polarnut said:
here is a cold hard fact about most dental school profs. you rarely see young ones because why would you want to make less money and have to deal with pushing papers every day? unless you really love teaching, why give up that brand new mercedez?
the ones who teach in dental school are old, kind of psychotic, social rejects who had hard time when they went to d-school and want to "pay back". these people are generally aloof loners who couldn't make it in the real world after graduating from dental school- they may have tried to open up their own practice but ultimately failed because they had poor communication skill, lack people skill, and generally too egotistical to admit that they have failed.
of course the last thing they do is get into their alum school and begin the process of torturing young minds and bitch and moan because you missed the margin by 0.01mm and gradually shaping poor souls into hideous monsters like themselves.
Hi there,
Your assesment of dental professors are quite interesting. Being personally a dental student of three different dental schools (UMKC, University of Minesota and Marquette University) and a former prof. at UT Memphis, I see the "typical" dental professors as follows....
1. The "pre-retirement" types who had a fair share of private practice and just looking for something to do before retiring. Their goal is NOT for the love of teaching. These are the ones whose motives are not to teach the students but rather using the dental school as their social 'hang outs". These ones came in two forms.
a. The Lazy Type ( the ones that sit on their butts with the newspapers 90% of the time). They are usually very "easy graders" and they are among the dental student's favorite for their competencies.
b. The Mean Type ( the ones that already have a chip on their shoulders). They are the ones that nobody goes to as they tend to be mean and harsh on students. They do not enjoy being there and it shows. This group is the ones that gives the image of "making the students pay" and give dental faculty a bad name!
2. The "Could Not Cut It In Private World" type. I think this type is very few as it is mostly a misconception among students. They can always work in a partnership rather than owning their own practice and earn much more than teaching. I really don't think this type exists in any detectable quantity.
3. The "pre-retirement" types who really LOVE teaching. This group is the best group that the students could ask for. They have tons of experience and they love to share with the students. They are older and wiser so listen to them! At UT Memphis, all of the restorative faculty were very very nice. Unfortunatetly, most of them retired a year after I left.
4. The "Love Teaching" types who are relatively young who thought that they can be "poor" but be happy. Sooner or later, they find out that being "poor" is just too painful so they left. Guess who belongs to this type? Me, that's right. I love teaching and for the two years I was there, both dental class 2005 and 2006 gave me a special appreciation awards and I still have them haging in my office. I wish I could stay but I can't imagine myself at age 60 still lives in an apartment!
5. The "Anal Retentive" type who all students AVOID when comes to C&B Competency time! Guess who belong to this group? All prosthodontists, that's right. It is not that they do not like teaching, or being mean or what ... but after 3 years of inhaling methylmethacrylate in post grad., they turn out to be that way. Have mercy on them....
So there you have it ... The most detailed breakdown of all dental school Professors in a nut shell... DP
