To do or not to do.....

Like always it took me forever to come back again to write few lines. I think one of perils of residency is you get too less time with too much on your mind and man ! my mind and body have been working overtime for past 6 months. Like my Professor said am here to learn who not to treat, they want me to learn diagnosing and treatment planning and I guess thats the most difficult part, after that its just working over. Past few months not only I had good insights in dentistry I had a chance to visit MD Anderson Cancer centre at Houstan Texas. Its one of the premier institute in world for cancer care. Saw a lot of patients and really got motivated for Maxillofacial prosthodontics. Its a whole new world taking dentistry principles and pushing them to extremes. The patient, the process and the final prosthesis all are a challenge in themselves. But then only a lucky few get to do this kinda work. Had a chance to meet many of those people which made me even more sure.

Presently writing this from Las Vegas, after the long weekend. People who go there I suggest definitely to go to Startosphere for the rides and try Ali's Kabab Corner - the hole in the wall for tastiest food.

For guys who are in International dental programs I suggest to plan their PGs carefully because am running into an unusaul problem which we do not anticipate before getting into a program. There is a federal cap on maximum amount of loan for foriegn students for educational purpose and the amount at present is 250,000 dollars. If your DDS is close to this amount then later on in PG you might have to find alternate ways to fund your education. Loan is not going to happen :-( so ponder over carefully PG in paid place- " to do or not to do".
All the best folks...

Priceless....

Patient: People told me my case is complex and I need to go to UCSF because you guys have good instruments and technology here.
Me: Yes.... Kinda....
Patient: Well can you tell me about it? Is it Expensive?
Me: Well you tell ? the instrument is Brain and the technology is Knowledge !

The look on patient face : Priceless :-)

All the best folks...

Random thoughts

Just wanted to write stuff as it wandered through my mind:

1. putting it here to have a date stamp on prediction that we maybe looking at a big problem with newer rough surface implants once the rough surface gets exposed to oral environment its going to be nearly impossible to control the recession and as of now we are going all gaga over these, don't know what future holds.

2. Dr. Pasquinelli described a patient to us jokingly as suffering from Pasquinelli syndrome but i guess gave us a warning to be watchful of these. symptoms of disease are young female, single anterior tooth missing, thin tissue biotype, high smile line, long gingival papillae, lots of questions, wants everything immediately and has limited or I would rather say no money :-P

3. The day I got big big surprise
4. Am seeing some regular visitors to my blog, don't know who for they never left any comment :-)but feels good am still helpful in any way.

All the best folks...

Post graduate life !

Coming back after a long pause again, Friends are settling down with their new jobs at many new places, few of us who decided to push ourselves to extremes :-P joined post graduation.I kinda miss having my old friends around me but happy at finding new ones too. The news of getting in itself was a dream come true.I believe the place where I am now requires dedication and commitment to succeed. First it was countless sleepless nights to get here and now its a forever struggle to not to fall asleep in class. Its like a flood of knowledge, I really sometimes feel I don't know anything and have to work really hard to keep up with my fellow residents and up to the faculty. The other day one of the faculty said if you guys ever wonder why you are here then think of the fact, "you can always learn how to do over the weekend classes and spending money or with long drawn experience over so many years but probably you wont learn what to do and why you are doing it this way, easy". Anyone can do crown preps or restorations but which one to do first and why is what we are going to learn.
Update 2 is an upcoming conference at Orlando something I want to do after my post graduation. Check it out at http://www.maxillofacialprosth.org/Home.html
Interview season for international as well as PG students is going to start really soon, wishing all of you get to where you always want to be.

All the best folks...

The last Call !

A long journey came to end, finally done with DDS, WREBs all my friends done. Am gonna miss all of them. Didnt wanted to miss my last message to all of them, its all here:

The Good, the Awesome and the Phenomenal

We do not remember days; we remember moments. ~Cesare Pavese

Respected faculty, family, friends, fellow graduates and all the people present here: a very good morning.

Usually the ladies of my class have the last word, but today I have the honor and pleasure, to address you all on behalf of my class.

I would first of all like to thank all the parents, spouses, families, and friends whose tremendous encouragement and effort made it possible for us all to come to this day. I would like to thank all of our faculty members, instructors, mentors who bared with us from the class I amalgam to the MODBL+++, until we became an expert at both or the tooth got extracted. My sincere thanks to all those assistants, and staff members who kept track of all our CEs, patient appointments and who always smiled when we tried to bring in six patients in a day.

Two years ago I thought this day would never come, and there were times I was certain about it. I take my memory to the very first day when we all met each other, the very first time at the program interview, wondering who will make it into the class or not, who will be my future classmates. I still remember Dr. Kirkland mentioning the written exam is a piece of cake, which it was, although, I guess he forget to mention that it was sugar free and frozen.

Somehow I made it in….

Being an IDP student is a blessing, though far away from home, I found a new family, people I knew nothing about, yet it never felt like being a stranger, of going through the entire dental program all over again

How can I forget the pre-clinical lab which was our home for three months. Those awfully long lab sessions working on typodonts wondering when will I ever get to wet my hands in patients saliva. The 4^th floor lab was where I came to know all of you, learning from your experience and I hope, you guys also learned from my mistakes. Those early morning lectures where we were wondering what happened we just came after sleeping 8 hours, those sessions where it was nearly impossible to get that perfect ideal class II or the temporaries for Dr. Mendoza and those nights polishing temp crowns wondering when will I get to see my bed again. How can I forget all those exams which were probably meant to scare me more rather than to test my knowledge, those awfully long Friday classes where I would sit and contemplate a career change. But we survived it and made it through.

As the gladiator enters the ring so we were into the clinics all excited and ready to go, Life comes at you hard and fast and so does clinics. Soon we realized its just not dental treatment it’s more than that. It reminds me of Russell Peters who once said “You know when you are in a situation, and you know it is your situation, but somehow you hope that it’s not your situation”. Like looking up in my axium to realize you don’t have the chair with a faculty with whom you started the COE with; or maybe, not with the faculty who you started the crown prep with and now the patient is ready for an impression. Regardless it was a great experience working with awesome faculty and our D4 buddies, who were always there to show us the way around. I thank you all for all the support, help, and fun times we shared together to make this a good lifetime experience.

Why UCSF? I think it is the best thing that happened to us. The only dental school I guess where the Dean would come and teach you about dental caries and the associate dean about oral cancer and ways to prevent it. It was here one of my professors said; a good functional prosthesis needs to have good support, stability and retention for the best outcome and that goes for student life too.

Retention, i.e. prevention of dislodgment in the vertical direction was the, faculty, who gave us all the expertise, knowledge and ethics of this profession. I came in as nobody, some came in as good, some as awesome, but I congratulate you today, because now as you leave these gates, you all are phenomenal, well processed and finished, marked and filled with confidence, knowledge, sincerity and work ethics by all the hard work you have put all these years in the dental school to be successful. I would here quote Ralph Waldo Emerson who said about: Success: To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded! And this is what I wish and pray for all of you here.

Stability is the prevention of displacement in the horizontal direction. As I said, There were times I was certain I’m never getting out of this school, the journey seemed awfully long, never ending, All the friends and people around who taught me what perfection, determination, hard work, diligence and compassion is all about by being an example of it themselves. The excellent mentors and knowledge provided which revoked my idea of career change and gave meaning and purpose to life.

Support is friends and family preventing us from being crushed under the pressures of all the responsibilities and expectations. Its not just putting in your and my attendance in didactic class or all those late night social events where we could get along to pacific catch or Lavaash, to forget all the hardships and get ready for another day. Its coming to understand the importance and true meaning of “tu doste e mani , vah to khare”

Life is all about moving on, from one stage to another, from one place to other, from a good idea to something better. One thing, however, remains a certainty, we might be leaving UCSF but UCSF will forever lives in our hearts!

In the end I would just like to mention: Don’t cry because it is over; smile because it happened. It happened to me....and I am thankful to God for it did strengthen my confidence. I have no fear now for what the future holds...I just think or rather believe its good!

For all the joy, the delight, for all the good times we have shared together, for all the difficulties we have faced through this journey, till we meet again, some time , some place, just hold on to your dreams, just believe that you can., Nothing can hold you back, that’s the story of a man !

Stay awesome as always my friends!

All the best!

Part 2

NBDE part 2 on the way :-) until now studying randomly, time to get a lil more organised , thinking about it gives me the same feeling like before the part 1 but I know it somehow different. The funniest question is your friends are telling you that you don't need to study ( basically you know it all, you will pass if you give exam even now) and you still feel compelled and obliged to study :-P just can't help it.

All the best folks...

Top 10 things am thinking now...

1. Packing and my trip to India, and when will it be possible to go next.

2. What a whole lot of fun with friends I will have in India and what a whole lot I will miss my friends here.

3. NBDe part 2 :-P I know but its there back of my mind.

4. Dr. Susan Hyde's course project.

5. PG Prostho :-)

6. My friends health - u know it and am praying for u.

7. KP, his Bdday and his questions.

8. Shopping I am still left to do.

9. My monday and tuesday patients :-P and meth mouth !

10. why is ........???

All the best folks...

one of the best compliment.......

After a very long time today it was a moment that made me think boy the end is near. Yes its just few more months and DDS is over. Today it was orientation for the new incoming class applicants and i was thinking of the day I sat on the other side. All the same questions, same stress. Had a nice interaction session with all the applicants : millions of questions and then a school tour and then lo and behold there comes a student with a big big comment " I have interviewed at 3 different schools and to be very frank, after being here, meeting the faculty, seeing the school and students, I want to do my DDS from here and only here, I want to do my PG and of all I want to be like you and the folks here, a good student and good person of all." I felt so proud and so so happy, somehow somewhere UCSF, my faculty and my class has changed me into a better human being, something I always strive and work towards to be. Its an awesome feeling to be an inspiration to someone..even if its just one. (Ok I guess am being boastful now so I end it here)

See ya guys around....

All the best folks...

On my way to MS.....

Long time no see :-)
All what is gone is gone. Today i come back with acceptance in PG. It was a long and stressful process and am glad its come to an end. I nearly traveled across America, flew so much that at one moment was missing being on land. Did my interviews at Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Rochester, Ohio, Georgia, Iowa, Texas etc etc. All i realized is all the programs are looking for 3 basic things, motivation, dedication and inspiration.

All the best folks...

a happy satisfyng moment

Got a word of appreciation from my friends about my blog and didnt knew i had few people actually reading it apart from those who i actually ask to. Any how an update on myself i started considering doing a residency or in other word PG and that too in prosthodontics, don ask me why only reason i can give you is the satisfaction i get out of it or i would say i feel my heart and soul are entangled in the 'c' clasp and the 'i' bars.
i started working on my application right from this moment.....

All the best folks...

can u please grab your 2 kids????

well that's what some body asked me the other day. Literally speaking i was like omg gimme a break , am a simple, straight, "unmarried" Indian guy and don happen to have kids which i don know about. Am not a Jamaican as Russel Peter put it. I will know the where about and count of all my children when i have them.

Anyhow it was just give kids a smile day where we were giving sealants to kids and i was asked to call in my 2 patients but i guess the choice of words was strange. Imagine i come to you and ask you out of blue can u please grab your 2 kids.....lol

school going fine am getting more into complicated or i would say technique sensitive stuff now and am enjoying it more than ever.

All the best folks...

just for the heck of it...

Typing in a post when my class is going on.

All the best folks...

a few words but a big impact...

Well i never thot of returning back to write so soon but smthing happened today which i really really felt to pen down. Sometimes u r so happy for when a wish comes true that you don dance or rejoice u just share it with your friends, keep thinking about it and keep on smiling, no am not in love or something its like what a medical or dental student always expects...aprrecaition from the patients and faculty and today i got both. Lastly i was left wondering wish i had asked for smthing more cos a day before that i was asking oh God i need cake to eat a different kind though and one of my friend went immediately to get one for me a different kind of cake which we cudnt find and next day God gave me not only different kind of cake to eat but to feel also for long time.
Thanks Yassi u know for wht !
All the best folks...

one more of my chronicles

its taking me so long to come back and write which i once did so often, maybe the school is keeping me too busy or maybe smtimes i am in extreme of moods that i don think of penning down my thoughts. School is going fine , nice patients and faculty, am making new friends and learning lot of new things, i guess my way of thinking , talking and understanding life is totally changing by being close to so many different kind of folks. some are so intelligent, so hardworking, so helpful that i totally admire them and think of being like them. I guess one of advantage of studying in IDP programs like this is the life changing experience which am going through right now.
Had some beautiful and some funny quotes to share or just write down
" Strep mutans are like terrorists, a few bacteria in many of others could bring the whole building{tooth} down"- Dr. Featherstone
" am waiting for this stupid amalgam to set on me" - Dr.Huang while carving fast set amalgam for complex amalgam restoration demo

anyhow had my moments of appreciation- cudn forget the day when Dr. Kane stood up to me to appreciate that gfg class 5 cavity prep and restoration on number 31 i think thats my best moment in dental school till now, and then thr were those moments of frustration which i don wanna even mention for i wanna forget them.

Some where in between B'Day came and was really made memorable by my friends, had some unexpected things and effort by my friends to make it some good, i wont forget that perhaps ever.

logging off for now thinking i will surely be more frequent to write, one cant be so busy so as not to be able to pen down few lines !
All the best folks...

10 basic rules of a bachelor boy life in foriegn land...

Smbdy asked me this question the other day and after sm discussion i came with this and its sort of true for a student like me.
1. If food is cooked by someone else, its always delicious and edible no matter what the taste and temperature it is in.
2. Same shirt can be worn for 3 days and same jeans for 3 weeks
3. While lookin in a mirror when u cant see ur ears its time for a haircut.
4. In a long run deodorant costs more than regular shampoo baths.
5. 3 pairs of shoes and 1 watch is all ok don need any more so don waste money there( i know but still cant help it)
6. "chappati" is the most difficult Indian dish to cook correctly.
7. Laptop and cell phone are important than a girlfriend.
8. you are always aware fo current dollar exchange rate.
9. If u keep on living in a same apartment for long time with roommate of same sex people will get second ideas abt u.
10. A stage comes whn every married girl is an alien and every unmarried one is beautiful.


All the best folks...

And again....

Well it took me so long to e back here.....The dental school is keepin me really busy...once in all we think is part 2, WREB and NERB and what and whr we will land up in the end. The nice class i have here....i wish all of you people could join for this is a great school and am more confident in sayin so cos now i have friends in almost all the schools with intrnational dentist program not only in USA but Canada also so i have sm idea wht basically goes ovr.. Its kind of an unexplained feeling being taught by the professors whos books or references and works we have been only reading back home. Sometimes i do feel a lil laid back for being the most unexperienced guy in the class ( My IDP batch is too good and qualified experience and education wise) but then i feel being young gives me an advantage of having time on my side. The first 2 months here at UCSf are very intense , lot of lab wok , i hope i will be regular and finish up the idiot guide work to provide yo complete info after this semester. till then....
All the best folks...

Back again...

Well for those few of my friends who have been keepin a watch on this blog am back....back after joinin my school, shifting my stuff, getting my educational loans approved etc etc. It was a long time full of stress but am glad it went by and am back here. I got lot more questions to put answers to and am getting more and soon i will try and write them down.
As for my self the sense of relief and satisfaction of achievement is too great for me presently. I am lucky that i got a really really nice group here at UCSF, the program is superb absolutely superb. The classmates, the faculty, seniors....omg am getting nostalgic, its so good it reminds me of my dental school back home. don have much time , will be back soon till then...
All the best folks...

idiot's guide to DDS - 3

Ques: ok lemme see how you studied?how much of time margin for each subject shd we keep?
when we start with a subject...like anatomy...first we shd read text,then decks,then question papers??or in any other pattern...?
how to plan a daily routine...
and shd we read kaplan...i heard its vast.shd we read kaplan...or read texts related to particlaur subject.
..is first aid for usmle.is it for medical or for dental??


presently i have mosby and 2006-2007 decks.what shd i go for??kaplan or read each subject text wise??

i have heard abt lippincott for biochem...is it good?
im sorry...have not heard abt rudman...can u pls guide me what is it?
and if u guide me reading texts for the subject...

im actually very newwwwwwww and confused abt what material.i have joined student-doctor forum.some r reading texts like lippincott...some r reading decks,question papers....some read first aid n mosby.....some say kaplan is vast.im so confused what to do.

and the basic thing...how many months of prep for part1...how many hours in a day?

Ans:For Anatomy I feel that’s the subject to be done at last for u tend to forget it just becos its lil vast. Read Kaplan and refer text I think that should be enough to get you a good score. The first aid i read Is for USMLE but I read that only ( relevant stuff ) cos I found it good enuf and helpful in revision.
Lippincot is a good book, but u are not going to read it for NBDE. U don have to go in that detail. . Rudman is set of question papers of all part 1 subjects u can practice on.
The material I have put is what I had and wht was enuf for me 

This is wht I told my other friends if it helps you
Anyhow...what all material i studied is on my page.
Books which if u don read ( like concepts are clear ) is ok, but i read Robbins patho, wheelers for some DA topics and Chaurasia for anatomy head n neck and Inderbeer singh for rest of body cos it is concise and we dont need much of rest of body stuff. Mind it anatomy is full body anat for NBDE. The way i followed my prepration was
First kaplan : go subject wise and that too in like don start biochem after microbio. I am saying this bcos the practice papers and old papers are available as Patho-micro combination and physio-biochem combination.
After finishing a subject i did the decks for that subject followed by question papers. Did my revision twice, though felt like shud have done more :-P
Did all the papers available, had a look at Crack the NBDE - felt it too tough for me and left it.
In the end only those decks which i marked like are tough to remember, first aid and recent question papers and rememberd papers.

Ques: ok i will try and go this way but then i have always been an average student will i be able to do it? i passed my BDS with just an aggregate of 60% i think even my ECE wud come low :-(
Ans:yes oyu will be able to do it just believe in urself i know ppl which teachers used to call failures, personally speaking i was called hopeless case myself so don u doubt urself just work hard and with dedication. Next why do u think ur GPA wud be low? just go with it and let ECE do the work..even if its going to be low u cant do anything abt it na...so don get tense abt it ..prepare hard and get good score. ( for those reading and still in school forget abt NBDE till u start with ur internship go for a good score first for that will make ur GPA and if GPA is good you have far better chances in getting into a school than a screwed up GPA )


All the best folks...

absolutely great selflessness 4

In the end to summarize, I would say no school is the best school … it all boils down to what you want out of the schools. If you want the cheapest .. probably Boston is the best. If you want excellent clinical experience .. California schools, Minnesota, Penn and Michigan are all great schools. If you want help with your licensing exams, then Penn, Pacific and Boston are schools you can look into.If you want to specialize.. Penn, UCSF and Michigan are great schools…. See it all comes to what you want.

So my best advice would be … work towards your part 1 and improve your resume, get great recommendation letters from the US. Once you get that done, send in all your applications by end of August. Don’t wait for each school’s deadline, early applications help. Know what you want from your education. Know what you want to be. Research on every school - find if it gives you what you want. Still apply to every school even if some schools do not give what you want. Something is better than nothing. But aim for the best on your list. BASICALLY KNOW WHAT YOU WANT AND KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING.
Let the interviews roll in. September start preparing for the interviews .. answer and master basic questions llike :
1) Tell me about yourself
2) Why you?
3) Why this school?
4) Do you want to specialize?
5) What do you do for fun?
6) Have you read any book recently?
7) What have you done or completed back home .. what kind of crowns, what kind of endo work etc?
8) Why are your scores low in this section .. that is a given question?
9) What have you been doing in the US?
10) What did you do in your home country ?

Prepare answers that you can CONVERSE for three minutes for each of the above and master them… don’t cram them that should come out of your mouth like you meant every word you said... and it should be like you are talking to a friend... so keep repeating these answers and you will converse with your interviewer and not answer their questions. Talk to as many strangers as you can… it helps. And please don't be so sensitive. They are going to ask you faults in your application... why are these scores low, why no work experience.... all they want to know is why couldn't you do it and does your answer justify the situation enough to give you a seat over some student who has gotten such great scores, has an extra degree, more work experience and probably a research scientist! Now tell me - if you are hiring someone, why would you hire someone who has a 96 when you can hire someone who has a 92 with some experience in the field? So, don't be sensitive. It doesn't work in the US. Keep your feelings aside and talk like you are the best. Tell them what happened when things went wrong. Be sure and confident of yourself. If it doesn't work.. it's probably not meant for you.
. Take everything lightly.


Prepare for your practicals. Practice the following :

1) Class II amalgam
2) PFM on anterior
3) Molar Gold crown prep upper and lower
4) 3/4 and 7/8 crown ( if you know full gold crown preps on the molars ¾ and 7/8 are easy)
5) Onlay prep on molars
6) PFM premolar
7) Amalgam fill and carve


Rules I learnt was important in practical…
1)Never nick the adjacent tooth. Use a matrix band or wedge if you can (you can use it in every school except usc… they are particular that you don’t use anything.. they disqualified a student’s work because of that…)
2)And please don’t even ask this stupid question of whether you can unscrew the tooth if your preparation went wrong .. no you can not! We are all dentists only difference being we can work in another country.. if you screw up on a patient’s tooth can you tell the patient guess what I nicked your adjacent tooth or I prepared the cavity on the wrong tooth, so let me extract both the teeth and replace it??? I think that is the most absurd question I have ever come across. Before asking questions please do think!
3) Under preparation is far better than over preparation … Make mistakes that are adjustable. Don’t err on the side that is irreversible.
4) In problem based questions like the one at USC… remember every answer is correct as long as you make your preps well.



My ideal school would be a 24 - 28 month program that would give you the opportunity to externships for specialization/ research / vacation for one month each year whatever you would prefer, with a PBL curriculum and excellent faculty and the training you need to get your licensing exam .. its hard to get all in one school and that’s why each school is unique in its own way … maybe one day I will start a school that gives all these… but again you all readers there may not like this combination. So which is the best school? Which ranked number 1? - The school that accepts you and the school that gives you what you want.

So good luck all!!

All the best folks...

absolutely great selflessness 3

BU – Completely personal interview! Yes their criteria is 90 and above…. So you can be sure of admission into this school if you have a 90 and above whereas it doesn’t work that way in the other schools… though I don’t agree with this criteria because I think its simple to get a 95 + if you sit at home and prepare for 6 months (like most of us married Indian women do ). I think we are capable of achieving more than that … I know the reason everyone is going to give is - "I am on H4 I cannot do anything" Well, be glad you are on H4. I was on change of status .. means no status for 10 months and I volunteered at a free dental clinic... it was tiring! No driver’s license... had to take the public transport for 4 hours everyday. Anyway, let me not bore you with my life story . What I want to say is hardwork pays in some form. So if there is a will there is a way... don’t say you don’t have anything to do etc. if you are really set on something you can achieve whatever you think is impossible.
Back to the topic - I really liked the school.
PROS -
Yes a lot of preclinical, but they do have amazing faculty. There is one Dr. Mcmanama (sp? … sorry Dr. if you are reading this) .. everyone praises him like he is god and probably he is! So some excellent faculty.
Great mentor programs
They train you to WREB.
Nice city.
Everything is computerized and modern technology
Cheapest program in the country after Lomalinda.
CONS -

Overall I think the school is GREAT!! except of the very less clinical experience – we see around 10 patients only when we graduate! I don’t that is going to make me competent!

Edit - Great Research opportunities. Only thing is you have to allocate 12 hours a week for research (it is mandatory) and maintain a B+ to remain in the program

UMN –
Awesome school, very friendly people. It was a day’s interview that started with some history and pride of
Minnesota. There were three interviews all personal one-on one. Again, remember if they are picking at the faults in your application, they just want to know more about you. How you face criticism. Just answer those like you would to a friend. They are really nice people.
Pros – Awesome program.
Lots of opportunities to do research and externships.
Amazing patient pool – over 5 community rotations – lots of exepreince – we see almost 50 to 60 patients when we graduate! You also have a chance to go abroad for a couple months! I think that’s cool!
State of the art dentsim lab being built
Only school that said we have more chairs than students!! That was hilarious when I heard that!
Amazing faculty
I don’t know if they have ADLEX… I will find that out.
Dr Berthold is for Advanced standing as Dr. Dugoni is for the regular dental program.
Cons - New program… so you maybe doubtful about the quality but I am not
Weather – I hate it ! Gave me a headache
You never know what they are looking for, so present your best self as your best package, if it is for you it will
happen!

UMICH –
They did call me this year… I am not sure if I am going to go. I attended the interview last year. I don’t clearly remember but I will write what I remember. The day starts with an introduction and program overview. Followed by Multiple – Mini Interviews. You will go through 6 stations 10 minutes at each. At two you will have a written scenario – read and give YOUR opinion - let your answers be casual, confident and crisp. At one is a role play – basically you have a written scenario. You read it and then assume that the interviewer in front of you is the other person in the scenario and act out the play. If you have no clue of what they are talking about, you can explain the situation. At two they ask you ethical questions related to dentistry like X-ray exposure or holistic dentistry and you give them your opinion again. The last one is a general 10 minute conversation with an interviewer – what do you like about dentistry?, what you don’t like?, tell me about yourself and where are you from and so on .. personal interview. Lunch with the students followed by OSCE – which is basically treatment planning. They give you everything – case history, models, radiographs etc and ask you questions based on either treatment planning, or what is the mistake, or calculating some insurance costs, or some oral pathology question and so on. There are 10 station in total with 20 minutes at each station. It is very tiring! Next day is the practical exam – class II, classII with fill, molar endo access preparation, PFM, Class IV… they change it every year. The previous year they had 9 or 10 preparations in 4 hours! We got lucky last year with 4 or 5. Then we meet and talk with the director and Ms. Pattie Katcher. Talk… they want you to talk … ask questions and know more about the school.

PROS – Excellent clinical experience. Similar to the UMN program with lots community programs
Great faculty
Intensive summer semester for preclinical
I don’t remember a whole lot but I was definitely impressed with the school

CONS – New program (relatively)
Weather – it is freezing cold

All the best folks...