What to do before Dental School?

[ijdnakurI]

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Now that I've been accepted to Dental School, I have a few months before the Summer/Fall terms begin. With gross anatomy coming up first, what is the most important thing I should be focusing/studying in preparation for classes?

 

[thewingman]

Nothing. Enjoy your time. If you don't, you will regret it.

 

[ijdnakurI]

Those are the kind of responses that scare me - I want to be at least somewhat to prepared to handle the initial shock of the course load! 😳

 

[uclaDDS101]

Now that I've been accepted to Dental School, I have a few months before the Summer/Fall terms begin. With gross anatomy coming up first, what is the most important thing I should be focusing/studying in preparation for classes?

You could:

1. Memorize every muscle of the body, including origins, insertions, and actions. This will give you a 'leg up' on the first 2-3 days of class. Worth it? You decide.
2. Or... Enjoy your time. Seriously. I didn't want to hear this advice either when I was in your position. But honesly, preparing in advance isn't going to do you much good. Sure, you have some time to prepare for this first class, but you won't have the same luxury for the next class.. or the one after that.. or the one after that. The best way to adjust to the courseload is to learn to manage your study time when you're actually in the class. You need to be able to learn/study under time constraints and manage your time. Preparing for one class months in advance is not going to help you develop that skill. In fact, quite the contrary may happen.

Note: If you really just want to keep from falling out of the academic state of mind before school starts, I guess you could get an NBDE or USMLE book (I recommend First Aid) to peruse. But honestly, don't devote significant time/effort to this.

 

[thewobblytooth]

right now i'm working. it's nice to not have to study after you get home because working already tires me out. On the side, I have fallen back in love with my hobby of cars. Put my rims back on finally and got an alignment. Do whatever you want because once you go to d-school, that's your life.

 

[Bereno]

right now i'm working. it's nice to not have to study after you get home because working already tires me out. On the side, I have fallen back in love with my hobby of cars. Put my rims back on finally and got an alignment. Do whatever you want because once you go to d-school, that's your life.

lol same here. Always enjoying the car projects! 👍 😀

 

[wired202808]

I'm not doing a damn thang except enjoying my life! If you plan to study now you'll simply waste your time since you dont know what d-schools want. So why bother?

I'm going on vacations and just chillaxin. 😎

 

[AwesomeTeeth]

Get a ton of good sleep. You're going to miss it later.

 

[SoulPower]

there is no point in trying to learn ahead. Whatever you study may not be covered in your class or, more likely, it'll be covered extremely quickly and you spent all that time doing something that was gone over in 3 days in class. Relax and take a vacation or something. Do not study.

 

[yappy]

I'm planning on memorizing all human anatomy in the body over the course of a year. Not just memorize; but, really learn it. When I tend to do this it becomes apart of my body of knowedge and it's not easily forgotten. It is not just for dental school; but, I think it will have some benefit. Though, I would never tell anyone that I did all this additional learning. I would rather just let them believe it's because of insane intelligence or something lol

OP: Dont let the gunners fake you out. If you're going to gun you better gun like everyone else is.😎

there is no point in trying to learn ahead. Whatever you study may not be covered in your class or, more likely, it'll be covered extremely quickly and you spent all that time doing something that was gone over in 3 days in class. Relax and take a vacation or something. Do not study.

 

[Twang77]

Live!!!!!

 

[uclaDDS101]

I'm planning on memorizing all human anatomy in the body over the course of a year. Not just memorize; but, really learn it. When I tend to do this it becomes apart of my body of knowedge and it's not easily forgotten. It is not just for dental school; but, I think it will have some benefit. Though, I would never tell anyone that I did all this additional learning. I would rather just let them believe it's because of insane intelligence or something lol

OP: Dont let the gunners fake you out. If you're going to gun you better gun like everyone else is.😎

Spoken like a true gunner haha. I hope you're coming here, so you can get outgunned by people not even trying to be gunners. jk, but not really

 

[thewobblytooth]

lol same here. Always enjoying the car projects! 👍 😀

Yeah. I got a chance to put my racing had c2s back on. Lol I bought them like three years ago, but never had enough money to put a good set of tires on them. Now I do and did my alignment as well. Everything is much easier with camber kits and coilovers haha. I was actually going to sell them but I never had any serious buyers. Oh well, I get them on my car now lol.

 

[thewobblytooth]

I'm planning on memorizing all human anatomy in the body over the course of a year. Not just memorize; but, really learn it. When I tend to do this it becomes apart of my body of knowedge and it's not easily forgotten. It is not just for dental school; but, I think it will have some benefit. Though, I would never tell anyone that I did all this additional learning. I would rather just let them believe it's because of insane intelligence or something lol

OP: Dont let the gunners fake you out. If you're going to gun you better gun like everyone else is.😎

Oh yeah? I got the only A+ in anatomy in my school for undergrad that year! That's how gunners roll.

 

[yappy]

Nice job man. I got an A in UG anatomy too (no chance for A+ though - nice) but knowing anatomy really well is more of a life goal to me. I have let alot of anatomy go because I was always learning to get that A rather than having the time to really appriciate the structures. Knowing anatomy really well is just kind of a life goal for me. I guess another goal I have is to learn (attempt) to kite board! anyone do that?

Keep up the good work!

Oh yeah? I got the only A+ in anatomy in my school for undergrad that year! That's how gunners roll.

 

[thewobblytooth]

Nice job man. I got an A in UG anatomy too (no chance for A+ though - nice) but knowing anatomy really well is more of a life goal to me. I have let alot of anatomy go because I was always learning to get that A rather than having the time to really appriciate the structures. Knowing anatomy really well is just kind of a life goal for me. I guess another goal I have is to learn (attempt) to kite board! anyone do that?

Keep up the good work!

Haha thanks. I was jk btw. It's good to know anatomy before d-school, but the most important stuff will be the things you apply in practice. Anatomy was my favorite class though. Only downside was the smell.

 

[Bereno]

Yeah. I got a chance to put my racing had c2s back on. Lol I bought them like three years ago, but never had enough money to put a good set of tires on them. Now I do and did my alignment as well. Everything is much easier with camber kits and coilovers haha. I was actually going to sell them but I never had any serious buyers. Oh well, I get them on my car now lol.

Nice! I've never been a fan of C2, but hey, I can't deny that they are pretty sweet rims! 😀 I'm a D spec fan myself (at least for Racing Hart lol)

Looks like I am going to be selling my car soon, buying a forester and then start playing with that for a while. Never thought I would be a subie man, but it looks like it just might happen haha

 

[wired202808]

I'm planning on memorizing all human anatomy in the body over the course of a year. Not just memorize; but, really learn it. When I tend to do this it becomes apart of my body of knowedge and it's not easily forgotten. It is not just for dental school; but, I think it will have some benefit. Though, I would never tell anyone that I did all this additional learning. I would rather just let them believe it's because of insane intelligence or something lol

OP: Dont let the gunners fake you out. If you're going to gun you better gun like everyone else is.😎

lol good luck with that it sounds awesome in theory, let see how it works out in application 😛 its hard to study when there's no real pressure, deadlines, or exams. studying for the sake of studying never seems to work out as you plan on it.

 

[Firm]

I would suggest taking Anatomy or Biochem. Those are pretty heavy credit hours. If you take a vacation instead, you will pay for it later. Keep your mind sharp, stay in the zone. I took classes up to the week before dental school. Dental school starts fast and most of my classmates didn't want to study after taking long summer breaks. If it takes you until October to get "warmed up" then you may jeopardize your chance to specialize or even graduate.

 

[wired202808]

I would suggest taking Anatomy or Biochem. Those are pretty heavy credit hours. If you take a vacation instead, you will pay for it later. Keep your mind sharp, stay in the zone. I took classes up to the week before dental school. Dental school starts fast and most of my classmates didn't want to study after taking long summer breaks. If it takes you until October to get "warmed up" then you may jeopardize your chance to specialize or even graduate.

paranoia much? I dunno how sharp you can stay with one class.

 

[setdoc7]

I would suggest taking Anatomy or Biochem. Those are pretty heavy credit hours. If you take a vacation instead, you will pay for it later. Keep your mind sharp, stay in the zone. I took classes up to the week before dental school. Dental school starts fast and most of my classmates didn't want to study after taking long summer breaks. If it takes you until October to get "warmed up" then you may jeopardize your chance to specialize or even graduate.

You're kidding right?
Party like a rock star, the summer will go by fast, and when D school starts there is a lot of work to accomplish.
Take school seriously and it will not be nearly as difficult as some posters make it out to be.
I remember being in school, working hard Sun - Thurs and partying all weekend.Granted there were some test weeks that the partying was a lot less, but in retrospect we did our share of late nights at the bars and clubs. Of course it was NYC and the last days of disco when I was in D school, but not all that much has changed, in fact with the internet and sim labs I would imagine things might even be easier.

 

[DavesNotHere]

I would do something fun. If you have to work get a fun job.

You can also pick up a copy of the first aid nbde part 1 on amazon for chimp change and peruse through that. It'll give you a nice head start for the first year, and when school starts you won't be as rusty.

You have fun, but within reason, cuz that moped is due back at the rental place at 5.

 

[Firm]

paranoia much? I dunno how sharp you can stay with one class.

Take 2 classes then. Those classes will be much easier the second time around. At least half of my class felt like they were going to fail out of dental school the first year. I never felt that way. The stress level is different between people making A's or B's from people making B's or C's. With 50 question tests, that difference is only a couple of wrong answers.

 

[Bereno]

Take 2 classes then. Those classes will be much easier the second time around. At least half of my class felt like they were going to fail out of dental school the first year. I never felt that way. The stress level is different between people making A's or B's from people making B's or C's. With 50 question tests, that difference is only a couple of wrong answers.

Cs get degrees! 😉 Chill out bro 👍

 

[bikedoc]

Nothing. Enjoy your time. If you don't, you will regret it.

Couldn't agree more!

 

[wired202808]

Take 2 classes then. Those classes will be much easier the second time around. At least half of my class felt like they were going to fail out of dental school the first year. I never felt that way. The stress level is different between people making A's or B's from people making B's or C's. With 50 question tests, that difference is only a couple of wrong answers.

nah i'm good. I dont want to sit in class all day for absolutely no reason. I'll work hard when I get to d-school. no point in being a worry wart in the few months before 4 years of hell. Gotta pace yourself... its not a race... but a marathon.

 

[dentalprodigy]

Lol at"worry wart"...I'm stealing that

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk

 

[MowgliR]

nah i'm good. I dont want to sit in class all day for absolutely no reason. I'll work hard when I get to d-school. no point in being a worry wart in the few months before 4 years of hell. Gotta pace yourself... its not a race... but a marathon.

Isn't a marathon still considered a race?

 

[flyingshocker]

touche

 

[wired202808]

Isn't a marathon still considered a race?

haha fine its not a sprint... but a marathon... jezz nitpickers on this site.

 

[toothdr5]

I'd say start going to the gym. Get fit and then stay fit during dental school.

The best thing you can do for yourself is exercise. I swear by it. I wish I did that before dental school.

Also, see your friends and family as much as possible, sleep a lot and just have fun.