Which schools are more research based?

[gentile1225]

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Hey guys, I've been a member of SDN for almost a year now, I've taken the DAT's and scored 22 AA, 21 TS, and 20 PAT, so I'm applying to a bunch of schools. I just want to get an idea of which schools are more research based, because that's what I'm kind of straying away from. If you know any links I could find this information on it would really help. Thanks.

I plan on applying to these schools, so maybe you could tell me from here:
Stonybrook
UMDNJ
NYU
Colombia
Nova Southeastern
Boston
Tufts
UConn
UPenn

 

[armorshell]

When you say research do you mean actual research? Or do you mean more focus on didactics vs. patient experiences?

 

[doc3232]

Does this question go hand in hand with the question: "Which school values research experience in an applicant?"

 

[Habslive]

When I went to interview at Boston U they made it very clear that there is plenty of opportunity for all students to get involved with research... some of it is dental related, some of it isn't.

 

[gentile1225]

didactic vs patient experiences.

 

[gentile1225]

for instance, ive heard tufts and colombia are two schools that are more "researched based", whereas nova is more about the patient experience.

 

[Black Teeth]

Hey guys, I've been a member of SDN for almost a year now, I've taken the DAT's and scored 22 AA, 21 TS, and 20 PAT, so I'm applying to a bunch of schools. I just want to get an idea of which schools are more research based, because that's what I'm kind of straying away from. If you know any links I could find this information on it would really help. Thanks.

I plan on applying to these schools, so maybe you could tell me from here:
Stonybrook
UMDNJ
NYU
Colombia
Nova Southeastern
Boston
Tufts
UConn
UPenn

With the possible exception of Harvard, there is no other dental school that I am aware of that will force you to do research if that is something that you are not interested in. I only mention Harvard because at one time, Harvard's dental school was a 5 year program with the 5th year dedicated to mandatory research. I'm not sure if that is the case anymore since I haven't checked on Harvard's dental school curriculum lately. Going to a research dental school doesn't mean that you are required to do research (with the above exception), it usually just means that there are many research opportunities available if you choose to take advantage of them. If you don't want to have anything to do with research then you can focus solely on the clinical aspects of dentistry in which case the clinical quality of the dental school has more to do with the school's patient pool and has almost nothing to do with whether or not it is research based.

As far as didactics vs. clinics, you need both equally as much. RESEARCH IS NOT THE SAME AS DIDACTICS!!! It's important that you understand that. The didactic courses are where you learn the dental and medical principles and the clinics is where you apply those dental and medical principles that you have learned. It's impossible to be a good clinician without a solid foundation in the didactics. How can you expect to have good clinical judgement if you are trying to avoid learning the dental and medical principles which are taught in the didactic courses? So at the very least, you want an adequate level of didactics and clinical experiences and every dental school tries to give you that regardless of whether it is research based or not. Unfortunately, some schools are better able to achieve that goal than others but it has nothing to do with that school's pursuit of research. And even if you end up in a research dental school, there are no mandatory research requirements the last time I checked (except for possibly Harvard). So in my view, it's kind of pointless to avoid research dental schools since being research oriented has no influence on the clinical quality of the dental school. If you want a good clinical experiences, you should be screening dental schools based on their patient pools and not whether they have a focus on research.

 

[gentile1225]

thanks a lot. i really appreciate you putting in the time for a detailed answer like that. i think i had it a little confused for a minute 🙄