UoP or Columbia???

[houzi]

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I am having a verrry hard time deciding between UoP and Columbia. Please help!

I've lived in the bay area for almost 6 years and I definitely love it! But I'm also open to exploring new places, especially a place like New York. I know Columbia prepares you really well for specialization, but I also heard that 40% of their 4th year student fail the clinical board. On the other hand, UoP prepares you really well for general. I'm currently undecided on which route I wanna go upon graduation, so I would like to leave my options open. And does the name of school really matter that much when you start practicing?? So I think what it boils down to.. is which school provides a better education that can prepare me well as a dentist..

 

[somethinpositiv]

In my opinion, you should go to UoP if you are doing general dentistry, toss-up if you are specializing with the advantage going to Columbia. Personally, I love the bay area so much I'd go to UoP over any school 😉

 

[pinetar321]

really though? 40% fail rate? Where are you getting these numbers? This isn't a personal attack, but something about that seems hard to believe.

 

[The Anhedonia]

I know Columbia prepares you really well for specialization, but I also heard that 40% of their 4th year student fail the clinical board.

this is not true. Columbia actually fairs quite well on the part II's. you should ask actual students there 🙂

however, i just received an interesting email today from ASDA. Apparently, several schools are having failures of the part II's:


ASDA's Response to Concerns Regarding Failure Rate for NBDE II

Dear ASDA Member,

It has come to the attention of the Board of Trustees that the national rate of failure on the NDBE Part II has increased significantly over the past few months. The Board is currently taking action to build concrete evidence of this change. We are requesting support from the Deans, the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) and the American Dental Association (ADA) to ensure that the exam is fair to all students and secure.

The Joint Commission that facilitates the exam has identified that this increase affects dental students nationwide. However, statistical data has not yet been compiled that illustrates the severity of the failure rate. We will begin discussions with all interested parties, including dental school Deans, ADEA, the ADA, the Joint Commission and other student dental groups. We hope to come to a resolution as soon as possible that is in the best interest of students and the profession.

 

[lazybummy]

Whoa 40%.. where did u get this number from..

 

[armorshell]

Highly debatable whether any school "prepares" you better for specializing. Certainly some schools have differing percentages of students going into specialties/residency, but I don't have to tell any of you that correlation and causation are two very seperate entities.

I had to make the same choice at one point though, so I'll give you my perspective. Financially this is a wash, the schools are almost identically expensive, yet Pacific is a year shorter. Area wise, UoP wins hands down. You can live in one of the nicest neighborhoods in San Francisco, or one of the crappiest in Manhattan (For the same price, as mentioned above).

Clinically, your education at Pacific should be hands down among the top-tier in the country. We have similar or greater amounts of time spent in the clinic to most 4 year schools, and no prosth, endo or perio residency to pilfer procedures like full mouth recons, complex endo on 2nd/3rd molars, retreats, surgical endo, crown lengthening, gingival surgery, etc...

Didactically, Pacific has just announced a new integrated curriculum called Helix which will go into effect next year, which is headed up by one of the best professors I've ever had. I felt incredibly prepared by the school for my Part 1 boards and managed to excel. The class of 2011 has done even better, and not a single 2nd year in the OMFS club has reported a sub-94 boards score, and there's quite a few of them.

Regarding specialzing at Columbia vs. Pacific, I've only heard of 2 people from our entire class not matching, and that includes GPR/AEGDs. All the people who matched to OMFS matched to high-tier, highly competitive programs.

I don't know if you can ask for much more. Feel free to post here or PM for more info, but choosing Pacific over Columbia was one of the easier decisions I've ever had to make.

 

[peerless218]

Highly debatable whether any school "prepares" you better for specializing. Certainly some schools have differing percentages of students going into specialties/residency, but I don't have to tell any of you that correlation and causation are two very seperate entities.

I had to make the same choice at one point though, so I'll give you my perspective. Financially this is a wash, the schools are almost identically expensive, yet Pacific is a year shorter. Area wise, UoP wins hands down. You can live in one of the nicest neighborhoods in San Francisco, or one of the crappiest in Manhattan (For the same price, as mentioned above).

Clinically, your education at Pacific should be hands down among the top-tier in the country. We have similar or greater amounts of time spent in the clinic to most 4 year schools, and no prosth, endo or perio residency to pilfer procedures like full mouth recons, complex endo on 2nd/3rd molars, retreats, surgical endo, crown lengthening, gingival surgery, etc...

Didactically, Pacific has just announced a new integrated curriculum called Helix which will go into effect next year, which is headed up by one of the best professors I've ever had. I felt incredibly prepared by the school for my Part 1 boards and managed to excel. The class of 2011 has done even better, and not a single 2nd year in the OMFS club has reported a sub-94 boards score, and there's quite a few of them.

Regarding specialzing at Columbia vs. Pacific, I've only heard of 2 people from our entire class not matching, and that includes GPR/AEGDs. All the people who matched to OMFS matched to high-tier, highly competitive programs.

I don't know if you can ask for much more. Feel free to post here or PM for more info, but choosing Pacific over Columbia was one of the easier decisions I've ever had to make.

Armorshell, what's the helix? I knew they're gonna change the curriculum but now it's going to happen, can you maybe explain what difference UOP is going to make with the HELIX? Thanks!

 

[armorshell]

http://dental.pacific.edu/School_Initiatives/Pacific_Dental_Helix_Curriculum.html

 

[peerless218]

Well that sure make things more interesting at UOP. Cool!!! Looking forward to it!!