what is really meant by "good" dental school?

[blankguy]

I realize that people talk about "good" school in their own opinion. What is meant by "good" school? What I mean is that I hear say Harvard not being a good clinical school but that didn't stop my former family dentist who graduated from Harvard from being a good dentist. Is what is meant by "good" school about personal opinion or is it based on facts about the school gathered from visits and talking to people?

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[grettlin2]

Obviously, there are many factors to decide which school is the best in "individual's" opinion.
1. Clinic or Research.
2. Tuition.
3. Region.
4. Name.
5. Future goal (speciality).
6. Patient Pool, facility, weather, and ....

You can find different groups of schools. The groups might be "Big Name", "Clinic", "State/Private", "Best opportunity for speciality".
Ranking is meaningless and for sure, each school has its features.

 

[ItsGavinC]

A school being "good" or "not good" in any area does NOT mean the students won't be "good" or likewise "not good" in those same areas.

Dental school is nearly 100% about how much you put into it. MANY are satisfied with scoring 75s and they will make excellent dentists. Other has to have 95s and they will also make excellent dentists.

You get what you put into it. This also applies to board scores for the most part. Just because a school doesn't have a 95 NBDE average doesn't mean you can't get a 95. And likewise, if a school DOES have a 95 average you are in no way promised a 95.

It's up to you. That's the beauty of this profession and it starts in dental school.

 

[Zurich5]

I agree with the above advice, however, I suggest going wherever you feel comfortable and trying to keep your expenses at a minimum. Regardless of where you go, you?ll become a competent dentists, the real learning starts once you get out of school. Best of luck.

 

[blankguy]

Originally posted by Zurich5
I agree with the above advice, however, I suggest going wherever you feel comfortable and trying to keep your expenses at a minimum. Regardless of where you go, you?ll become a competent dentists, the real learning starts once you get out of school. Best of luck.

I witnessed a little bit of that. The dentist that I shadowed with her associate, I could tell she was better than her associate because she was constantly making an effort to keep her skills up to date by attending seminars, and workshops at the school she graduate while her associate did none of that.

The reason why I brought this up, was all the threads talking about the schools with people's opinion of them. I might get fooled into taking it literally. Discriminate between opinion and fact. This forum is so laced with people expressing their opinions(nothing wrong with that).

 

[ItsGavinC]

Originally posted by Zurich5
I agree with the above advice, however, I suggest going wherever you feel comfortable and trying to keep your expenses at a minimum. Regardless of where you go, you?ll become a competent dentists, the real learning starts once you get out of school. Best of luck.

100% correct. I didn't mention those factors explicitly, but understanding that any dental student is capable of anything at any school certainly pushes the fact that one ought to go where they feel they can best enjoy their time (from an academic and monetary standpoint).

 

[preludexl]

A good school to me is one that will train me well enough where I'm completely confident at any thing that comes my way without hesitation. Plus the school administration cares about its students and possesses the zeal to constantly improve themselves as an institution for the field. If you are a good clinician who knows his/her stuff, I can care less where you came from. Most patients have the same feeling. When they have tear inducing pains, I doubt they'll run to your wall and look at your certificate to see what "Good" school you came from, and then run out or something. They prob came by word of mouth. My 0.02.

 

[drPheta]

Well said guys.

I also tend to think a good school is one that satisfies your values. As generic and general as that sounds, that's the gist of it.

Dentistry is not like law, business or medicine in terms of education. Where you go does not dictate where you'll end up. What you do does.

 

[marshall]

good school to me is one that will train me well enough where I'm completely confident at any thing that comes my way without hesitation.

I think you will be hard pressed to find that. Four years just isn't enough time. In fact, if you want to see what exactly a school is going to ask of you, check out their websites or the ADEA guide. In my experience, most licensed people that start jobs right out of dental school end up doing more menial things (cleanings, fillings, etc) than the juicy stuff (veneers, endo, etc). Once they have established credibility with their associates (unless it is a family member or something) will they begin to take off.

In fact, the dentist that I worked with said that he didn't get really good until he had been out for a while. He said that it was very hard to get used to using the mirror and he wasn't completely proficient until out of school. Granted, that was before simulators, etc but it was only fifteen years ago.

My point is that when you choose among similarly academic dental schools, go for some of the more mundane things like weather and chicks because they are going to contribute more to your emotional well being and happiness.

 

[Woodsy]

A good school is one that you feel that you would have:
1. The most success academically and clinically
2. The most comfortable Environment * this includes, people, location, etc.
3. A solid reputation
4. Suitable for your needs * That gut feeling of perfect fit..
5. Willingness to pay for


With that said a prestigious school has its advantages in terms of choosing specialities in the case where you and another applicant from a less prestigious school with similar stats are competing for the same spot.

Other than that it doesn't matter i think, because if you do really well, you can get any speciality you want.