1. PBL learning environment:
A. It's enjoyable if you like to learn. If you like to be told exactly what you should know for the next 40 yrs of your career, you may not like the PBL learning experience. I'm a big fan, but only because it fits my personality. There are some in my class that don't like it (I'd say they are the minority though--maybe 20-30 out of 144).
2. A lot of people are worried about group members not pulling their weight...
A. Listen, I've never had a group member not pull their weight and I've never met anyone who has said they had someone like this in their group. People will b**ch and complain, but they will do the work. It's very rare that you get a learning need that sucks (I've never had one, and I've probably seen, lets see, 6 cases, 5 parts each case, 8 learning needs per part = 180 learning needs, give or take in one semester. 😱).
3. People are always worried about exams...
A. USC School of Dentistry administers exams during midterms and finals
B. The midterm and final exam block consist of 4-5 exams
C. Your first exam is a multiple choice exam (for the midterm, it will cover the first 3-4 cases and for the final, it will cover the last 3-4 cases). This exam generally has 180-250 questions and you will have 3 hrs to take it.
D. Your next exam will be a COMBOT, which is basically a picture exam. You sit in front of a computer and various pictures are shown and you need to answer questions pertaining to the picture(s) you're looking at. This exam generally has around 100 pictures (maybe 100-115 questions). You will be given three hours for this exam.
E. The multiple choice exam and the COMBOT are on the same day. You will get ~1-2 hour lunch between the exams.
F. Your third exam will be a triple jump. Most students want to poke their eyes about the time this part of the exam block roles around. This part of the exam block starts the day following your MCQ and COMBOT exams.
G. I'm not going to lie, triple jumps, for most people, are scary, nerve-wrecking, and generally a big, painful all-nighter. The first part of the triple jump (3 jumps) is a one hour session in which you're given a case and you, by yourself, must come up with the ideas and learning needs for that case. You need to look up and analyze all of the lab values (generally a full hematology and urinalysis) definitions to words you've never seen, diseases, symptoms, etc in ONE hour. You then turn this form in and go home and research your ideas and learning need topics for the next morning (the SECOND jump). When you are at home, you will have to not only understand your patient, but also investigate nearly every possible situation that could be causing your patient's problems, prepare a presentation and get enough sleep to look presentable at 9am the next morning. The final, THIRD jump is your presentation of your patient's case to two faculty members. You will have to convince them that you're not a dumb*ss. They will most likely grill you and make you feel like crap before sending you home (although I'm pretty charming, so I've never experienced any of the above feelings of hatred or defeat 😉)
H. In addition, you will have weekly quizzes in your dental anatomy lecture and multiple projects due each week in your dental anatomy lab. I think we waxed up 13-15 teeth, carved 4 teeth from wax blocks and had a midterm (1 wax-up) and final (2 wax-ups) in there. Pretty self explanatory class. Relatively easy to get an A.
I. You will also have a screen and admitting rotation. Easy points.
J. You will also have a radiology rotation. Easy points.
K. You will also have a Doctors out to Care rotation (entire semester). Easy points.
Also, you need to do 32 assists (generally 2-4 hours in length), which you can start on your first semester.
What I described above was my first semester. Pretty basic. I did well (straight A's), so it's not impossible.
Let me know if you have any other concerns.
