- Joined
- Aug 11, 2010
- Messages
- 272
- Reaction score
- 2
Other professional health schools have official rankings..just curious why dental does not.
WHY are there no official DS Rankings?
- Thread starter jwnichols21
- Start date
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2012
- Messages
- 644
- Reaction score
- 7
Truth is, most people on SDN will tell you that it doesn't matter where you go for anything-undergrad, dental school, med school, pharm school, whatever.
At the end of the day, everyone is a dentist right?
Btw, be careful with rankings. They're a useful tool, but they can also be misleading. Always consult the methodology and the statistical significance of the methodology. For example, Forbes uses ratemyprofessor ratings as a means to "rank" universities....
US News is mostly peer review I believe. Washington monthly has a more research output take on it. THE ratings have a more holistic approach.
Personally, I like percentiles. I don't really care about rankings. You don't HAVE to be number one..unless you're a gunner.
If I'm in the top 40 percentile, I'm happy. That's just me.- Joined
- Aug 11, 2010
- Messages
- 272
- Reaction score
- 2
I know the whole "it doesn't matter where you go thing." But I just want an objective reason as to why dental doesn't put out a list? Med schools have one..I know I just went there, but I'm really just curious what makes dental different.
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2011
- Messages
- 125
- Reaction score
- 5
I don't even how they ranked med schools..did they go to each school and sat in lecture halls? these rankings seem to be objective and sometimes political.
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2010
- Messages
- 1,981
- Reaction score
- 164
it's prob just a matter of having a more level playing ground for medicine.
for dental schools..
a. most dental students become general dentists..so while you can rank schools by how many students are selected for specialties..it wouldn't be a fair comparison. plus, even if you were to compare general dentist training...does it really matter if 1 student at X university does 100 amalgams vs. another student at Y university that does 300? yeah, one looks better than the other on paper but it comes down to the skill of the student as well. dentistry has more of a "hand skill" requirement.
b. dental schools differ depending on research and clinical philosophies
c. residencies are optional
d. research isn't as comprehensive
vs. medical schools where..
a. there is a larger variety of specialties to choose from, and there are more seats for those specialties...comparison is on a more level ground
b. all medical schools have a fair mix between research and clinical aspects...particularly MD schools...not so much for DO schools. finding a DO school that is solid in both clinical and research aspects isn't common, as the main DO philosophy caters to underserved areas (which is why you find mostly family prac doctors that are DOs)
c. research is much more comprehensive
edit:i also think politics plays a big role as well. physicians roll deep, to be frank...more so than dentists.
for dental schools..
a. most dental students become general dentists..so while you can rank schools by how many students are selected for specialties..it wouldn't be a fair comparison. plus, even if you were to compare general dentist training...does it really matter if 1 student at X university does 100 amalgams vs. another student at Y university that does 300? yeah, one looks better than the other on paper but it comes down to the skill of the student as well. dentistry has more of a "hand skill" requirement.
b. dental schools differ depending on research and clinical philosophies
c. residencies are optional
d. research isn't as comprehensive
vs. medical schools where..
a. there is a larger variety of specialties to choose from, and there are more seats for those specialties...comparison is on a more level ground
b. all medical schools have a fair mix between research and clinical aspects...particularly MD schools...not so much for DO schools. finding a DO school that is solid in both clinical and research aspects isn't common, as the main DO philosophy caters to underserved areas (which is why you find mostly family prac doctors that are DOs)
c. research is much more comprehensive
edit:i also think politics plays a big role as well. physicians roll deep, to be frank...more so than dentists.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 1,555
- Reaction score
- 503
Diff schools are ranked high for different categories: Clinical, specializing, research, length of time, religion. That's why its hard to generate an ultimate ranking.
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2011
- Messages
- 265
- Reaction score
- 0
Because at the end of the day, everyone has to pass boards and all of those lovely tests!! haha. It's like ranking Chevy and Ford, there are pros and cons to each, it depends what your looking for in a dental school!
Some have smaller class sizes, while others have more clinical time, while others have a 99.99% pass rate first time on board exams, some are in the heart of downtown, and some have better facilities. I'm sure that you could rank a school based on pass rate, class size, and everything else. But with so many different variables I don't think there is an all around winner.
The in state tuition and being relatively close to home is always a winner in my book! Of course if I happened to get accepted to Harvard I might consider it. Just for the fact that its the granddaddy of higher education.
Some have smaller class sizes, while others have more clinical time, while others have a 99.99% pass rate first time on board exams, some are in the heart of downtown, and some have better facilities. I'm sure that you could rank a school based on pass rate, class size, and everything else. But with so many different variables I don't think there is an all around winner.
The in state tuition and being relatively close to home is always a winner in my book! Of course if I happened to get accepted to Harvard I might consider it. Just for the fact that its the granddaddy of higher education.
