www.DMDstudent.com

Introducing the DMDstudent.com dental forums. Hopefully this forum become a great resource for pre-dental students, dental students, and dentists. I have integrated the forum into the blog for ease of use. I would like to thank the creators of simple forum for this easy to use forum.

The forum can be accessed here.

Happy posting!

Vocabulary words are for fifth graders! Think again. While learning about the basic sciences and dentistry you will no doubt come across many words that you have never heard of. How many of you knew what epistaxis was before dental school? Maybe a few of you. What about rhinorrhea? Too easy? I have a list of only a few medical terms which I have thought sounded quite interesting. Will you use these words in private practice? Maybe some of them. Will you see them in Journals and in CE courses? Most definitely. Will you sound like a stud if you use these words with a dental instructor? Fo shizzle!*
Here is my list:

There are a lot more, but I liked these the best and have written them down over a period of time. Remember what GI Joe used to say: “Knowing is half the battle”. I will leave it up to you to figure out what these mean, you learn it better that way. Just remember, Google is your friend. What are some of your favorite words?

*Use wisely, instructors may vary.

I had an admissions duty day last week with a few of my classmates. We basically helped a junior student, also on admissions duty, admit a new patient into the school. Here is how it went:
We showed up on time, signed our name for attendance, and received a 100 page packet on the admissions clinic. We get a packet like this from almost all the clinics totaling about 1,000 pages, or so it seems (about 9 different clinics each with their own packet). I don’t know when we are expected to read all of these packets considering we are getting ready for the boards on top of some random quizzes and tests. They do seem like helpful resources if you can sift through all the filler material.
After we got our packet we started to help out the upperclassman. I must say it is a little nerve wracking. Some good advice I have been given is to be confident even though sometimes you have no idea what you are doing. I was asked to check the blood pressure of the new patient. After fumbling through a small some small brain farts of putting the blood pressure cuff on upside down and not being able to inflate the arm cuff (screw in the valve idiot!) I was able to get the blood pressure. Phew! Some of these things (taking blood pressure, etc.) we haven’t done for a year, and after 40 credits of various classes these things get put into a brain .zip file and are compressed for later use.
The patient obviously fills out a new patient medical history form and this is all reviewed with them. Everything from allergies to hospitalizations and medications. An extraoral examination is performed followed by an intraoral examination in which gross defects are noted in the chart. After everything is reviewed by the student and checked over and written down, the student finds a faculty member and presents the case.
You give the patients age, sex, blood pressure, chief complaint, and a few other things like medications, findings from the exam, and medical history. The faculty member may then quiz you on various things that they find are suitable for you to learn. We weren’t really quizzed for our session, but we did learn some things. Our instructor gave a very good example of a head and neck exam, we auscultated the TMJ, which really isn’t necessary, but it was cool to hear clicking in the left TMJ and nothing in the right. This clicking did not bother the patient by the way and is actually quite common. Then we got to perform the intraoral examination ourselves. This poor patient had about 12 fingers in her mouth back to back for about 40 minutes. The patient was, well, patient and had no problem helping us out.
After we were done we took the patient to radiology and handed their chart over for xrays. That concluded our session. The patient will then be assigned a student over the next two weeks who will take care of their needs.

DrStudentDentist.com a site run by a new UoP dental student. This is a great site for those wanting to know details about UoP and some personal experiences about shadowing an oral surgeon, what to expect on the day of the DAT, and some more study hints and tips. Should I toot my own horn here? I helped inspire this person to go out and start their own blog! Yay! Good luck at UoP ‘J’!

I found another dental blog, just browsing through the blogosphere called dentalaggregate.com. I just got a chance to browse through this well designed blog and it looks great. It covers everything from basic dental care to productivity. Go see for yourself and add them to your reader.

If there are more websites out there that you know about or if you have your own website, share it in the comments section below. Otherwise, happy blogging!

After the last final of second year, a relaxing weekend, and some heavy duty sleep (well, as much as can be expected with two kids), we started our transition into the clinics. We have two new classes this summer I block, as well as a continuation of our complete dentures class. The two new classes are Treatment Planning and Introduction to Clinics.
Treatment planning is pretty straight forward and needs no description. Intro to clinics is where we hear from each department and learn about all the different protocols and paperwork that we need to be filling out and how each department runs. Example: pedodontics is different than perio. Maybe this is what the girl on the elevator I talked to during my interview meant when she said, “Don’t come here, it is too compartmentalized”, but who knows and who cares, I like it so far. This is also the class where we assist the upperclassman twice in each department. Twice in fixed, twice in removable, twice in…etc. So far this has been a great experiance. The majority of the upperclassman are great sports and let us go along for the ride, ask them silly questions, and suck saliva from their gracious patients.
Our main requirement right now is the 14 assists. We are also returning for a day in the preclinic where we are prepping a couple of ivorine teeth. I think a class I lesion and an MO. We are also going to be doing some root planing and scaling on each other.
We also have duty days in Admissions and Oral Surgery. These classes go for about another month. After that, we get assigned our first patients! Anxious and nerve wracking!

Technically there are no wild animals running around the school, unless you can catch a lost cockroach or two. This is not to dog on Temple. Every building in the city has cockroaches in it, that is just part of life. The cool trick is to see if you can actually spot one.
I have never seen one alive, but I did manage to snap a picture of a dead one. I found this guy in the hallway. I think he ran through some bug spray and his adventure through the dental school didn’t last too long. I bet he never thought he would become immortalized on DMDstudent.com though.
Some of my classmates have seen some scurrying through the hallways, and one claims to have seen a rat crossing an empty hallway in the distance, but I won’t believe that one until I see it. As long as they stay away from my food and my back pack, I’ll be fine. I wouldn’t want to bring any hitchhikers home!

I apologize for the confusion I may be causing…BUT this is the final resting place of DMDstudent.com and hopefully the new look for a while. My blog content manager (the program I use to run the website) was outdated (wordpress) and my blog template was outdated. I thought that using a new home page would enhance the site, but after a number of failures and some good luck, I have found the look I want. I am still in the process of updating some small arbitrary links, but I have added some features to make browsing the website easier. A sidebar category link for the useful Pre-Dental articles has been added for those of you trying to get into dental school, a dental school one will be added in the near future.

I am also kicking the idea around of getting a forum, to make this place a little more social. SDN can’t hog all of the dental fun! So let me know if this would be a good idea. Forum = YES -OR- Forum = NO…Add it to the comments below.

I am also wondering if anyone else wants to write? I am looking for a serious writer who would update once a week or once a month. I do this for fun and would hope that the writer would expect nothing more than fun as well. The compensation I get for this site is seriously less than 3 dollars a month. SO if you are interested in writing for fun, let me know.

I have tried some monetizing things and really don’t like them. I will rely, for now, on goodwill donations. I sincerely thank those of you who have given to the website. Everytime I get on here i think of you guys (there have been 4, so it isn’t hard to remember!) For now, keep your wallets at bay, I am in the process of updating all the donation information as well.

Now that the new look has been found, keep an eye out for more posts coming!

Many students get anxious when thinking about what they want to do after dental school. There are many options ranging from teaching to private practice to further education and even working in the dental industry, but not doing dentistry (like sales, etc.)

One of our readers has set up a website that helps you to find a job or post a job. It is easy to use and it is also nationwide. Bookmark it for further reference or mess around with it and see if anyone in your future area is looking for a dental grad!

You don’t know what relief is until you have experienced one of two things: Hemorrhoid relief by Preparation H or finishing and passing second year of dental school. I think it is a coincidence that they both deal with either end of the gastrointestinal tract. I would also venture to say that dental school is worse because it can cause the former to flare up and there is no cream to soothe the pain and anguish that second year shovels at you. I can tell you that I have never sat so much in my entire life. I have also never missed weekends that much either. This last weekend was the first one our class could really enjoy without any pressing exams or projects due and it felt REALLY good. For those of you still facing the ‘beast’, just press forward. Study for everything and make sure you have enough time to study for everything. The hard classes this year were: Well, all of them. I still can’t technically say that I have passed second year. Not all of our final grades have been posted - knock on wood! Here is a small breakdown of the classes:

Pharmacology: The first test was a basic intro to a few drugs, some systemic overview of drug mechanisms, ie, receptors where the drug acts, what are the effects (alpha receptors, beta receptors, nicotinic, sympathetic effects, parasympathetic effects, etc.) and some basic drug information (volume of distribution, 1/2 life, clearance). There were also some drugs and their uses and effects. This test was fairly easy and many questions came from the backtests. The second test was the hardest by far. It seemed simple enough. Learn a drug name and it’s mechanism, indications, contraindications and side effects among other random facts. Start on this one early and find a system that works well for you. I choked a bit on this test which hurt my final grade. The final was also difficult, but easier than test two. The hard thing to overcome with this test is the intimidation factor. Just make sure you keep organized in the semester and it will be easier to study for. Many questions came from back tests. Book: NO
Pedodontics: Read the book. READ THE BOOK. If they say it in class it is fair game. I would either record the lecture or write down everything they say and study that well. Random trivia and facts is the key. I did learn a lot from this class - I only figured out that i learned a lot though after I assisted in the pedo clinic today. No I do not want to be a pedodontist - but it does look very fun to work in the pedo clinic. Playing mind games with kids to keep them happy seems like fun. Book: YES
Endodontics: Overall this class was very confusing at first. The lectures are confusing, there is tons of reading, and at times it will seem hopeless. Just learn a few simple tricks and it will become easier. I will go over these tricks later if I have time. Otherwise, give me ten bucks for my notes. Endo: YES
Perio: What can I say. it’s perio…If you don’t know what the PDL is by now - well, you’ll learn about it all over again. Book: NO
Anesthesia: Learn all about nitrous and injections. Then stick your neighbor with a needle. This was a fun class. Book: YES to BOTH
Radiology: This class was laid back. The lab was fun. We got to work on plastic dummies with fake teeth in the mouth. Book: NO
Oral Pathology: One of our most interesting classes. We learned about an oral condition and then were shown a gross picture of said condition. There is nothing like 12 x 12 projected images of hairy tongue or Stevens-Johnson syndrome to help you wash down your morning bagel and cream cheese. The tests are straight forward - the challenge is to organize your brain well enough to cram all the material into it while learning all the other classes. I wish we could spend more time in this class. Book: YES
Restorative IV: Dentures. Although this class is continuing on into the summer it also has been challenging. Impression after impression, stone model after stone model. I have to finish my denture tomorrow so it can be processed by the lab. Book: YES
I should have more time now to actually update this site more often. Although my schedule still looks busy, it isn’t as bad as second year. Now I have to go study for our 5th denture quiz on Wednesday…I won’t miss these…

In no particular order a small list of essential items to help you study well:

• Lots of pens and pencils. I think I have used 20 pencils this past semester. Those cheap Bic mechanical ones that cost like 5 bucks for a box. I love them. I used pencils more than pens.
• Paper. I bought 10 packs of staples paper for $1.00 each. College ruled high quality and best of all, flat! Don’t know if you can remember something for a test? Put your notes away and start writing down everything word for word (or darn close) and compare. I am going to make up a motto: The three S’s: If you can Say it and Scribe it, then you can aSe it! It was a stretch, but it works.
• Is it time to study or is it time to browse YouTube? If it is time to study, then put away the internet (look at me the hypocrite right now), turn the cell phone OFF - sorry socialites - you’ll survive, and study! YouTube is not going anywhere, your text message from Slacker-Stan can wait.
• Eat it! Your mind melts quickly without a break and some glucose running through your veins. I try to eat something at least every two hours. By the looks of my dental belly you may think I eat every two minutes. My goal is to keep my metabolism running so I can concentrate in class or while reading a riveting perio lecture.
• Stay focused
• Don’t procrastinate. Even if you think C=DMD. The stress of waiting to the last minute sucks.
• Study with friends who keep you focused.
• My last piece of advice: Before beginning, clear your mind, take some deep breaths, lean back in your chair and stretch out your arms. Put your hands out to the side so they are in your peripheral vision. Let your arms relax, but keep your eyes focused peripherally so you can see ‘everything’ in the room. The clock, Slacker-Stan at the drinking fountain, Gunner-Gary already studying for next years exams, your notes, the ceiling, the window, etc. Let everything soak in and just RELAX. You are already in dental school. When you are ready, begin studying.

What are your study methods?