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!

Stage 1: Complete

Well, I did it! Today I took my anatomy final and I am officially done with my first class of dental school. It was a bit weird because I've pretty much been doing nothing but anatomy for a bit over a month so it seemed to come to a very abrupt end. I don't have my scores from my test yet, but I'm almost 100% certain that I'll end with a B in the class. I needed a 98-100% to get an A, so I can bet that didn't happen. We start up again August 18th will our fall classes, so I have a small little break and I hope to let of some steam and just hang out (and maybe study ahead?) until then.

A quick word about grades for everyone...

I was the kind of guy that HATED getting B's in college and I managed to stay in the A range all but twice. In dental school your mindset has to change a little because it's just not the same game anymore. Not only are your classmates far more intelligent/hardworking than your peers in undergrad, there is more material in less time and it's often more difficult. You've made it to dental school, and now all you have to do is pass to become a dentist. If you get bent on getting A's, you'll kill yourself trying to get them. Now, with that, you need to do your VERY BEST to get good grades if your intent is to specialize. As another side note, getting a C is alright, but odds are you know much less than people making A's and B's and thus, theoretically, they'll be a better dentist. In reality though, just relax and do your best. Remember, your best is ALWAYS good enough!

My 3rd reimbursement came in the other day (for health insurance) as well as my 2nd stipend. All of my tuition/fees for the fall have been deferred and everything is still running unbelievably smoothly. I had my doubts coming into this thing, but I'm truly blown away with how great the Air Force has been. I just e-mailed out a reimbursement for my fall semester books so I'll keep you all updated on how that goes. So far, it looks like it's taking roughly 20 days to get money from a reimbursement from the time I send it to AFIT and the time the money appears in my bank account.

(AFIT stands for Air Force Institute of Technology. They are my point of contact while I'm on scholarship. In other words, they handle everything other than my stipend stuff)

Off to do a whole lot of nothing for a while!