What is UoP's Secret?

[MegaDENT]

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How does UoP's 3 year program compare to the standard 4 year DDS program everywhere else? Is the curriculum missing some things all the other schools have? Do you take more classes at once? No summer breaks? I'm just wondering how it all adds up...

 

[armorshell]

How does UoP's 3 year program compare to the standard 4 year DDS program everywhere else? Do you take more classes at once? No summer breaks? I'm just wondering how it all adds up...

You pretty much nailed it on the head with these two. Our first year is jam packed full of pre-clinicals (Except removable) and basic sciences (Except path and micro) which are taken the first two quarters of second year. We also have night clinic sessions during second and third year. To make up a little ground, some of our basic sciences (Dental anatomy and Path) are largely self study.

Regarding breaks, we start early in our first year (I'm in finals week right now) and don't really stop from there on out. We have a couple weeks of breaks during the year,the largest being the 4 weeks during summer.

The only secret is hard, fast work and a time tested curriculum.

 

[MegaDENT]

Thanks for the reply armorshell. A 3 year program sounds very appealing to me since I will be 26 when I start dental school. Specialization is also a priority to me. Does UoP mainly produce top-notch GPs or is specialization a strong point of theres as well?

 

[wizziefiend]

Thanks for the reply armorshell. A 3 year program sounds very appealing to me since I will be 26 when I start dental school. Specialization is also a priority to me. Does UoP mainly produce top-notch GPs or is specialization a strong point of theres as well?

Those who want to specialize have no problem doing so. Most have no interest.

 

[Supernumerary]

We have a couple weeks of breaks during the year,the largest being the 4 weeks during summer.

Hey, I went to a 4 year school and I never got a 4 week summer break. Although we did get a generous 4 day weekend to prepare for NBDE part 1. 😡 🙂

 

[armorshell]

Hey, I went to a 4 year school and I never got a 4 week summer break. Although we did get a generous 4 day weekend to prepare for NBDE part 1. 😡 🙂

I'm not going to pretend that I know exactly what your curriculum was like (or even what school you went to) but I'm sure all 4 of those full-time years weren't spent on essentials. There is knowledge out there, that while important, is not necessary for a general dentist. Pacific chooses to exclude most ancillary knowledge from their pre-doc curriculum and entrusts it's students to pursue any additional education they may want in the year they save.

 

[Ebull]

My hat goes off to the students at UoP for being able to endure such rigors. But I keep asking myself why in the world would you want to be so stressed all the time. It takes away from enjoying your education. After all it is only one more year for a traditional curriculum.

 

[NileBDS]

Alright, so the average DDS/DMD class is what, 80 students, 4 years and let's say $30K-40K average tuition ? Let's use $40k just for the sake of this argument.

$40k x 80 students x 4 years = Close to $13 million/class.

At Pacific, the tuition for the incoming '10 class is somewhere around $80k, 140 DDS students and 22 IDS (international) students, adding up to roughly 160 per class. So then that conversion would be;

$80k x 160 students x 3 years = A little over $38 million/class (almost 3x).

Huh ...

When you have that much money, you don't need any secrets. You just throw money at your people, and try and keep everyone happy. I'll tell you however, for me, it's worth every penny, but then again, my program is only 2 years.

I know this may sound crazy, but I think part of Pacific's success comes from the small building we all live (literally) and spend the best part of our days in. Together. I feel that really creates a strong bond, students and faculty, and is a constant reminder of our shared goals. Not to mention the faculty here (for the most part) just being super friendly. They actually listen ! They really treat you as colleagues. Of course you will always get that occasional jerk, but that's alright.

 

[JavadiCavity]

Not to mention the faculty here (for the most part) just being super friendly. They actually listen ! They really treat you as colleagues. Of course you will always get that occasional jerk, but that's alright.

Most of them are pretty good. Some are pretty arrogant. But that would be the same everywhere. It's hard to compare schools, but I wonder what things would be like at another school. Better, worse, or pretty similar? I suspect they would be similar.

 

[armorshell]

My hat goes off to the students at UoP for being able to endure such rigors. But I keep asking myself why in the world would you want to be so stressed all the time. It takes away from enjoying your education. After all it is only one more year for a traditional curriculum.

I could just as easily ask you "Why bother spending additional time on your education when you can just work a little harder? I mean, it's an entire year of your life!"

My point is, that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Some people just like a more rigorous curriculum. For example, I get bored and lazy if I go at a slow pace.

 

[djeffreyt]

My hat goes off to the students at UoP for being able to endure such rigors. But I keep asking myself why in the world would you want to be so stressed all the time. It takes away from enjoying your education. After all it is only one more year for a traditional curriculum.

It's only stressful if that's the type of personality you are already. There are definitely a few of those people at our school, but there are also plenty of us who have a more relaxed attitude and the rigors of our classes and schedule really don't get to us. It's finals and I'm sitting on SDN. A couple nights ago 5 of us got together to drink some wine and watch Goonies just for the hell of it, even though we had a test the next morning. The other day I had a practical in Operative and rather than spend 2 extra hours practicing or getting all my preparations for class done, I just finished what I could and took off with 6 students to go to the Giants Game. The next morning I came in, took the practical, and spent my lunch eating and finishing the work from the previous day. It's not stressful if you already know that's what you'll be doing. For a lot of us, we see how much work we have, figure out how to arrange our schedules so we still have free time and get it all done, and it just flows. I mean, there are lots of people in our class with families and other obligations, and they all seem to make it work. Hell, we have two guys who just had their first kids during the first couple weeks of dental school...but they are two of the calmest and happiest guys in the class.

Again, there are a number of people who seem to freak out so much that they honestly don't think they have 2 minutes of free time to go pee when they need to, but if they're like that at Pacific, no matter what school they had gone to, they'd still be the stressballs that they are.

 

[Ebull]

Like I said before, I give you guys a lot of credit for being able to fit all that in your schedules, especially those with families. And i would not consider myself the type that stresses out easily. But as a dental student I feel compelled to really learn the material because after all we will be the authority on the subject. And I just think that it would be really tough, for me anyway, to feel like I'm mastering the material if I have double the work. But if you guys can do it thats great.

 

[djeffreyt]

I guess it's largely in the way you look at what mastery is and what you expect to be exiting dental school. I expect to be a competent dentist, though a little slower than most dentists. After all, in dental school, you spend excess time on procedures. We just finished our first quarter and I know quite a bit, but truth is, I'll forget a lot and I'll only really learn much of it through constant reinforcement in the day to day practice of dentistry. I don't actually expect I'll master anything right out of dental school. I think it will take more than 3 or 4 years of dental school to master the skills required for the field. In Japan, apprentice potters can spend over a decade under the tutelage of a master potter before being considered a qualified potter in their own right...not even a master. Similar amounts of time, if not sustantially more time, is required to become, say, a black belt in martial arts...and dentistry is a little more detailed than either of those arts.

So, I expect to come out of dental school competent enough to do no or as little harm as possible to my patients while generally providing quality dental care...but I don't expect to be a robot. Everything that gets entered into my brain in dental school will not stay to be spit out at a seconds notice, and I will not give up my humanity and sanity to become a dentist. That's just my personal take on it.

 

[armorshell]

I on the other hand, hate sanity and humanity.

 

[PlanB21]

It's only stressful if that's the type of personality you are already. There are definitely a few of those people at our school, but there are also plenty of us who have a more relaxed attitude and the rigors of our classes and schedule really don't get to us. It's finals and I'm sitting on SDN. A couple nights ago 5 of us got together to drink some wine and watch Goonies just for the hell of it, even though we had a test the next morning. The other day I had a practical in Operative and rather than spend 2 extra hours practicing or getting all my preparations for class done, I just finished what I could and took off with 6 students to go to the Giants Game. The next morning I came in, took the practical, and spent my lunch eating and finishing the work from the previous day. It's not stressful if you already know that's what you'll be doing. For a lot of us, we see how much work we have, figure out how to arrange our schedules so we still have free time and get it all done, and it just flows. I mean, there are lots of people in our class with families and other obligations, and they all seem to make it work. Hell, we have two guys who just had their first kids during the first couple weeks of dental school...but they are two of the calmest and happiest guys in the class.

Again, there are a number of people who seem to freak out so much that they honestly don't think they have 2 minutes of free time to go pee when they need to, but if they're like that at Pacific, no matter what school they had gone to, they'd still be the stressballs that they are.

Man, if you have all that free time during finals week, then even though your school is only 3 years..your classes must be pretty damn easy. You definately would no be able to do that at our school.

 

[armorshell]

Man, if you have all that free time during finals week, then even though your school is only 3 years..your classes must be pretty damn easy. You definately would no be able to do that at our school.

Ah yes, because a few students have managed to rearrange their schedules to fit in a little free time *conclusively* proves that our school is the easiest in the nation.

Grow up you troll, and realize not everyone is out to specialize. If some of my classmates decide to enjoy their free time instead of study anatomy, that's their prerogative, not the schools.

 

[djeffreyt]

Man, if you have all that free time during finals week, then even though your school is only 3 years..your classes must be pretty damn easy. You definately would no be able to do that at our school.

haha

I think I could handle it.

Still, I love it. It's a no win when talking to certain people at other schools about how much I am enjoying school. Either I'm supposed to be a recluse to the library who never sees daylight cause I'm always stressed out about how hard everything is and UOP is a bad school cause it's soooooooo stressful

or

I'm obviously at the easy dental school cause if I can find time to have a life while still maintaining my Bs (mostly) in this 3 year dental school


You can disregard the fact that for over half of my undergrad I worked 50+ hours at 3 jobs while attending 15+ units of school and still maintained a great social life among my friends.

The fact of the matter is that I have made choices in my life that work for me. Not everyone in my class is the same way, but the point is, not everyone or even a majority of my class is the reclusive stressballs people seem to believe are the only things that could exist at UOP unless UOP were somehow also a deficient academic institution. But it's fine if you want to think your school is harder than my school, I don't really care cause it doesn't change any of the following facts:

1) I will graduate with a DDS that will be the equivalent of any DDS or DMD at whatever school someone else attends
2) Going to UOP means that during my "fourth year" I get to have 1 full year of real-world practical experience...and I value real world experience over anything I might be able to get from an extra 2 units of dental anatomy or 1 more extra unit of orthodontics.
3) I am enjoying and will continue to enjoy my time in dental school, and make no apologies for being a happy, contented dental student despite how much others want me to, for some reason, admit to horrific suffering.

So, feel free to continue calling my school easy or my collegues stressballs, but if your classes are so much harder...I'd think you'd have better things to do with your time than post things like that on SDN

 

[armorshell]

Epic burn! I honestly don't think I've ever seen someone so thoroughly owned before.

 

[johntara04]

Man, if you have all that free time during finals week, then even though your school is only 3 years..your classes must be pretty damn easy. You definately would no be able to do that at our school.

You are forgetting one major point. Pacific students have very, very above average DAT scores, which means that they are naturally/or able to learn a lot of material in a short time and remember it. They are better test takers than 90% of the dental students out there. Odds are, they are better at taking tests than you and scored higher than you on their standardized tests. Pacific students are chosen because of their ability to handle the schedule. That is why you need a 21+ to get in.

 

[Plano]

I went to UOP undergraduate at Stockton. I had a chance to go to its dental school after 2 and 1/2 years but I didn't because I was worried about its 3 year curriculum. Instead, I went to Boston Dental school. That was a major mistake. My friend, who was in its 5 year program, not only graduate a year ahead of me but also has far better clinical skill than me. He’s now only 22 and already in the process of getting his own office. You do not need an exceptional GPA/DAT to get into UOP dental. All you have to do is getting into its 5 or 6 year program and then almost everyone will get accepted to UOP dental.

 

[Fonz]

I went to UOP undergraduate at Stockton. I had a chance to go to its dental school after 2 and 1/2 years but I didn't because I was worried about its 3 year curriculum. Instead, I went to Boston Dental school. That was a major mistake. My friend, who was in its 5 year program, not only graduate a year ahead of me but also has far better clinical skill than me. He’s now only 22 and already in the process of getting his own office. You do not need an exceptional GPA/DAT to get into UOP dental. All you have to do is getting into its 5 or 6 year program and then almost everyone will get accepted to UOP dental.

Being done at 22 sounds awesome. Your friend must be rich though to pay for UoP undergrad and dental and still have money or low enough debt to try and get a practice already.

 

[armorshell]

I went to UOP undergraduate at Stockton. I had a chance to go to its dental school after 2 and 1/2 years but I didn't because I was worried about its 3 year curriculum. Instead, I went to Boston Dental school. That was a major mistake. My friend, who was in its 5 year program, not only graduate a year ahead of me but also has far better clinical skill than me. He’s now only 22 and already in the process of getting his own office. You do not need an exceptional GPA/DAT to get into UOP dental. All you have to do is getting into its 5 or 6 year program and then almost everyone will get accepted to UOP dental.

Yeah, but you need to be an uber-ninja during high school to get into the 2+3 power program.

 

[armorshell]

Being done at 22 sounds awesome. Your friend must be rich though to pay for UoP undergrad and dental and still have money or low enough debt to try and get a practice already.

Remember, not everyone is lucky enough to pay for everything themselves 😉

 

[Plano]

I was looking at the pictures from http://www.pacificdds2010.com/classphotos.
The classroom is smaller than I thought.. the chairs seem so comfortable though.. no wonder everyone is caught taking a nap...😀

How many students are in a typical first year class? How about the second year? I know they combine some international students to the class after the first year. I plan to move back to SF next year and maybe become a part-time prostho faculty at UOP....

 

[jackbauer!]

Man, if you have all that free time during finals week, then even though your school is only 3 years..your classes must be pretty damn easy. You definately would no be able to do that at our school.

you're going to fit in GREAT at UF!

 

[crazy_sherm]

I was looking at the pictures from http://www.pacificdds2010.com/classphotos.
The classroom is smaller than I thought.. the chairs seem so comfortable though.. no wonder everyone is caught taking a nap...😀

How many students are in a typical first year class? How about the second year? I know they combine some international students to the class after the first year. I plan to move back to SF next year and maybe become a part-time prostho faculty at UOP....

There are 143 in the DDS class, and usually a few drop out along the way. The IDS class is currently 22, though it seems to grow a little every few years. Starting second year, some IDS students will take some of the same classes, but their curriculum is pretty separate. We don't really integrate fully with them until 3rd year where its pretty much all clinic anyway.

 

[superchris147]

2) Going to UOP means that during my "fourth year" I get to have 1 full year of real-world practical experience...and I value real world experience over anything I might be able to get from an extra 2 units of dental anatomy or 1 more extra unit of orthodontics.

not to mention that you get paid during that one year of experience

i would do anything to end dental school this year (i'm a 3rd year at buffalo)

 

[2thdr13]

[