Now that I've talked about getting in, I will breakdown my four years at Columbia dental school as I go along. First year is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Part of the reason is my fault because I wait until the last minute to get things done.
Epidemiology (statistics is boring)
Human Development (how babies are born)
Health Promotion (filler class)
Intro to Dentistry ( how to run an office, filler class)
Dental Anatomy (teeth are not just white blocks)
Science Basic to the Practice of Medicine and Dentistry (med school)
Neuroscience (more med school)
Oral histology (tons of microscopy)
Nutrition (filler class)
Road trip with the K-Dawg
The warm summer with the K-Dawg went well and now 2nd year starts.
Immunology (med school)
Oral radiology (board questions)
Prosthodontics (play with tons of stuff)
Pharmacology (med school)
Periodontics (gum gardening)
Oral pathology (quick class just to keep us busy)
Pathophysiology (ride the biggest curve this side of anatomy).
Physical diagnosis (eliciting info from patients)
Oral-maxilofacial surgery (extractions)
Local anesthesia (how to put people down, but not out)
Cariology (The study of caries)
Microbiology (Med school)
Operative Dentistry (Let me I show you, tough love)
Molecular & Cellular Pathology (med school)
Med school= sleep until 1am everyday
National Boards Part 1
Ethics (filler)
Dental Interviewing (filler)
Oral Health Care Delivery (solid class)
Practice Management (filler)
Endodontics (key class)
Clinical Practice (filler)
Diagnosis & Treatment Planning (key class)
Spanish (The Basics)
Operative (More LAB)
Clinic (finally get to treat patients)
Area of Concentration (focus on a specific area of dentistry)
Esthetics (nice guy, nice class)
Oral Surgery (medical dentistry)
Pain Control (more medicine)
CPR (certification)
Physical Diagnosis Clerkship (rotations at regional hospitals)
Infection Control (filler)
Orthodontics (more LAB)
Clinical Periodontics (more probing)
Pediatrics (hello children)
Prosthodontics (complete dentures and bridges)
Implants (cool stuff)
Materials (solid class)
Radiology (take radiographs on patients)
Oral Pathology (tough class)
Facial Pain (tracks of pain management)
Enjoy third year while it lasts, because fourth year is a bitch.
Geriatrics
General Practice Rotations
Senior Clinic
Literature Reviews
National Boards Part 2.
North East Regional Boards.
Senior Competencies.
And after all of this the countdown to graduation begins. The key in senior year is to get a diverse array of patients with complex treatment plans.
And this pretty much sums up dental school.