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. Dont wait for each schools 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
dont 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.
Let me show you an example -
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=349317 read that thread and see how insensitive replies are floating around and the OP doesn't care! That's how we must be. 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 dont use anything.. they disqualified a students work because of that
)
2)And please dont 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 patients 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. Dont 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 thats 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!!
me too
