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Passing this along from someone smarter than me. Learn it and live it. Sorry about all the >'s.
Dental school is not medical school nor is it a Ph.D program. It is
> primarily a technical rather than an academic degree. All that
> studying that you did for the DAT will be very unlike what you will do > when actually in school. You must learn the lab skills. These will > be far more important than book skills. Again, if interested, I will > later give you my thoughts on how to prepare so that that first > semester is not so much of a shock. I will give you one hint now. Do > NOT study gross anatomy over the summer. I know that this is the > largest of the first-year classes and scares many people. However, > the textbooks are so huge and so detailed that no person could > realistically learn them on their own. Much more important and useful > would be to spend the summer becoming familair with dental anatomy.
Academically, dental school is not very hard. Very few people (almost > no one actually) has major problems with biochemistry, physiology, > histology, etc. There is much material, but it is straight forward > enough. This is true even for non-science majors. There seems to be > a real "rise to the challenge" mentality once school starts. Even > people with the lowest GPA's and DAT scores do well enough with the > books. For example, my class contains several former English majors
> who had only enough science to meet the entrance equirement. There > is also a guy with an M.A. in microbiology and a former junior college > science professor. And everybody in between. Still everybody passed > gross anatomy - most with grades no more than one letter apart. > Therefore, I would not use the summer to prepare for "book work." > This is especially true for gross anatomy.
I don't know why anyone would do that anyway. Shouldn't you be golfing or something? (Or working?)
It would take months just > to learn one chapter. But not to worry the professors will shorten it > to a manageable amount. As an aside -- do not worry about the > cadaver. When I was walking to the gross lab for the first time, my > legs almost gave out from the fear of it. Truly, I felt light in the > head. But within a week, it will be no problem -- easy as cake to do > things that a few weeks ago would have made you pass out.
>
> So if the books are not much of a problem, the lab classes are. These > laboratory courses probably make up the biggest difference between > medical and dental school. I have some intimate knowledge of this as > my ex-wife was a medical student. (We were married a month before > her school started and divorced a year before her residency ended -- > but that is another story.) The first two years of medical school are
> made up of books and tests, books and tests, books ..... and so on. I > do not remember her having many lab classes at all, besides gross, of > course. In dental school, however, the labs are the main thing. As > the semesters go on they start becoming more and more significant in > both complexity and time. This can be good and bad. Good in that
> they are essentially mindless and thus provide relief from studying. > Bad in that the work will be graded with almost unbelievable > strictness. I was once told to move a wax cone over two hair widths. > And this was not meant to be funny!
Of course not. Imagine if that had been a patient's mouth. 2 hair widths can mean the difference between a good filling and an extra contact point, which could need a root canal down the road.
> Here is the other main difference > between medical and dental schools -- the failure rate. When my ex > was in school, only two people failed, and they did not really fail, > but simply got fed up and left. In dental school, if a person fails a > laboratory class, they will have to repeat the entire year --
> everything, not just the failed lab class. What is worse is that this > really happens. what is more, it happens to very bright people. > Frankly, waxing model teeth and cutting preps is a skill; intelligence > just is not a big part of it. I doubt that Einstein could do a Class > III amalgam prep. And I doubt you could have come up with the theory of relativity.
>Therefore, when school starts, make the labs your > primary concern. I stated class with people who were repeating the
> first year, and I remember thinking that they must really be stupid or > lazy. Not true. They just messed up a few lab practical tests. Too > often people dismiss the labs as less important or think that it will > be a natural ability or that the technology will be so advanced as to > replace the "art" of it. Don't believe it. Practice, practice, > practice. Of course, you may be one of the naturally gifted. In > which case, dental school will be a breeze.
> Here are so more general hints -- for what they are worth: everybody > has a different opinion. These are only mine.
> * Do not be shy. Dentistry tends to attract independent people who > dislike to show off and who are easily offended. I understand this. > However, there is no hiding in dental school. When you are called on, > give an answer and give it quickly even if it is wrong. Go to the > professors with your lab work and get feedback -- even if you do not > feel that you need it. Volunteer to demonstrate a procedure even if > doing so may make you look foolish. I do not mean that you should > become a boot-licker, but you must get involved. > * You will not have to do everything the teachers tell you to do.
What? Don't always do everything you're told? Are you mad?
> Often reading assignments can be ignored or lab procedures practiced > only a few times (If you are good at it.). If you did every thing you > were told to do, well there would not be time enough in the day. > Trust your abilities. Also, ask second years students what textbooks > you really need. I spent over one thousand dollars on books I never > even opened.
If you have a choice between a less expensive state school and a
> prestigious private one -- go for the "cheap" one. I hate to get
> practical here, but you will;l need all the money you can get. I
> spent on average thirty dollars a week on extra lab supplies -- an > expense they do not talk about in the catalogs. I knew one guy who > spent $100 just on a single weekly lab project. Also, you do not want > to finish school with a huge debt. Terrible.
> * Do not compete with other students. Unless you want to be an > orthodontist, grades or class rankings no longer matter in the long > run -- not like they did in college. Therefore, help each other. > I've been saved many times by others. > * Get used to the feeling that you are no longer the smartest person
> in class. Here the dumbest person is extraordinarily bright. At
> first this is a bit of a shock. But it rapidly becomes one of the
> best things about being in school. You really feel as if you are a
> part of something meaningful and important. You start to hunger to be > around such sharp people.
>
> * As I have said before, buy a copy of Fuller and Denehy's "Concise > Dental Anatomy and Morphology". You should be able to get through it > by yourself over the summer. If so, you will have much more free time > in the fall and also you will be able to understand laboratory > assignments with greater ease. This is a terrifically boring book > but its contents are invaluable. You will learn every bump and groove > on every tooth. Plus you will get to say things like "the mesial > secondary groove of the mesial-buccal cusp of number 3", and actually
> know what it means.
Go to the school and find out if they make wax models by the
> carving or addition waxing technique. They will know what you are > talking about. You should be able to buy dental wax and waxing > instruments for less than $50. Ask a freshman to lone you their > morphology and occlusion lab manuals for the summer. Then practice > "waxing" the teeth at home. They will look like hell, and there will > be no way for you to get feedback. But when school starts, at least > you will have a feel for it. This thing called "waxing" is without a > doubt the most hated thing in dental school -- with the possible > exception of the professors who teach waxing.
Buy a copy of Rohen and Yokochi's "Color Atlas of Anatomy" (ISBN
> 0-683-30492-5) -- about $70 and a computer anatomy program called > "A.D.A.M." -- about $120. You will not need them this summer, but > they are a great help in gross anatomy lab. In fact, I have know > several people who found these two aids more important for passing > gross anatomy than actually doing the dissection
Dental school is not medical school nor is it a Ph.D program. It is
> primarily a technical rather than an academic degree. All that
> studying that you did for the DAT will be very unlike what you will do > when actually in school. You must learn the lab skills. These will > be far more important than book skills. Again, if interested, I will > later give you my thoughts on how to prepare so that that first > semester is not so much of a shock. I will give you one hint now. Do > NOT study gross anatomy over the summer. I know that this is the > largest of the first-year classes and scares many people. However, > the textbooks are so huge and so detailed that no person could > realistically learn them on their own. Much more important and useful > would be to spend the summer becoming familair with dental anatomy.
Academically, dental school is not very hard. Very few people (almost > no one actually) has major problems with biochemistry, physiology, > histology, etc. There is much material, but it is straight forward > enough. This is true even for non-science majors. There seems to be > a real "rise to the challenge" mentality once school starts. Even > people with the lowest GPA's and DAT scores do well enough with the > books. For example, my class contains several former English majors
> who had only enough science to meet the entrance equirement. There > is also a guy with an M.A. in microbiology and a former junior college > science professor. And everybody in between. Still everybody passed > gross anatomy - most with grades no more than one letter apart. > Therefore, I would not use the summer to prepare for "book work." > This is especially true for gross anatomy.
I don't know why anyone would do that anyway. Shouldn't you be golfing or something? (Or working?)
It would take months just > to learn one chapter. But not to worry the professors will shorten it > to a manageable amount. As an aside -- do not worry about the > cadaver. When I was walking to the gross lab for the first time, my > legs almost gave out from the fear of it. Truly, I felt light in the > head. But within a week, it will be no problem -- easy as cake to do > things that a few weeks ago would have made you pass out.
>
> So if the books are not much of a problem, the lab classes are. These > laboratory courses probably make up the biggest difference between > medical and dental school. I have some intimate knowledge of this as > my ex-wife was a medical student. (We were married a month before > her school started and divorced a year before her residency ended -- > but that is another story.) The first two years of medical school are
> made up of books and tests, books and tests, books ..... and so on. I > do not remember her having many lab classes at all, besides gross, of > course. In dental school, however, the labs are the main thing. As > the semesters go on they start becoming more and more significant in > both complexity and time. This can be good and bad. Good in that
> they are essentially mindless and thus provide relief from studying. > Bad in that the work will be graded with almost unbelievable > strictness. I was once told to move a wax cone over two hair widths. > And this was not meant to be funny!
Of course not. Imagine if that had been a patient's mouth. 2 hair widths can mean the difference between a good filling and an extra contact point, which could need a root canal down the road.
> Here is the other main difference > between medical and dental schools -- the failure rate. When my ex > was in school, only two people failed, and they did not really fail, > but simply got fed up and left. In dental school, if a person fails a > laboratory class, they will have to repeat the entire year --
> everything, not just the failed lab class. What is worse is that this > really happens. what is more, it happens to very bright people. > Frankly, waxing model teeth and cutting preps is a skill; intelligence > just is not a big part of it. I doubt that Einstein could do a Class > III amalgam prep. And I doubt you could have come up with the theory of relativity.
>Therefore, when school starts, make the labs your > primary concern. I stated class with people who were repeating the
> first year, and I remember thinking that they must really be stupid or > lazy. Not true. They just messed up a few lab practical tests. Too > often people dismiss the labs as less important or think that it will > be a natural ability or that the technology will be so advanced as to > replace the "art" of it. Don't believe it. Practice, practice, > practice. Of course, you may be one of the naturally gifted. In > which case, dental school will be a breeze.
> Here are so more general hints -- for what they are worth: everybody > has a different opinion. These are only mine.
> * Do not be shy. Dentistry tends to attract independent people who > dislike to show off and who are easily offended. I understand this. > However, there is no hiding in dental school. When you are called on, > give an answer and give it quickly even if it is wrong. Go to the > professors with your lab work and get feedback -- even if you do not > feel that you need it. Volunteer to demonstrate a procedure even if > doing so may make you look foolish. I do not mean that you should > become a boot-licker, but you must get involved. > * You will not have to do everything the teachers tell you to do.
What? Don't always do everything you're told? Are you mad?
> Often reading assignments can be ignored or lab procedures practiced > only a few times (If you are good at it.). If you did every thing you > were told to do, well there would not be time enough in the day. > Trust your abilities. Also, ask second years students what textbooks > you really need. I spent over one thousand dollars on books I never > even opened.
If you have a choice between a less expensive state school and a
> prestigious private one -- go for the "cheap" one. I hate to get
> practical here, but you will;l need all the money you can get. I
> spent on average thirty dollars a week on extra lab supplies -- an > expense they do not talk about in the catalogs. I knew one guy who > spent $100 just on a single weekly lab project. Also, you do not want > to finish school with a huge debt. Terrible.
> * Do not compete with other students. Unless you want to be an > orthodontist, grades or class rankings no longer matter in the long > run -- not like they did in college. Therefore, help each other. > I've been saved many times by others. > * Get used to the feeling that you are no longer the smartest person
> in class. Here the dumbest person is extraordinarily bright. At
> first this is a bit of a shock. But it rapidly becomes one of the
> best things about being in school. You really feel as if you are a
> part of something meaningful and important. You start to hunger to be > around such sharp people.
>
> * As I have said before, buy a copy of Fuller and Denehy's "Concise > Dental Anatomy and Morphology". You should be able to get through it > by yourself over the summer. If so, you will have much more free time > in the fall and also you will be able to understand laboratory > assignments with greater ease. This is a terrifically boring book > but its contents are invaluable. You will learn every bump and groove > on every tooth. Plus you will get to say things like "the mesial > secondary groove of the mesial-buccal cusp of number 3", and actually
> know what it means.
Go to the school and find out if they make wax models by the
> carving or addition waxing technique. They will know what you are > talking about. You should be able to buy dental wax and waxing > instruments for less than $50. Ask a freshman to lone you their > morphology and occlusion lab manuals for the summer. Then practice > "waxing" the teeth at home. They will look like hell, and there will > be no way for you to get feedback. But when school starts, at least > you will have a feel for it. This thing called "waxing" is without a > doubt the most hated thing in dental school -- with the possible > exception of the professors who teach waxing.
Buy a copy of Rohen and Yokochi's "Color Atlas of Anatomy" (ISBN
> 0-683-30492-5) -- about $70 and a computer anatomy program called > "A.D.A.M." -- about $120. You will not need them this summer, but > they are a great help in gross anatomy lab. In fact, I have know > several people who found these two aids more important for passing > gross anatomy than actually doing the dissection
