UofL School of Dentistry - Clinical Competency Problems?

[roger.horatio]

Dear SDN, I am an out-of-state student fortunate enough to be accepted at many private and public schools. I have some questions on the clinical strength of ULSD.

I was blown away by ULSD's new and renovated facilities, but having some close ties and friendship to the KY area (my family raised us until mid-highschool), I've heard complaints from several D3-D4 students having trouble filling their core requirements for graduation, including getting access to patients with complex cases, developing enough exposure to different dental procedures, and not receiving enough competency numbers due to low patient revenue coming in. From what I also understand, the KY patient pool is underserved and definitely needs help, but they do not have the financial abilities to afford even discounted treatments, so they don't come in to get treated. They have a class size of 120, which isn't the smallest nor biggest across the nation's programs, but it makes me wonder how ULSD cannot achieve their competencies for students when other schools much bigger (eg. NYU with 300) are able to do it.

Are these competency sentiments different from other dental schools? Should I be worried entering UofL? Are core competencies harder to achieve for most dental schools due to the greater class size?

Any current ULSD students, I would appreciate your thoughts on the clinical part of the program.

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[distressstudent]

They have a class size of 120, which isn't the smallest nor biggest across the nation's programs, but it makes me wonder how ULSD cannot achieve their competencies for students when other schools much bigger (eg. NYU with 300) are able to do it.

253,000 people with a population density of 357 per square miles
verus
8,000,000 people with a population of 27,000 people per square miles

 

[Alcancia]

I would love some input from current students on this as well!

I've accepted my offer to ULSD, but just received an offer to MWU-AZ. Clinical exposure may be enough for me to forfeit the deposit. I too have heard stories of students sticking around the summer after graduation to complete procedure counts. Meanwhile, MWU is citing statistics that their students do upwards of 3 times more procedures than other schools' averages. Supposedly the older population of Phoenix has an abundance of both dental issues and money for healthcare.

 

[Endeross]

I would love some input from current students on this as well!

I've accepted my offer to ULSD, but just received an offer to MWU-AZ. Clinical exposure may be enough for me to forfeit the deposit. I too have heard stories of students sticking around the summer after graduation to complete procedure counts. Meanwhile, MWU is citing statistics that their students do upwards of 3 times more procedures than other schools' averages. Supposedly the older population of Phoenix has an abundance of both dental issues and money for healthcare.

I'd be willing to go to MWU instead for this reason alone (as long as there isnt a 100k difference in cost).

 

[Shifff based]

I am also hearing that over half of the seniors at UofL will have to stay past graduation to fulfill their requirements. That, coupled with UofL no longer offering the WREBS may make MWU-AZ the better choice.

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[Mascota]

I have several friends at Louisville that have told me they wouldn't recommend going there. Some of the reasons they stated 1) the school has been hiring some seriously sh*tty professors and has done nothing remedy the issue 2) the didactics are major overkill, especially their pathology department, which leaves student very little time to actually practice their clinical skills 3) since they expanded their class size they no longer have enough patients for many students to get their clinical requirements.

 

[Grinz]

I am also hearing that over half of the seniors at UofL will have to stay past graduation to fulfill their requirements. That, coupled with UofL no longer offering the WREBS may make MWU-AZ the better choice.

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The NERB is not accepted in only a very small handful of states. https://www.adha.org/resources-docs/7313_Overview_Clinical_Examinations.pdf

 

[distressstudent]

The NERB is not accepted in only a very small handful of states. https://www.adha.org/resources-docs/7313_Overview_Clinical_Examinations.pdf

That pdf links to licensure exams for dental hygienists

That said... NERB does hit a lot of state and soon california too is the rumor

 

[roger.horatio]

Do other schools face this problem? Why is Louisville so uniquely behind the ball?

 

[Shifff based]

Do other schools face this problem? Why is Louisville so uniquely behind the ball?

Idk about other schools but Louisville went from 80 to 120 seats 5 years ago which is probably partly to blame.

 

[punchdrunk7]

Having graduated from Louisville since the class size increase I can give some better insight to this.
1- The requirement issue isn't an issue for motivated students. The students who fell short or had to stay after graduation weren't a surprise to the class or faculty.
2- Competencies also the same explanation, not horrible if you are motivated and have some sort of drive. You make it happen.
3- There are plenty of patients for you to complete the required graduation numbers plus some. Again if you are a driven student.
The trend you are seeing is that if you are motivated at UofL or any school across the nation for that matter you will make it happen. If you are lazy and want things handed to you it won't matter where you go.