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...

absolutely great selflessness 2

Pacific – The great or so it is called.Very very very friendly! Very stress free though that day wasn’t good for me … you know one of those days where everything goes wrong! But they still made every effort to make it nice for me. The first day is orientation .. dress up like you are going to attend a fashion show... they are all so well dressed. Second/ Third day is your interview. Your time slot is given according to alphabetical order of your last name .. so if your last name is in S or V or so on expect it to be on the third day. The last day was the practical exam. They had as usual the Class II on lower molar and a PFM on a central incisor. The articulator was not equilibrated.. so don’t panic .. if you want you can tell them or write a note on the card they give you. But I didn’t. don’t think it was necessary especially when they give you the liberty to take the maxillary and mandibular typodonts separate when you work…. Again it’s your call.

Pros -
Friendly school
Everyone seems to be happy
Great/ huge alumni .. networking
Their mission – to make you the best general practioner you can
be .. and they work on it
They too offer dual degree programs .. correct me if I am wrong
State of the art technology
If ADA has accredited their regular dental program to be completed
in three years that means there is something commendable about
them.
They mentor you towards the Regional licensing exam you want to
take .. if its Wreb they will help you prepare for that. If it NERB
they will help you prepare towards that

Cons -
Expensive (most expensive second to NYU)
Not very high specialization rate
Not a lot of research opportunities…
Can’t really find anything wrong about this school… I think its more because their mission is to make their students to be wonderful GPs and they work on that! They don’t promise what they cannot do.

Edit - Some extra information from one of the students attending Pacific-
Well, about the clinical experience at Pacific ... I just don't know what to say. It truly is overwhelming. I mean just an example, my seniors have been in the clinic for only about 9 months now, and on average have been assigned 50-60 patients each ... so far ... they still have about 7 more months to go before they graduate.To get to your point, the clinical experience has been just amazing so far.
Faculty faculty faculty. They really make all the difference.
As for competency based learning, it is true that it is for the pre-clinical courses, but it extends into the clinic as well. No evaluation is based mostly on the competency feedback/assessment you receive. You have to "graduate" from one procedure in order to do the next, until you finally graduate. It is nothing too complicated really, just a more thorough evaluation approach. As a more simplistic example, you can not proceed to a Class II preparation on a patient before you have mastered a Class I. Makes sense ... and so on and so forth.
Clinical requirements are very demanding. I do not have specific numbers, but I am told that they are more than a hand (and mouth) full. If you are not in lectures, you will be in the clinic. If you are not in the clinic, you will be in the lab (doing your own lab work - aesthetic wax-ups, partial and complete dentures, mounting study models, ...). If you are not in any of the above ones, you are probably in bed recharging for the following day. They really eat, breath and dream about clinical work, deadlines and requirements.
As you mentioned also, Ortho and Maxillofacial being the only specialties, the students get to do the rest of the specialty work. Even the Maxillofacial guys are not even in the same building as us. They spend most of their time in the hospital miles away from us.
If you want to do impacted molar extractions, they will guide you. If you want to do perio surgery, they will guide you. Endo molars, implants ... it all boils down to how much you can handle !

USC – The interview was two days. The first day was three case based questions .. something along the lines .. your patient comes to the clinic with this problem. He desire esthetics and minimal tooth reduction or an amalgam restoration or so on. Determine the appropriate indirect/ direct restoration you could do and prepare the tooth accordingly. There were three questions and 6 hours!! That’s a lot of time! Second day was a PBL interview where they give you a case history in pieces of information (totally 4). Its not the answer they are looking for. It is how you get to the process of the answer. So forget the answer. Don’t ask me or anyone what it was, because if you do so you will end up in made up thoughts and that’s not what you want. It is obvious to the proctors whether you have the answers with you or not. So work your way through. Its nice .. it almost like you are a detective trying to find the culprit in team work.. and that’s really fun to do .. I would call it the dentistry version of the program HOUSE .. Hugh Laurie ( He is HOT!!! ).

Pros - Good school… simply love the PBL system. We all know our theory .. atleast most of us .. what we have got to know is how to solve a case. I think the PBL curriculum is very intriguing (maybe not the right word). I can’t say a lot about this school. Two reasons… I was too tired by the time I got to this interview and two I couldn’t talk to anyone really about this school. I am still doing my research on this school. As I find more I will tell you guys.

Cons –
From the interview I realized there was zero personalization (maybe not the right word again).
Also, heard some cheating was going on there with the proctors helping the applicants during the practical exam. I don’t know how much that would help but still gives a hand over someone not being helped… which I think is unfair.

All the best folks...