Now to the post...
In approximately 6 weeks, I will officially be a 4th year dental student! That means I will have trudged through 3 grueling years, or 2 grueling years and 1 not-so-grueling year, to make it this far. I can finally have a legitimate excuse not to study (senioritis of course) and I'll start thinking very seriously about life after dental school.
Of course, my journey is unique, as many of you know. I'm on the HPSP scholarship, which means I have a secure future and a guaranteed income for the next 4 years (5 if you count AEGD) after I graduate in May of 2014. But nevertheless it's an exciting and scary time of transition and change when I slowly morph from a student to a doctor. It truly is a blessing that I've made it this far. Since about 2008, this is what I wanted to do with my life and I'm so fortunate that things have worked out the way they have. I got the AF HPSP, got into dental school on my first try, and here I am. I've "thought" about being a 4th year for so long that it seemed like it would never happen. Well, it is and it's coming very soon. My wife and I are both nervous and excited for what lies ahead!
In a way, my mind is already in the 4th year because yesterday we were sent out summer schedules. Here at OU, the transition between years takes place between spring and summer. Here's the breakdown of my summer schedule:
*Clinic slots are 3 hours long. AM = 9am-noon, PM = 1pm-4pm
Monday AM - Clinic
Monday PM - Clinic
Tuesday AM - Clinic
Tuesday PM - Clinic
Wednesday AM - Clinic
Wednesday PM - Clinic
Thursday 8-10am - Endo III, 10-12am - Restorative III
Thursday PM - Clinic
Friday AM - Clinic
Friday PM - Clinic
So... lots and lots and lots of clinic. Finally! This is what I signed up for! For those keeping score, clinic times are in 3 hour blocks. So that means I have 27 hours of clinic every single week. Not too bad. That's approaching a full time job! I'm very excited about this. I'm sure the Fall and Spring semesters coming up will be equal or greater than that.
If you've been keeping up with my older posts, our school is transitioning right now. Dedicated schedulers, re-imagined clinic structures and physical remodeling are transforming OU. My class is catching the brunt of the changes for better and for worse, but that's life. We are actually pretty far behind right now in general in terms of our clinical experience, but hopefully we can make it up this coming year.
I haven't yet received my AEGD packet to apply for that, but when I do I'll be sure to post about it. No other AF news right now. I am currently in the middle of my 45 day ADT. Pay bump, love it!
Also, I've found out we can take NBDE Part II at the end of our summer session (last week of July) and I'm probably going to take it as soon as I'm allowed. Which means I've already started studying... no!!! It's true, I'm slowly making my way through First Aid right now. A neat side note, I'm attempting to go all digital this time. Basically I won't use any pre-printed notes or books to study. I make jot my own notes down but I'm using digital versions of all textbooks, dental decks, and old exams to prepare. I have an iPad and use Dropbox regularly so that's going to be my main mode of study. It's part convenience and part experiment (and part me not wanting to buy anything). So I'll be posting about that and letting you all know how that goes.
That's all for now, as always, email me if you want to chat about dental school or the Air Force HPSP!
Hey Matthew, it looks like your 4th year will really help you gain the experience you need with all that clinic time. I'm impressed to see education moving to a paperless model with the digital books - you are a pioneer! Don't give in to the senioritis and your 4th year should be a great one.
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