What's the point of going to an ivy/expensive D-School?

[Flipps]

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I can understand wanting to go to one of these big name schools if you were going into med or law school or something, but something like 90% of dentists own their own practices. Your patients are not really going to give a **** where you went to school, they're going to care whether or not you are covered by their insurance/whether or not you are nice/do a good job etc.

It just seems rather... dare I say foolish to take on 100k extra debt just for the prestige of saying you went to an ivy when it comes to dentistry.


Edit: Came on a bit too strongly, not meant to discourage or flame anyone. Please tell me your ideas as to why it is a good idea/worth it etc. to spend more to attend an expensive school. Thanks.

 

[missshae]

I can understand wanting to go to one of these big name schools if you were going into med or law school or something, but something like 90% of dentists own their own practices. Your patients are not really going to give a **** where you went to school, they're going to care whether or not you are covered by their insurance/whether or not you are nice/do a good job etc.

It just seems rather... dare I say foolish to take on 100k extra debt just for the prestige of saying you went to an ivy when it comes to dentistry.

Well, if you had to choose between 2 dentists you didnt know, one that went to an Ivy league school and one that went to a no name school, you'd probably choose the one that went to the Ivy league first.

 

[Flipps]

Well, if you had to choose between 2 dentists you didnt know, one that went to an Ivy league school and one that went to a no name school, you'd probably choose the one that went to the Ivy league first.

If we're talking from the eyes of a consumer here, I would pick the one with the better website layout/advertisements/fees.

All things equal all other variables eliminated but their school, yeah I would choose the Ivy... But that does not really seem like a situation that would come up very often.

 

[Bruinlove]

Some students are more interested in specialty than others. And they may increase their chance by attending those schools.

 

[cherr1pop]

Also, not everyone who graduates from dental school becomes a GP. There's dental school professors, dental researchers, ppl specializing like Bruinlove mentioned, etc. where school name could matter.

 

[DrDDSman]

Some people do not have a state school, or have no cheaper alternative.

 

[glk2101]

I can understand wanting to go to one of these big name schools if you were going into med or law school or something, but something like 90% of dentists own their own practices. Your patients are not really going to give a **** where you went to school, they're going to care whether or not you are covered by their insurance/whether or not you are nice/do a good job etc.

It just seems rather... dare I say foolish to take on 100k extra debt just for the prestige of saying you went to an ivy when it comes to dentistry.

didn't get any interviews to an ivy?

 

[bigstix808]

Well, if you had to choose between 2 dentists you didnt know, one that went to an Ivy league school and one that went to a no name school, you'd probably choose the one that went to the Ivy league first.

again...
when i moved down to a new town, i just asked around. i heard this name and that name. but NEVER did i hear about the school that the doctor went to. i chose to go to who 90% of of the people i asked who they went to. so far no regrets.

i didn't care where they went to d-school. BUT, as it turns out, once i asked, she went to the same d-school that i wish to attend.

the same goes for my orthopedic, oral sugeon, and chiropractor....if they are good...i could care less where they spent 4 years of their life. word of mouth my friend....word of mouth (**pishtt** that's free advertising 😎)

 

[Contach]

I want to go to a "big named school" because it opens many doors. While there are probably many exceptions, I feel this is, for the most part, an accurate generalization that.

Firstly, there are the connections I would be able to make. I am a strong believer in the saying "you are the 5 people that are closest to you." I always feel the influence of those around me, and likewise always try to better those around me. I feel that big name schools attract, for the most part, the cream of the crop. I want to be influenced for the better by these students as they would be by me. The quality of ideas, the ambition and the minds that will surround me at such an institution will change me and I am willing to pay for that. Furthermore, the student body at a University is a very active organization and one that often goes under appreciated. For the most part, ivy leagues attract over achievers, better guest speakers, more prominent people in society, ones who are involved, outgoing and ready to make a difference in our collective situation. I view my attendance of such an institution as me being apart of the movement as opposed to the coattails of someone else's.

Also, I feel the quality of education is better in terms of what type of research happens at these schools. The bigger names got their names by being at the forefront of their fields. The novel research and innovation that comes from these schools is the type of atmosphere I want to have my education in. I don't want to be restricted to doing one project in my four years because noone is willing to give me a research grant. I want that opportunity that comes with the name.

Finally, hate me for it if you must, I want the respect and authority that comes with saying "I want to so and so school." What is another $20k a year if you can wake up each morning knowing you had the best education money can buy, took every opportunity possible, and am damn proud of your community. Sure, there are many other ways to be proud, like doing good onto people and being respected as a healthcare provider, but not everyone will see how good your hand skills are. The reality is, many will not even sit in your chair, but instead will know you and where you went to school.

I would be ecstatic to accept an offer of admission from a big name school.

 

[PreDent2009]

....

Also, not everyone who graduates from dental school becomes a GP. There's dental school professors, dental researchers, ppl specializing like Bruinlove mentioned, etc. where school name could matter.

 

[Hoky Poky]

I'm a firm believer in going to the school where you think you would be happiest and where you think you would get the most out of your education. For some people, that place is the school with the cheapest tuition. For me, I chose the school with the environment that I felt would help me thrive. And so far, I haven't regretted my choice - I love the school I go to, the opportunities that I've had, and the friends that I have made. That my school happens to be an ivy is beside the point. It's not always about 'ivy' or money for some people - everyone has different priorities.

 

[dent2009]

...This holds especially true because the boards are going to P/F as of Jan 09.

According to NYU Dean of Admissions, they're putting the changing of the boards to P/F on hold for now...

 

[Bruinlove]

According to NYU Dean of Admissions, they're putting the changing of the boards to P/F on hold for now...

Man, am I glad to hear that. 🙂

 

[Doh Boy Fresh]

um... I don't think Ivy really matters or helps unless you want to specialize.

It is a fact that Columbia/Penn have higher rates of placement when a student wants to specialize... AKA if you know you want to specialize..it is probably easier to be in the top 80% of your class at ivy schools than it is to be top 1% at a non-ivy school.

If you are happy being a general DDS, choose the cheapest option, because 1. you won't earn as much as a specialist
2. you'll earn almost the same amount or more, based on which cases you are willing to take on as a general DDS person from an ivy
3. You may initially have a chance at a better job when you first apply for a job, but after that it'll be work experience, and credit score that determine if you can set up your own practice.
4. I only care about which school my physician goes to cuz i STRONGLY prefer an MD to a DO... however, all dentists are created equal, therefore I'd go to any general dentist as long as he is nice, able, and good with his hands.
5. HOnestly, each of you go home and ask your parents where your family dentist got his degree - see if they are able to ANSWER it... my guess is, they can't... in which case, the name of the institution that gave you your degree doesn't relaly matter... I found this observation to be true about my family. what about yours?

 

[DrReo]

um... I don't think Ivy really matters or helps unless you want to specialize.

It is a fact that Columbia/Penn have higher rates of placement when a student wants to specialize... AKA if you know you want to specialize..it is probably easier to be in the top 80% of your class at ivy schools than it is to be top 1% at a non-ivy school.

If you are happy being a general DDS, choose the cheapest option, because 1. you won't earn as much as a specialist
2. you'll earn almost the same amount or more, based on which cases you are willing to take on as a general DDS person from an ivy
3. You may initially have a chance at a better job when you first apply for a job, but after that it'll be work experience, and credit score that determine if you can set up your own practice.
4. I only care about which school my physician goes to cuz i STRONGLY prefer an MD to a DO... however, all dentists are created equal, therefore I'd go to any general dentist as long as he is nice, able, and good with his hands.
5. HOnestly, each of you go home and ask your parents where your family dentist got his degree - see if they are able to ANSWER it... my guess is, they can't... in which case, the name of the institution that gave you your degree doesn't relaly matter... I found this observation to be true about my family. what about yours?

I know this is kind of orthogonal to the original thread, but why?

 

[RealDeal]

I asked the GP dentist I shadowed if he was ever asked by his patients about what school he went to and he said no one asks me where I went and most of my new patients are people who were referred to me by my current patients.

For eleven years we have had the same family dentist and none of my family members know where he went to school. The only thing we cared about was his quality of work, friendliness of his staff and himself. I later found out where he went when I myself got interested in dentistry!

 

[dentstd]

Going to certain schools can be greatly beneficial. Pass-fail is one of the single best creation in the dental education system, because it allows the student to not kill himself over stupid classes like radiology. To get top in the class at a ranked school, you have to do well in all classes. This means working hard in the biomedical classes as well as the fluff classes. Go to an unranked school, and you can focus on only the ultra important classes.

Even worse, classes in dental school are sometimes an inadequate source of knowledge. I find myself having to study for class alongside studying for the boards. If I wanted the top, top score in class, I'd have to study for class almost exclusively, leaving lots to work on for the boards.

Bottom line, going to certain schools can give you an edge in various aspects of your education. It's not necessarily those name schools or cheap/expensive schools. It's the structure of the coursework, itself.

 

[prydA]

Biggest SDN Pet Peeve:
SDN profiles that aren't linked to their predents account and predents profiles that don't list their complete stats.

It defeats the purpose of a database if data is consistently missing. Not to mention it is selfish to utilize a service that is only available because others have updated their profiles, but then slap them in the face by not updating your own profile so others can't benefit from you.

Hater for life. 😡

my pet peeve is when i post my stats and people think im lying, then think they "caught me" lying about my stats. people like contach lol.

 

[Flipps]

I now realize I came on sort of strong in the original post.


I apologize if anyone was offended/insulted or anything, I'm not trying to discourage you from going where you really want to go. All I was saying is that I did not understand and that for the vast majority of people it seemed like it would be unwise. For those who wish to teach or specialize, I can see the benefits.

 

[a1pha]

As a pre-dent student I hate to disagree, but I really think dentstd is completely off base. I have several good friends a year above me, 2 of whom are in P/F schools. People seem to get the impression that P/F schools are simply that... pass or fail; fortunately this is not the case. P/F schools still differentiate the best students JUST LIKE GRADED SCHOOLS. An overall grade of passing with honors likely means the same as being top 10% of your class, or at least comparable to the graded system.

As for whether or not an "ivy" dental school is worth it... I'm as clueless as the next guy. I was in LOVE with Penn based on the area and faculty. If by any glimmer of hope I'm accepted to Penn with its $85k/year and UW's ~35k/year in state, I have absolutely no idea what to do. I've always been an advocate of looking at connection to a program over cost but $200k total difference???....thats substantial. I hope to specialize at some point, as many probably do initially. For now, it's one step at a time...I'm counting down till Dec. 1st with a lot of you. 🙂

 

[smile101]

It should be one's personal opinion as to where he/she wants to go to school for dental education, so why bother justifying yourself?
I feel its a better fit for me as opposed to my state school mostly because of the opportunities available. They are morel advanced and more involved in community. Like someone else mentioned here, it opens many doors for me. I don't want to just have a private practice and make tons of money. I want to be involved on international level and trust me, the school name definitely makes an impression there.

 

[armorshell]

I agree with the below quote. It just depends on what you want to do with your dental education when you graduate. As of now I think I want to go into general practice, but you never know. Places like Columbia have a 98% specialization rate for their graduating class which is unheard of.

It's so unheard of that even Columbia doesn't have a 98% specialization rate! Look at the data they publish on their website (despite it being 5 years old). Columbia has consistently had around a 35% specialization rate, with about 20-25% of those being the *competitive* specialties. Still impressive, but nowhere near 100%.

This holds especially true because the boards are going to P/F as of Jan 09. With those numbers not being an object to compare applicants, I am sure residency and specialty programs will be looking at what school people went to, as well as the clinical exposure and rep the school has.

First of all, it's planned for January '10. Second of all, you nor anyone else has any idea what specialty admissions will be like with a P/F boards. I've heard compelling arguments on both sides, that P/F will dominate AND that graded schools will dominate.

 

[glk2101]

It's so unheard of that even Columbia doesn't have a 98% specialization rate! Look at the data they publish on their website (despite it being 5 years old). Columbia has consistently had around a 35% specialization rate, with about 20-25% of those being the *competitive* specialties. Still impressive, but nowhere near 100%.



First of all, it's planned for January '10. Second of all, you nor anyone else has any idea what specialty admissions will be like with a P/F boards. I've heard compelling arguments on both sides, that P/F will dominate AND that graded schools will dominate.

do you know where they show the data of specialization rate for each school??
does stony brook have a higher rate than columbia?? how about harvard?

 

[armorshell]

do you know where they show the data of specialization rate for each school??
does stony brook have a higher rate than columbia?? how about harvard?

Does it matter? I've always been so surprised that pre-dents, who I'm assuming have taken at least a basic statistics course, most of whom who at least claim to have taken part in research, can look at a single data point without asking "why?"

There's a lot more to a school than a specialization rate, and and a lot more to specializing then what school you go to.

 

[glk2101]

Does it matter? I've always been so surprised that pre-dents, who I'm assuming have taken at least a basic statistics course, most of whom who at least claim to have taken part in research, can look at a single data point without asking "why?"

There's a lot more to a school than a specialization rate, and and a lot more to specializing then what school you go to.

thanks!!
why respond with that bullsh-t answer?

 

[Doh Boy Fresh]

I know this is kind of orthogonal to the original thread, but why?

Why? Because one of my friends has close to a 3.0 gpa, a unmentionable MCAT score (around a 20), is one of the most irresponsible people I know..and is going to be a physician! I'd want my family to go to the best of the best physicians because I'd want any ails to be diagnosed as accurately and as promptly as possible... In other words I'd want someone who has exhibited excellence throughout their academic career. I feel that acceptnace reqs for DOs are well below even average...the average score on the MCAT is around a 24...imagine, students getting into d school with a 3.0 gpa and a 15 DAT? HELL no would I want my kids going to that dentist/physician. ...oyye, and evn worse are the kids that go to the carribean - did you knwo there exists a program that allows you to go to med school straight out of highschool with just a highschool diploma? - yeah, no way that dr. is gettng near my family.

 

[armorshell]

Going to certain schools can be greatly beneficial. Pass-fail is one of the single best creation in the dental education system, because it allows the student to not kill himself over stupid classes like radiology. To get top in the class at a ranked school, you have to do well in all classes. This means working hard in the biomedical classes as well as the fluff classes. Go to an unranked school, and you can focus on only the ultra important classes.

Here you're making the assumption (as usual), that all dental students want to specialize. I'd hardly call a class on something you'll do every day in any capacity in any specialty of dentistry (Radiology) a fluff class, but by fluff you meant "not on Part 1."

Additionally, I know you don't attend a ranked school, but it's not too hard to keep up with the "fluff" classes to maintain your rank, at least here. They comprise so few credits slipping to a 'B' in a 1 credit class doesn't really matter against the A's you got in powerhouse 10+ credit classes like Pathology, Anatomy, Fixed, etc...

Even worse, classes in dental school are sometimes an inadequate source of knowledge. I find myself having to study for class alongside studying for the boards. If I wanted the top, top score in class, I'd have to study for class almost exclusively, leaving lots to work on for the boards.

This would only make sense if you were studying for the class and boards at the same time, which isn't the case at a lot of schools. Additionally, because the pre-clinical class comprise so many credits, ranks after pre-clin don't change significantly.

 

[armorshell]

thanks!!
why respond with that bullsh-t answer?

Because it's my impracticable hope that I can show some people what I've learned by being a pre-dent, dental student and aspiring specialist.

Also, to directly answer your original question, no such information exists beyond what the schools decide to publish, and hearsay from students and admissions faculty. Columbia published some old information on their website (http://dental.columbia.edu/education/post_doc_place.html).

 

[glk2101]

Because it's my impracticable hope that I can show some people what I've learned by being a pre-dent, dental student and aspiring specialist.

Also, to directly answer your original question, no such information exists beyond what the schools decide to publish, and hearsay from students and admissions faculty. Columbia published some old information on their website (http://dental.columbia.edu/education/post_doc_place.html).

thank you..i actually am interested in pedo and not ortho, so im trying to get a sense of whether going to school a helps me any more than school b

 

[Contach]

my pet peeve is when i post my stats and people think im lying, then think they "caught me" lying about my stats. people like contach lol.

huh? i never accused you of lying. and i hope that's not how you interpreted my signature.

im so lost

 

[sks2286]

Since I dont have any dental connections that I could rely on for a job once i graduate, having the Ivy league name recognition could be valuable when applying. I dont know if thats worth the extra debt but I could see that being valuable. I think i will trying doing my masters either MPH or MBA to distinguish myself though and make myself more attractive to employers.

Every schools offers different things and emphasizes different aspects of a dental education. I think you have to go where you think you will happy no matter the debt that will be accumulated or if ivy league or not.

Right now im looking toward temple because of the overflowing patient base, urban atmosphere, and friendly faculty. Im carefully considering everything though debt, location, repuatation, and specialization rate even....who knows...whats good and whats not.

 

[armorshell]

Since I dont have any dental connections that I could rely on for a job once i graduate, having the Ivy league name recognition could be valuable when applying. I dont know if thats worth the extra debt but I could see that being valuable. I think i will trying doing my masters either MPH or MBA to distinguish myself though and make myself more attractive to employers.

When you're applying for jobs, who will the people be reviewing your application?

 

[DRHOYA]

I am pretty sure if you are within the top 5-10% of your class in any d-school, you'll have a good chance to specialize......or am I wrong? Btw, how many "Ivy League" d-schools are there? I know Columbia, Harvard, and Penn......but how many else....out of the 54 that use AADSAS? Does the name really matter, idk. The debate can go on forever. Only real dental students and dentists can make real arguments, unlike us predents. I am also sure that any school you go to you will be a dentist haha, so why not just go the to school you are most comfortable with to do well at, that would have the least amount of debt. Just my 2cents.

 

[Bruinlove]

Columbia has consistently had around a 35% specialization rate, with about 20-25% of those being the *competitive* specialties. Still impressive, but nowhere near 100%.

Penn also has about 35% rate. (32%~38% in recent 5 years)
I believe that the national average is around 10~15%. So, 35% is still very high, I think.

 

[visbimmer79]

your practice location(Fee structure/patient pool/state policy/#of practices in tight competition/poor flouridation of water?? ), facility, service quality(you & ur staff), skill & knowledge, COMMUNICATION SKILL, social network will play~~

I think if you really want to pursue academic dentistry, you may want to go to IVY schools. There are many nobel prized scholars over there, too!

Other than that, there are a lot of good reasons to choose IVY.

But, if you want to be a GP, that's not a big issue. It's all up to u.

If you want a speciality degree and you want to do something that you can at this point, IVY school may be for you, if you are accepted.

Immediate reward/honor/pride/new challenge for progress/opportunities, etc.

Anyway, IVY schools are the most difficult to get in.

And, people don't go to IVY because it's expensive.

Instead, their dream schools are expensive by chance!

Scarce=Precious = Expensive

*This post may or may not reflect my interest field. It may or may not be my story~* 😉

 

[achilles2]

because you can

 

[DrDDSman]

I am pretty sure if you are within the top 5-10% of your class in any d-school, you'll have a good chance to specialize......or am I wrong? Btw, how many "Ivy League" d-schools are there? I know Columbia, Harvard, and Penn......but how many else....out of the 54 that use AADSAS? Does the name really matter, idk. The debate can go on forever. Only real dental students and dentists can make real arguments, unlike us predents. I am also sure that any school you go to you will be a dentist haha, so why not just go the to school you are most comfortable with to do well at, that would have the least amount of debt. Just my 2cents.

There are only 8 Ivy League institutions. Of these 8, only the three you mention have dental schools.

 

[DrDDSman]

I think if you really want to pursue academic dentistry, you may want to go to IVY schools. There are many nobel prized scholars over there, too!

I agree with this statement to some degree. Harvard, for example, prides itself on research, and therefore gives a solid foundation for academic dentistry.

Other than that, there are a lot of good reasons to choose IVY.

Scarce=Precious = Expensive

*This post does may or may not reflect my interest field. It may or may not be my story~* 😉

There are also a lot of reasons not to attend Ivy. There are other dental schools that are considered prestigious that do not fall into the Ivy League, for example, UCSF, UCLA, and UNC. You can get quality education with these state schools as well.

 

[dentstd]

Here you're making the assumption (as usual), that all dental students want to specialize. I'd hardly call a class on something you'll do every day in any capacity in any specialty of dentistry (Radiology) a fluff class, but by fluff you meant "not on Part 1."

Additionally, I know you don't attend a ranked school, but it's not too hard to keep up with the "fluff" classes to maintain your rank, at least here. They comprise so few credits slipping to a 'B' in a 1 credit class doesn't really matter against the A's you got in powerhouse 10+ credit classes like Pathology, Anatomy, Fixed, etc...



This would only make sense if you were studying for the class and boards at the same time, which isn't the case at a lot of schools. Additionally, because the pre-clinical class comprise so many credits, ranks after pre-clin don't change significantly.

Show me one sentence where I said anything about specializing.

And by fluff class, I use a similar definition you use to explain the coursework at UoP, as in how UoP eliminated certain unnecessary classes to condense their curriculum.

 

[polarmolar]

I was actually interested in peoples thoughts about this.

But with all these egos every topic turns into war of ideas instead of a discussion...

 

[Contach]

I was actually interested in peoples thoughts about this.

But with all these egos every topic turns into war of ideas instead of a discussion...

What is a discussion, if not a war of ideas?
I'm sorry for the person who feels threatened to voice his/her opinion on an internet forum.

 

[polarmolar]

What is a discussion, if not a war of ideas?
I'm sorry for the person who feels threatened to voice his/her opinion on an internet forum.

I see you didn't understand what I said. Unfortunately there is difference.

Put your ego in it and it just becomes a deadlock where intelligence and reasoning disappear and me vs you and me winning at all costs appears.

get it?

 

[polarmolar]

What is a discussion, if not a war of ideas?
I'm sorry for the person who feels threatened to voice his/her opinion on an internet forum.

I feel sorry for the person who becomes a different person because he is on an internet forum...

 

[DrReo]

What is a discussion, if not a war of ideas?
I'm sorry for the person who feels threatened to voice his/her opinion on an internet forum.

This isn't Canada.

 

[armorshell]

Show me one sentence where I said anything about specializing.

And by fluff class, I use a similar definition you use to explain the coursework at UoP, as in how UoP eliminated certain unnecessary classes to condense their curriculum.

You mentioned P/F was advantageous so you can focus on boards and so you don't have to worry about getting to the top of the class, 2 things which are mostly unimportant except in relation to specializing.

You used the example of radiology, which I would hardly consider fluff. Public health, biostatistics, holistic dental materials, sure. I'm just trying to show the other side of the P/F vs. Ranked coin.

 

[dentstd]

You mentioned P/F was advantageous so you can focus on boards and so you don't have to worry about getting to the top of the class, 2 things which are mostly unimportant except in relation to specializing.

You used the example of radiology, which I would hardly consider fluff. Public health, biostatistics, holistic dental materials, sure. I'm just trying to show the other side of the P/F vs. Ranked coin.

Could be. If the only people who seek to do well were those seeking the specialties.

Radiology's important. But not in the way it's taught in a course. There appears to be a national consensus to teach students how to build an x-ray machine instead of how to use one properly and effectively. I also remember the lecture about the effects of x-rays, and the entire lecture was based on the consequences of an atomic bomb going off. It's hard to not think of the vast difference btwn a dental xray and an atomic bomb.

 

[armorshell]

Could be. If the only people who seek to do well were those seeking the specialties.

If someone's goal is to do well without the goal of specializing, then P/F vs. graded doesn't really make much of a difference does it?

Radiology's important. But not in the way it's taught in a course. There appears to be a national consensus to teach students how to build an x-ray machine instead of how to use one properly and effectively. I also remember the lecture about the effects of x-rays, and the entire lecture was based on the consequences of an atomic bomb going off. It's hard to not think of the vast difference btwn a dental xray and an atomic bomb.

Well I can't speak for the way it's taught at every school I suppose.

 

[dentstd]

If someone's goal is to do well without the goal of specializing, then P/F vs. graded doesn't really make much of a difference does it?



Well I can't speak for the way it's taught at every school I suppose.

It allows the student to expend variable amounts of effort on certain classes. The class that should matter most is the clinical. Biomed has become the most important eventhough it's largly not pertinent to dentistry. Most the others are extra.

 

[armorshell]

It allows the student to expend variable amounts of effort on certain classes. The class that should matter most is the clinical. Biomed has become the most important eventhough it's largly not pertinent to dentistry. Most the others are extra.

You can expend variable amounts of effort on classes in a graded system as well, as long as you pass the class. We have a saying at Pacific that goes like this: UCSF is P/F for everyone, Pacific is P/F for everyone who isn't planning on specializing. Best of both worlds.

 

[visbimmer79]

P/F grade & P/F board


Ok, so sounds like based on those posts in this thread......

no matter what kind of grading system is adopted, it doens't matter for those who want to pursue GP???????????

Those who want to pursue GP may spend extra yrs in GPR program.

To get into their desired GPR programs or highly named hospitals, don't they still have to concern about their competitiveness?

Also, they may pursue higher education (such as 1 yr program of "implant" or continuing education). In that case, I think they still need great academic performance of their D-yrs.

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Btw, I also want to ask if anybody opens his/her business right after graduating from dental school.

Please provide info in a succinct manner with the minimum letters.