The busier it is, the faster it goes

The title pretty much says it all.  This is a busy semester... and that's an understatement.  My goal is to take boards on Nov 23 and I'm still on pace for that.  But with all of our new pre-clinic classes, some of them pushed a year ahead (from fall of 3rd year to fall of 2nd year, where I am now) we have really been slammed with a lot of lab work.  It's just not practical to finish it all during class most of the time so I have to spend some outside time working on lab projects when I would rather be (and when I say "rather be" I don't mean I would "enjoy" it!) studying for boards.  Not to mention we have Etiology & Pathology of Disease plus Systemic Pathology, both tough classes in their own right.  The good thing, though, is that all of that information is on boards so when I study for those, I can count it as boards study as well!  I'm plowing through the dental decks right now and I'm trying hard to keep up my pace.  I've done all the Bio/Phys cards at least twice, and nearly all of the Anatomy cards twice.  I have yet to look at dental anatomy because I think I could literally sit down one weekend and knock that out with no trouble.  I'll start nailing the Micro/Path cards soon since those classes are both about halfway over.  Then, I hope to only do review questions for about 2 weeks leading up to the test, tie up any lose ends, and pass this sucker!  Boards is sort of the big black cloud hanging over this semester and my goal is to take it ASAP and be done.  The earliest we are allowed to take it at my school is the Monday of Thanksgiving break, so Nov 21.  I figured Nov 23 was a good date because then I can still have Thanksgiving to spend with my family.

On the Air Force front, not much new is going on.  Those two reimbursements I talked about in my last post (or tweet, can't remember off the top of my head) are done and I've got nothing pending there.  Still glad to be out of the tuition discussion as many of my classmates were talking and complaining about the tuition increases for this year.

Well, sorry it took so long for me to cook up another post.  I've been pretty slammed lately.  I'm trying hard to get back to your emails on time but I know I've let a few slip by so I apologize!  I know it's that time of year for applying and getting your applications for the HPSP rolling so don't hesitate to e-mail or tweet me with questions!

A new chapter... with a lot more instruments

Since my last post, a few things have happened.

Summer session ended. It was alright, but could have been more productive since our schedule wasn't that hard but it was still stretched to 8 weeks. But the new curriculum is an ongoing process so they'll make changes next year I'm sure.

Also, school started up again (after a 3 week break) this Monday. It's going to be a busy semester, but in a very different way than my 1st semester was busy. This semester, we are basically 8am-5pm every day except Friday, where we end at 2pm. Half of our classes, if not more, are clinic or pre-clinic which means much less "homework" and studying. However, with such a packed schedule, the days don't feel much shorter than they did before. I'm sure I'll be in my groove in a couple of weeks and it will all be fine. I truly am excited to start doing more dental things, that part is great!

As far as the Air Force, I sent in a reimbursement for health insurance and my NBDE registration. The health insurance went through fine last year, so I don't expect any bumps this time. However, I've never done an NBDE reimbursement (obviously...) so this one is new. I'll be sure to let you all know once that finally comes through.

Well that's about it for now... I didn't get very in-depth with anything, I know, but right now we are just getting the wheels turning so I'm sure I'll have more to say in a couple weeks.

Oh, as it turns out, the Air Force recently altered their fitness requirements. You can see them here: http://www.au.af.mil/au/holmcenter/OTS/documents/SCORECHARTS_AFI10-248.pdf

As always, feel free to email me with questions or hit me up on twitter!

Been a while...

Well, it's darn near 2 months since my last post. Sorry I've been so lax lately! We are currently in a newly designed 8 week summer session and it has one huge upside and one huge downside...

Upside: Nearly half of our schedule are slots for patient scheduling and we only use it if we have a patient we want to schedule at that time... meaning 90% of those times we are off.

Downside: So much time off = most insane case of laziness of all time. We'll have a grand total of about 4 tests over the summer. That's 1 test every two weeks (average). Compare that to the roughly 100 test fall last year and you see the issue. No one is in high gear and it's just not a good deal! Motivation is not there.

Not much new on the Air Force front... no COT this summer, maybe next? I'm thinking probably 2014 at this point. Wish I could go and have lots to tell you all! Looks like that will have to wait.

Oh! Not sure if I mentioned this before somewhere (don't want to check, sorry!) but I was elected president of the class of 2014 for the next year! The guy that was president didn't want the position any longer so I stepped up and won the election, so that was neat! It's a lot of fun for me to have this responsibility and put this on myself. It keeps me motivated.

As always, email me with questions!

The End of the Beginning

Well... that does it. It seems like just yesterday I was stressing out about the start of summer anatomy and here I am. My first year of dental school is done! It's hard to really comprehend the fact that's it's over because it just went by so unbelievably fast.

Here are some things I learned about the Air Force, dental school, and life in general, during my first year.

1. The Air Force are emailing professionals:

These people are so efficient at answering questions and replying to emails, it's staggering. I'm not exaggerating either. Only twice have I sent an email during business hours and not gotten a reply in 15 minutes. They're extremely helpful and professional and get stuff solved ASAP. Great people.

2. Dental school is way more than grades:

So many people in my class, including myself, have missed certain grades by a fraction of a point, but when it comes down to it, that's not what really matters. Sure, some may be wanting to specialize, but in the end, it's about learning as much as you can to be a competent dentist. This is especially true with science classes. Yes, these are tough and often worth quite a few credit hours, but they have little to no bearing on how you will perform as a dentist. Take it easy, and focus energy on doing well in the dental classes if you are taking them simultaneously.

3. If you have 55 people in your class, you'll have 55 personalities to deal with:

This is pretty obvious, but it's an interesting dynamic in dental school. Never since elementary school are you with the exact same people all day, every day, taking the same classes with the same teachers. Amazing friendships are born, and some strange dynamics take shape. Some like to isolate themselves, while others will make a scene just to make a scene. In the end, you have to learn to respect each person for who they are or else you won't be able to fully appreciate anyone. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses and just because someone isn't like you, doesn't mean they're doing something wrong. In fact, the only person like you, is you.

4. Finals week is 50% studying and 50% what you did leading up to finals:

What I mean is this. If you have a strong cushion going into finals week, you will hate your life far less. If you are stressing about a final because you need a 90 to get a B, while your friend needs a 70 to get a B, that sucks. Work your butt off during the semester when tests are more spread out to give yourself the luxury of picking and choosing where to concentrate during finals instead of worrying about just passing every class. Even if you could care less about getting an A, B, or C, study for the highest grade you can going into finals. Then you can slack off. You don't want to be the person that needs an A on a Biochemistry final just to pass the class and not get it.

5. Find what works for you:

Don't feel pressured to study in a group if you study better on your own. Don't feel obligated to use someone else's study notes just because they made a study guide for everyone. Don't feel like you have to stay isolated if you want a group to study with; just ask someone! Long story short, do what works for you.

6. Work together:

Like I said earlier, some in your class may want to specialize and that's fine. The way I see it is this: those that want to specialize will figure out how to. The more you all work together, the better you class will collectively do. Those at the top will still rise to the top, but those at the bottom will be a little higher as well. Don't let your ego get in the way of helping others and enjoying your time.

7. Your brain is not a to-do list or a calendar:

So don't trust it to be either. Get a to-do list app (I recommend wunderlist) and a sync-able calendar if you have a smartphone (Google Cal). Put EVERYTHING on there so you won't have that lingering thought in your head wondering if you've missed something.

Well that's about it for me. One quick note is that I ran for and was elected class president a couple weeks ago! I'll start serving in that capacity beginning June 6 and will end my term at the end of next spring. At that point, I can either run again or step away.

As always, email me if you have any questions!

When to apply for the HPSP? Now!

This is my first post that has nothing to do with me and my journey, etc., but for those mulling the idea of the HPSP, I wanted to say this.

If you are considering applying to dental school so that you will begin attending in the Fall of 2012, you need to start talking with a recruiter ASAP.

I lay this all out in the Q&A section of the Air Force HPSP tab at the top (access it here), but just a heads up to those looking at a 4-year scholarship.

If you are a pre-dental student looking at applying this summer, now is the time to talk to a recruiter. Please take a look at the Q&A section for more details on why you cannot wait to speak to a recruiter.

The short story is this:

The Air Force selects their scholarships in February. This means that you must have applied before this time to be accepted at all. Thus, since the process takes several weeks, and since recruiters sometimes work over a several state area, you need to get your foot in the door before other applicants and before it's too late.

Feel free to email me if you have questions, and again, for more details, visit the Q&A section of the Air Force HPSP tab at the top (or click here).

Life after first semester

Seeing as it's been almost 2 months since my last post, I feel I owe my blog another update. Unfortunately, not much has changed. However, I have noticed 3 important things I'd like to share that will hopefully help someone, somehow, someway. Anyway, no new Air Force stuff, so I'll jump right in.

1. Easier classes do not equal better grades

-This is pretty counterintuitive, but hear me out. Last semester I did fairly well for myself. I had a few close calls but made roughly half As and half Bs in what was touted as the 'hardest' semester. No doubt, it was VERY time consuming and quite difficult. This semester, the 'easiest' semester, is no doubt far and away less stressful and time consuming than last semester. However, at my current pace, I'll end up with darn near the same GPA as last semester. Why? I think it has to do with expectation. When we are told something is difficult, we tend to prepare for it to be so. The same is true in reverse. If we are told a class is easy, we don't try as hard (in general). So keep that in mind when you head to dental school. Just because a class is easy doesn't mean you're going to be handed the grade you want without effort. No, it's not effective to put a ton of time in an easier class, but don't walk in and not try just because of what you've heard. Not everyone will be good at the same things so just because it was easy for someone else does not mean it will be the case with you.

2. Fair = unfair?

-We recently took two exams (in different classes). For the first one, a test was given that was outdated, from last years curriculum (it's been largely condensed this year for this particular class). Most of the class did terrible on it for the simple fact that we were not even taught all of the material on it! This is obviously unfair, but since our attendance had been lacking (the lectures are recorded, so we DID watch them all), the professor deemed that it was our lack of effort rather than lack of knowledge that led to the poor scores. Huh? So in other words, us not learning what was on the test had nothing to do with the fact that it wasn't taught? For the record, I made a 58%. My worst test in dental school by roughly 20% points. WOW. There was no score adjustment.

-As for the other test, we were given two versions (half got A, half B). Version A and B contained the exact same questions, just in a different order. As it turned out, version A scores had an average of 27/36 while version B scores had an average of 29/36. Logic would lead one to believe that it just so happened that those with B happened to do better out of their own accord, not due to the difficulty of the exam (because they were the SAME). Our professor, however, decided that somehow the ordering of the questions on form A led those with form A to miss an average of 2 more questions. Once again, huh? So he awarded form A people with 2 bonus points. If you're thinking "how is that fair?", you're not alone. Long story short, someone in the administration at the College of Dentistry did an analysis and found that random distribution of students had created a situation where a disproportionately high number of highly ranked students happened to get form B. Well duh, right? In the end, both versions got 2 extra points.

-The moral of this story (or stories) is that you control your fate. Study hard and do well enough so that when these crazy and weird situations arrise, they have a much lower effect on you. In the first case I was sitting at a very high B going into that test. Needless to say, I dropped quite a bit. Luckily, I ended with an 82% in the class (it only lasted half of the semester) so in the end, it didn't matter to me. Others who were counting on this test to pass the class didn't have that luxury. So even if you don't want to specialize, or just don't feel like studying all that much, find it within your self to try your best so that you don't get stuck in one of these situations. (As a side note, neither of the professors work directly for the College of Dentistry. They are professors that work in other departments that come and teach our science material.)

3. Enjoying dental school has very little to do with dental school

-This is just an option I hold, but I've found that those who have something to look forward to OUTSIDE of dental school tend to be happier in dental school. It seems that those who get caught up in 1 point here and there, a procedure in clinic, etc., tend to be the most stressed out. Relax and do your best, and it will all work out. Oh, and have something you can look forward to every night. Whether it's going home to your spouse, eating some chocolate (guilty), or playing with your dog, don't make dental school your life. It's a part of your life. The way I see it, happiness is 10% your situation, 90% your attitude.

Other than that, things are smooth sailing right now. I work as a tutor for about 7-9 hours/week, depending on the week. I'm also on the lookout for a place to move sometime in August. If I haven't said already, I currently live with my dad about 25 minutes from school. We're selling our house and he'll be getting remarried so it's time to move on! Hopefully it's also time to move closer. Being 25 minutes away from school isn't bad... until you do it every day.

For those looking for just an ounce of Air Force in this post, I'll say this. Each day that goes by I am more and more pleased with my decision to take the scholarship. I can't tell you how much I love being able to sit back and not worry about going into debt. It's nice to even be making some money to do what I want. I'm pretty frugal so I'm trying to save as much as I can just in case, but money stress is something I don't have and don't plan on having ever again. Between the scholarship, my tutoring job, and getting paid to mow a few lawns, this dental school thing is turning into a decent gig! In this economy with school getting more and more expensive, I'm more than happy to trade 4 years in the military for 20 years of paying off loans.

As always, feel free to email me (and follow me on twitter!) if you have questions about the Air Force HPSP, the DAT, dental school, or whatever. I get about 1 email per week from a new person with questions so keep them coming!

Moving right along (sort of)

Well I'll start this post by saying this. Because of the snow, we have officially had 6 days of school cancelled so far. That's not 6 days since August, that's 6 days in the last month. It's hard to believe, but it's true. It's really messed up our schedule too because we've missed several hours of pre-clinic time that we just can't get back. Some other classes with just lecture have been able to reschedule just fine, but the pre-clinic and lab classes are really taking a hit. As I sit here now, in fact, we are out of school. Today is day #6 and the odds are about 50/50 that we'll be out tomorrow as well.

Anyway, about this semester. Last semester we had about 80-90 tests and quizzes, but this semester we'll have about 45. As you can tell, a much lighter schedule. It's nice to have a more relaxing semester after how crazy it was last fall. I felt like I could barely take a breath between tests last semester, but now we only have a couple things a week, if that. Most of our tests are crowded during the week before spring break or during finals week. Two of our classes are actually pass/fail and we have about 4 hours of pre-clinic time each week which has been a lot of fun.

As for the Air Force scholarship, not much new here. I sent in my reimbursement for loupes back in mid-December and still have not gotten paid back for them. I e-mailed AFIT a couple weeks ago and I was told that it was basically a problem of understaffing and the big holiday break. My reimbursements typically come back between 15 and 25 days, so this will hold the record for sure. Luckily I don't need the money right now so it's fine as long as it does come at some point. I had $13k+ of charges at the beginning of the year, only to see them all magically wiped away a few weeks ago. I sure do love this scholarship!

Sorry I don't have much more to say, but I'm pretty well adapted to the groove of dental school and this Air Force HPSP so there's not much "new" stuff going on right now. As always, feel free to e-mail me with any questions you may have!