And that'll do it!

Well, here it is. I've anticipating writing this post not for the simple fact of writing it, but because it means that I'm done with my first semester of dental school! We had 12 tests our last 2 weeks of school, and I literally studied almost non-stop for 2 weeks except for a few hours I took off on a Saturday night. It was a crazy ride and I'm just so glad it's over. One strange thing I noticed was when I think back on the semester, it's hard to remember specific events. We did virtually the same thing every week for 15 or 16 weeks and it all just seemed to blend together. It's one of those things you look back on and think "wow, that was so long ago" but at the same time it feels like it was "just yesterday". Long story short, taking 25.5 credit hours will mess with your head.

I don't think I want to specialize. So naturally, grades are fairly irrelevant. For some reason, I couldn't make my self just "give up" during finals week. My thought was this: finals week is going to end at the exact same time whether I work like crazy or just settle for average grades. Needless to say, I went for it and worked like crazy and I'm glad I did. It was a wonderful feeling being done with school AND knowing I did the best I could. I think more than anything, it's that attitude that will define who I am as a dentist and a person, not the grades. If I had pushed myself that hard and not gotten the grades I wanted, that wouldn't have been the point anyway. It really wasn't about the numbers for me, but more so about proving to myself that I could do it and pushing my limits as far as they would go to see what I was made of. Must be something left over from all those football practices in high school or something, but that competitor in me just won't die. If there is one piece of advice I could give in terms of working hard, it would be this: just do your best as often as you can stand it. It's not about being better than anyone else, or getting higher grades, or being better in clinic. It's about taking YOU as far as you can go because at the end of the day, the only person you control is yourself, so don't settle for less than your full effort. The more you make hard work part of who you are, the more it will become a habit.

Well that's enough for my lecture, haha. Here is a quick rundown of my semester with a few tips that may help you guys:

Work hard. I talked about this a LOT already, but working hard will get you where you need to go and will let you prove to yourself who you really are.

Don't be afraid to make friends. You're going to be better off working together than splitting out on your own and trying to be the best. Some people may try this, but it's much easier and fun when you've got people going through it with you.

For those on the Air Force scholarship, make sure you get your reimbursements in ASAP. Don't wait around and make sure you are getting paid back for what is required! Don't settle for paying for small things that the AF would pay you back for, get paid for ALL of it. You earned the scholarship, so take advantage of it! (Example: I almost didn't send in a reimbursement for an $80 syllabus but I decided to anyway. I thought it was "just $80" and no big deal but I'm glad I just sent it in. It's silly not to, just get reimbursed for everything that you can!)

Don't argue with teachers. Just because you think you're right (and maybe you are) you are in professional school and so treat your teachers with respect. We had a few instances of people making comments in class that just blew my mind. Be respectful of those in charge, even if you don't agree.

Remember where you came from. Don't get too down when things aren't going your way, because there are lots of people (especially these days) that would kill for the chance to trade you places. You worked hard to get into dental school and remember how badly you wanted it. Don't get selfish and pouty when things aren't perfect. You're fortunate to be where you are, and if you do your work, you'll get out and be a dentist like all your classmates. Dental school may suck at times, but life could be much much worse.

You are being looked up to whether you know it or not, so act professionally. I think this is self-explanatory.

Respect the upper-classmen because no matter how awesome you think you are, they've been where you've been. Learn from them and listen to them and respect them. Regardless of your opinion of someone in the class above you, they've done more than you have to respect that.

Understand that your classmates have come from all sorts of places. I was one of the youngest in my class and many students were 2nd and 3rd time applications. Several had kids, about half were married or engaged, and several were in their late 20's and even early 30's. You're not in undergrad anymore where everyone is within 3 years of you, you're going to be dealing with all sorts of people, so be ready and understanding of others' situations. Just keep in mind that not everyone took your path to get here and not everyone will take your path to get out.

This is going to sound a little childish, but get involved! Just do something other than school because it will make you feel more a part of your new campus and your new dental school life. If the extent of your dental school experience is studying, you're not going to be very happy. Branch out and go do things!

Work hard all semester. Don't say "oh I can let this test slide" because in a month, that might not be true. You have to take advantage of every test and quiz so that if something does go wrong later down the line, you're not in a hole. Lots of students didn't work hard during the semester and that killed them during finals. If for no other reason, work hard in the semester to give yourself a good cushion going into finals week.

Well that's about all for now. For those interested, I ended the semester with roughly a 3.55, giving me a 3.475 overall (counting anatomy). I'm very happy with that and it was due in large part to my work during finals week. I sent in my reimbursement package for my loupes last week and should be getting the money for that in a couple weeks. The new schedule is official, so that means no COT next year. I think I may end up doing it after I graduate.

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas and as always, feel free to e-mail me with any questions about dental school or the Air Force scholarship!

Almost there!

Can a month in dental school be totally un-memorable? Well I think I've found it and it's the month of November. This was by far the most average month I've had so far. I had no Air Force reimbursements, no truly difficult weeks, and really nothing super awesome (except my birthday!). I hate to break it to you all, but there's just not much to report from an Air Force perspective. I had some tests, did well enough, and am looking at (hopefully) a 50/50 split with A's and B's. I was seriously considering just doing enough to get B's in all my classes but my inner competitor came out last weekend and I got really motivated to study like crazy these next two weeks. I think it's a good thing because it can't ever hurt to have better grades. Besides, everyone else will be studying so it isn't like it's really going to benefit me to sit on the couch a little more. Might as well push it to the max! I've already gotten more B's than I did in 4 years of undergrad, so that was a bit discouraging, but I keep reminding myself that this is a whole different deal and it's my effort, not always my grades, that's going to make me successful.

We found out a few weeks ago that our schedules will be undergoing a massive overhaul beginning EITHER next summer or fall. For the incoming class, they will begin under the new system. As you all know (or at least now you will) my plan was to go to COT in the summer of 2011. If the new schedule takes effect this next summer, that will not be happening. We'll only have 3 weeks off, which is not enough time regardless of when COT beings and ends. So in all likelihood I may just move COT to 2014 after I graduate and stop fussing with it. I'm still disappointed I didn't just do it last year before dental school, but doing it after school has it's benefits too. I'll be a higher rank, it'll be fresher on my mind, and I won't run the risk of growing out of my clothes before active duty. Either way, it will all work out. As for the new schedule itself, the goal is to create a test block environment where we only take a few classes at a time, take their finals, and then move onto new classes; rather than taking 26 credit hours spread out over 4 months, this would mean taking about 6 hours at once for a month, and then 6 more, etc. It will hopefully lighten the burden and allow us to really sink our teeth into the material. They're also thinking about changing our clinics to make them less "requirement" oriented so there is less competition for patients and such, but I have yet to see a patient so I won't comment on this because, quite frankly, I don't know enough about it now to know how drastically it will change.

I did order my loupes yesterday, and I'm waiting on my school to write me a "proof of requirement" letter so the Air Force will reimburse for them. Our school tells us to have them, but it's not officially written anywhere so I have to have the school type up a letter so the Air Force won't think I'm asking them to buy stuff I don't need. for those interested, the Air Force (as of December 2010) covers $1,100 for loupes and $300 for a light attachment. That's a total of $1400, ad most companies have a student deal just under the (for example, my package with loupes and light run $1370). They don't really have individual prices in the package so they just write up the receipt for $1100 loupes and $270 light so I can get it all covered. For those wondering, I got the Designs for Vision black nike pounce frames with 3.5x magnification. (http://www.designsforvision.com/DentHtml/D-Frame.htm)

Finals are around the corner and I have 12 tests and 1 quiz in 9 straight school days starting this Tuesday. 5 this coming week with a quiz, and 7 next week. I'll be back after I get my grades and report on how my first semester went and let you all know how smoothly the loupes reimbursement goes. If my prior reimbursements with the Air Force are any indication, it should be no problem.

Oh, and I hear our spring semester is pretty light compared to the fall semester I'm in right now, so I've agreed to work at my old job tutoring just chemistry for 5 hours a week next semester. Should be no problem but we'll see how it goes!

Is that a light I see?

Well, the semester is almost half way over, and I can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I've had exams in all but 2 classes now (2 dental classes that have very few tests) and I'm sitting in a very good spot in all of them. I'm in the high B or low A range in all my basic sciences, and in the A range in all my dental classes. Odds are that is how it will end up in December when this craziness is over. One of the best decisions I made was to study study study like crazy the first month of school. It was a grind every day but I put myself in such a good position that I am feeling very little stress in any of my classes. I have significant cushion so that if anything crazy happens, I'll be just fine. I truly feel like the hardest part of the semester is over, because now I have a feel for all my classes and luckily I did well at the beginning and should be able to improve or stay the same if necessary.

As for the Air Force, nothing has changed since my last post. I haven't sent in any reimbursements or anything so nothing new there.

Here are a few tips I have for the first part of dental school that might be helpful for anyone applying right now and wondering what it's like:

- You will be taking an insane amount of classes. Keep in mind that none of the material is any harder than it was in undergrad, it's just much more. You must prioritize. Waiting until the day before to study for a test worked in undergrad, but here, you'll need to study well in advance. Not because it's hard, but because you have 1000 other things to study for.

- Study HARD right out of the gate. Even if you don't think you want to specialize, making good grades early will only make your life easier. It's much better getting an A on a test and having room to fall later on than getting a C and knowing you've got to keep fighting just to stay where you are.

- Have a plan for every day. When I go to bed every night, I've already looked at my schedule for the next day and I know exactly what I will be doing. Now I don't micromanage every second, but I know that "I'm going to skip physiology and study for this quiz, then go to biochemistry... etc., and once I get home at 5:30 I'm going to watch TV for a while until 6:30 and study until 11". If I give myself structure, then I'm not flying by the seat of my pants every day trying to remember what needs to get done. It makes days less stressful because I know I'm not forgetting something.

- BE A TEAM PLAYER. This is the biggest thing by far. It is critical that you get with a good group of people that you can study with and you need to be willing to share what you know in exchange for what other people know. We have systems where people will make notes for a certain class, someone will set up online flashcards for it, another person will type up questions for this or that. It's a huge burden lifted when you feel like part of a team rather than just 1 out of 56 students trying to survive.

- Have fun! You need to do fun things that bring you joy and not get so focused on school. Keep everything in perspective and remember that everything will turn out just fine. Take time to play basketball, go to concerts, go our to eat, and normal stuff. Yes, you will be much busier with school, but staying sane is just as valuable as anything.

That's all for now... probably headed off to bed and then a big day of studying tomorrow!