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- Aug 29, 2001
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Hi all,
There's a lot of material we learn that we will NEVER use or need. For example-we find the branches of the Superior Mesenteric artery and trace the brachial plexus in gross-why do we need to know it? Why do we need to know renal physiology? Why do we need to know liver histology? Why do we need to know about the P, QRS and T waves? Why do we need to know fatty acid synthesis? I could go on and on listing coursework that seems to be a waste of time.
It seems to me that a lot of our time and energy is wasted learning material that we will never use or need. My dentist admits that he *never* uses any of this information and that if he took National Boards Part I again right now, he would fail it.
I'm sure I'm not the only dental student who's thought this-but why do we have to learn all of this basic science material that we will never use except on National Boards Part I? It's not the fault of the dental schools that this material is on the curriculum because we need it for Boards Part I, but after that, we will never use it or need it again-so why do we need to waste time learning it-maybe dental school could be shorter if we cut all of the useless science out of the curriculum? We could probably save an entire year of time and money if the curriculum was cut so we learn only the science we need to know to practice dentistry. What are the powers that be that decided that we need to learn all of this stuff that seems totally not relevant to clinical dentistry and we will never use?
Just my thoughts-what do others think about this?
Mike
There's a lot of material we learn that we will NEVER use or need. For example-we find the branches of the Superior Mesenteric artery and trace the brachial plexus in gross-why do we need to know it? Why do we need to know renal physiology? Why do we need to know liver histology? Why do we need to know about the P, QRS and T waves? Why do we need to know fatty acid synthesis? I could go on and on listing coursework that seems to be a waste of time.
It seems to me that a lot of our time and energy is wasted learning material that we will never use or need. My dentist admits that he *never* uses any of this information and that if he took National Boards Part I again right now, he would fail it.
I'm sure I'm not the only dental student who's thought this-but why do we have to learn all of this basic science material that we will never use except on National Boards Part I? It's not the fault of the dental schools that this material is on the curriculum because we need it for Boards Part I, but after that, we will never use it or need it again-so why do we need to waste time learning it-maybe dental school could be shorter if we cut all of the useless science out of the curriculum? We could probably save an entire year of time and money if the curriculum was cut so we learn only the science we need to know to practice dentistry. What are the powers that be that decided that we need to learn all of this stuff that seems totally not relevant to clinical dentistry and we will never use?
Just my thoughts-what do others think about this?
Mike