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I have noticed a downward trend in the amount of participation amongst some of our school clubs.  This is not the case with some clubs (Like the Pediatric Dentistry Club which seems to have 200 members) but some clubs have become nonexistent or participation has decreased.  Maybe it is a Temple Dental thing or maybe it is a trend seen at other schools as well.  I think there are several reasons to this:

1) Dental School has become more competitive to get into and thus there are more competitive people in dental school leading to people who do nothing but study.  There is nothing wrong with studying.  My study buddies and I used to be studying whores (Part I Boards naturally destroyed any desire to ever study again), but now we have mellowed out and seem to get the same grades as before.

2) Unaware.  Some people just don’t know about opportunities to get involved.  I missed out on a few opportunities to get involved because I checked my email too late or the event was not publicized correctly.  In this case you may have to ask about certain clubs or opportunities.  If your interest is really that great you can even start your own club.  A club was recently started at our school called the Cosmetic Dentistry Club.

3) Apathy. Some people could care less about the ortho club or the endo club.  I say poo on you.  You are missing out on a great opportunity to learn with your peers about more things related to dentistry.  If you don’t think the club has great speakers then search around your community to bring in a dentist or specialist that can give some meaningful clinical advice in a lunch and learn setting.

Getting involved lets you meet new people, work with others, plan and create activities that others will enjoy and is another way to enrich dental school.  A club usually has an opening social, speakers from the community or various dental programs nearby (like a GPR or a specialty program), food at each meeting (paid for by subsidized school club funds or from membership dues), and they are usually fun.

I have gotten involved in ASDA, Temple Haiti Club (outreach group that travels to Haiti), Oral Surgery Club, Practice management club, XIP fraternity, and am a member of a few others.  It has been fun and I recommend it to anyone to break up the boredome of studying and lab work.