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!