for those of you in dental school right now who had an intensive science undergrad major (and did well in it), do you think that undergrad anatomy, physiology, biochem, etc etc helped you out when you took those classes in d school?
Click to expand...

Definitely. Biochem and Histology have been pretty much straight review for the most part. Physiology will be somewhat of the same; but as far as gross anatomy, i don't think much of anything could prepare me for that.
 
that is good to know, now that interviews are pretty much out of the way i am starting to actually think about being in dental school, and starting to freak about being in class 40 hours a week 😱 . starting to worry if i will have enough time to study and do well after all that class, and also have time to do things that i absolutely will not compromise on such as family and other like things... i am hoping that since i took all (with the exception of histo) the basic sciences in undergrad and got A's, i will have a reduced study time in those classes. 😱
 
My school always recommended "study partners" for some reason, but I thought that was the biggest waste of time. Probably the most inefficient studying I've ever done was while "studying" with a bunch of idiots who had no more insight into the material or what will be on the test than I did. I never had questions to ask them, and I always ended up trying to answer everyone else's questions when they could have just read it themselves like me. I finally quit going. For my time, I was better off learning the material on my own. But apparently I'm in the minority.
 
I study maybe 1-2 hours per night, however, many nights I don't study at all. I put in a little more time (3-4 hours per night) the two nights before an exam. I never study at all on the weekends unless I have an exam on monday. All in all, dental school is not hard. Just more classes at once, but no more difficult than undergrad. I must say I'm not getting straight A's, but B's and a C here and there are fine for me. A's would require at least twice the amount of study time I put in right now. Glad I don't want to specialize.
 
To me it looks like there's two schools of thought when it comes to studying in dental school.

1- people who study constantly, everyday and including weekends. my question to this group, are you feeling the pressure of burnout? I would think you would be! I could be wrong.

2- people who study, but no nearly as much as group 1. This group claims that you can study for a solid 2-3 hours and get the same grade as someone who studies 8 hours or more. Thats incredible 👍

For those that are in group 2, could you possibly give me some type of sceniero of how you can study for 2-3 hours and still get the same grade as someone who studies 8 hours or more.
How are you doing this, is really the question I am asking. What tips can you give pre dents.

thanks HD
 
dr_benj said:
I study maybe 1-2 hours per night, however, many nights I don't study at all. I put in a little more time (3-4 hours per night) the two nights before an exam. I never study at all on the weekends unless I have an exam on monday. All in all, dental school is not hard. Just more classes at once, but no more difficult than undergrad. I must say I'm not getting straight A's, but B's and a C here and there are fine for me. A's would require at least twice the amount of study time I put in right now. Glad I don't want to specialize.
Click to expand...
\
Same here just study to pass or pass with a 10 pct cushion. here pass is 60 pct so getting a 70 pct is good coz it gives room for future error. I like this guy. don't wannna specialize so no need to try that hard. I love it, i get to workout all the time, go out, party, it's awesome. And the increase in salary as a specialist is not too significant if there is one, not to mention not having to go through that extra 3-6 years in school where u PAY for it and not get paid. Working is good. u work and then you don't have to worry about doing work related things outside of work. U focus when u do work, u go home and think about other stuff and take care of other stuff. No hwk, no such thing as writing a test.... Just go home and do whatever...go to sleep and do it all over again...it's great.

In my school they have a saying:

Top 1/3 of class become profs and leaders of the field.
Mid 1/3 become the best clinicians
Bottom 1/3 make the most money.

Go figure.
 
hockeydentist said:
For those that are in group 2, could you possibly give me some type of sceniero of how you can study for 2-3 hours and still get the same grade as someone who studies 8 hours or more.
How are you doing this, is really the question I am asking. What tips can you give pre dents.

thanks HD
Click to expand...

It's about not wasting time. I could study for 30 minutes and get a better grade than some people in my class that study for 10 hours. No exaggeration there when some of my classmates are taken into account. It doesn't mean I'm brilliant, it just means that they have no idea how to study. I know this because I've done group work with them before.

😀
 
First two years: 14-21 hr/wk max
Last two years: 1-2 hr/wk max
 
In my school they have a saying:

Top 1/3 of class become profs and leaders of the field.
Mid 1/3 become the best clinicians
Bottom 1/3 make the most money.

Go figure.
originally posted by woodsy

You could run it along the lines of the mastercard commericials, "price less"
 
ItsGavinC said:
It's about not wasting time. I could study for 30 minutes and get a better grade than some people in my class that study for 10 hours. No exaggeration there when some of my classmates are taken into account. It doesn't mean I'm brilliant, it just means that they have no idea how to study. I know this because I've done group work with them before.

😀
Click to expand...


To those of us still stuggling in D-School, please give us advice on studying quality over quantity. I'd rather put in a solid 2-3 hours of studying rather than 8 hours and still come out with the same or better grade.
 
Tempress81 said:
To those of us still stuggling in D-School, please give us advice on studying quality over quantity. I'd rather put in a solid 2-3 hours of studying rather than 8 hours and still come out with the same or better grade.
Click to expand...
Focus on high yield material. Don't try to memorize everything about a particular topic, but rather understand key points. Listen to what the professors emphasize on, and lastly but surely, look at old tests😀
 
I can?t believe this many people study. I haven?t opened a book yet, or looked at my notes... and I?m first in my class. Infact, I get drunk every night and go to class with a hangover most days.
 
All I can say
is you da man

HD
 
What I've found out in my relatively recent dental school experience is this:

Biochemistry: We are tested very little on concept knowledge. It's already assumed we know that. What we need to know for the exams are the little details that most people overlook. The disadv. of that is that it is a PITA. The advantage is that whenever I (we) study now, we are more detail oriented. Our Professor says we're becoming Jewelers (I'll write a book about him when I graduate)

Histology: What can I say. Our professor wrote the book. Sweetest guy on the face of the earth. There is a lot of material to cover. Concept knowledge is more applicable here than memorizing factoids. The practicals can be a bit tricky. Memorize those slides.

Dental anatomy: For waxing, better have proximal contacts. Everything else is pretty subjective (including neatness). The occlusal table requires more patience than I could have imagined.
For didactic: Hmm, who knew teeth had so much detail? For the exams, you better know those details and more.
We are currently learning how to mount casts on the articulator. Not too bad. We usually finish early for once.

Periodontics: We haven't had an exam yet. Just random quizzes and homework assignments. They are pretty detail oriented and seem to worry about minor stuff (read *anal*) we haven't started clinic yet, but I'm strapping in for the ride

These are the major ones for now. How do I study?? Being the single mom of a really tomboyish 2 year old, it ain't easy. I usually make sure I cover all the material and go over old exams (critical here at UMB). I can't say I study as half as hard as some of the previous posters neither can I quantify the hours I spend, but what really matters to me is that I make sure I REALLY know what I know and get really great at elimination. 😀
 
The range of studying varies significantly. . .
 
I think most people start out wanting to study hardcore but then get burnt out by end of the first semester...

My dentist did say that he started out hardcore then soon realized that there are too many smart kids that were owning him.. lol so he just went with the flow..
 
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