Known for most clinical exposure?

[itscoldoutside2018]

Where do students get the most clinical exposure? From other forums, I've seen UoP produces great general dentists while UCSF leaves the students seeking a GPR to feel more prepared. I talked to a dentist and he mentioned UAB being a good school for general practice.

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[Badgers2]

Midwestern AZ really focused on talking about how much clinical exposure their students get. They're located by the retirement communities in the Phoenix area so most of the patients are older. It seemed like the patients had the money to pay for pretty much anything the students wanted to do.

 

[Jueves]

I heard UDM holds it’s own clinically as well

 

[WolfsBane]

UMD, Rutgers and UKMC are others that I have heard have great clinical exposure.

 

[MambaTime]

What about university of Louisville?

 

[Vicviper]

I have ASDOH students rotate through my clinic on externship (of which they do 4+ months during their 4th year) - they are extremely well prepared, and my understanding is that they have much lower numbers of people going into AEGD or GPR.

 

[2TH MVR]

Just curious. How does anyone here besides faculty (Mr. Vicviper) really know what kind of clinical exposure you got in dental school and how that translates into success after school? The comment that "x-school" did not fully train you in the clinical areas whereby you needed to go to a GPR/AEGD seems unfounded. The inference is that if a student went to a traditional public school that offered specialty residencies ... that student will be less capable clinically in the real world.

I don't buy it. Clinical competence is a combination of intelligence, hand-eye coordination and tons of practice. Most of your clinical ability will come AFTER graduation regardless of the school you attended.

 

[deleted735879]

I am obviously biased... BUT! I was very impressed with University of Michigan's clinical exposure. They start clinics second semester of their second year, giving an additional 14 weeks of clinics compared to those schools who start in their third year. Additionally, I was very impressed with their 4th-year externships (If that is what you call them) where the students work full-time in a rural clinic for three weeks (They do this three times throughout totalling 9 weeks of full-time private practice work experience. They are also going to be adding an additional trip for a total of 12 weeks!).

 

[wgodw1]

I know this only counts if you’re a NC resident but at ECU you work in rural clinics for most of your fourth year


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[P7898]

Yeah at ECU you get to work in community service learning centers (basically rural dental clinics most/all of your fourth year).

 

[Vicviper]

I think having significant externships during 4th year is very important - I only had two weeks at Pitt, and those were the best and most productive weeks of dental school. Some schools like ASDOH do 3-4 months, and is basicly a mini-residency. Getting exposure to the real world for an extended time really builds experience and confidence. Seeing two patients a day for a three hour filling each doesn't really do much for you unless you're just starting 3rd year.

 

[itscoldoutside2018]

How can I maneuver the dental school websites to find what externships they offer? Do you have to call and ask?
I was looking at UCLA for example and they have externships where you only shadow. Then I looked at Georgia's and they didn't have any information.

 

[887194]

Most schools have great clinical exposure, some slightly better than others. However, it is up to you to be proactive and extract the most from your investment. Most dentists will agree that regardless of where you graduate, most of your clinical skills will develop after graduation.

 

[Life of Pablo]

I am obviously biased... BUT! I was very impressed with University of Michigan's clinical exposure. They start clinics second semester of their second year, giving an additional 14 weeks of clinics compared to those schools who start in their third year. Additionally, I was very impressed with their 4th-year externships (If that is what you call them) where the students work full-time in a rural clinic for three weeks (They do this three times throughout totalling 9 weeks of full-time private practice work experience. They are also going to be adding an additional trip for a total of 12 weeks!).

That's because half the school is shut down due to construction so they need to squeeze in extra clinic time somewhere.



I'm kidding

 

[shendo]

I think having significant externships during 4th year is very important - I only had two weeks at Pitt, and those were the best and most productive weeks of dental school. Some schools like ASDOH do 3-4 months, and is basicly a mini-residency. Getting exposure to the real world for an extended time really builds experience and confidence. Seeing two patients a day for a three hour filling each doesn't really do much for you unless you're just starting 3rd year.

I agree that having rotations in outside clinics can be beneficial especially for building up speed, however the caveat is that the quality of externship sites can vary alot. If you are at a good site with doctors that are eager to mentor you and allow you do to do a variety of procedures including endo, removable prosth, surgical ext's then it can be very beneficial. However, I've heard of students who are stuck at externship sites where they are limited to simple fillings, doing alot of hygiene without an assistant assigned to them and not allowed to do more complicated procedures since the doctors are too busy seeing their own patients.

 

[endorotary]

I interviewed at UAB and UCSF and honestly I felt that UAB had more clinical exposure that UCSF.

I was wondering the reason why you felt UAB had more clinical exposure than UCSF? Was it looking at their graduation requirements, or talking to the students at each school?

 

[Vicviper]

I agree that having rotations in outside clinics can be beneficial especially for building up speed, however the caveat is that the quality of externship sites can vary alot. If you are at a good site with doctors that are eager to mentor you and allow you do to do a variety of procedures including endo, removable prosth, surgical ext's then it can be very beneficial. However, I've heard of students who are stuck at externship sites where they are limited to simple fillings, doing alot of hygiene without an assistant assigned to them and not allowed to do more complicated procedures since the doctors are too busy seeing their own patients.

For sure, I've heard from many rotating students that some are better or worse. Where I am now (a fellow NYU/L AEGD site ) We try to keep our externs as busy as possible. However... I used to work at another ASDOH rotation site, and it was known as the "site to study for boards at " because it was so slow ( I wasn't in charge of students at that point).

 

[weaselodeath]

extract the most

Intentional pun or not? Nice one doc!

 

[Auntymarkovnikov]

UOP = clinical afff

 

[Teeth4Life1234]

Is there any way to find out average procedures completed for graduates at each school? I forgot where, but I saw someone post a national average somewhere compared to her school. Just wondering if there's a site that compiles all that information?

 

[Lane138]

I wouldn't care too much about the "clinical reputation" or average procedures. Remember that no matter where you attend, you won't be comfortable with being a full-fledged dentist right after graduation. You know how in nature some birds kick their offspring off a cliff, and the little birdies learn to fly only out of desperation? It's not as grim as that, but almost. There simply isn't enough time in 3rd and 4th year to get proficient in most procedures. That's why most grads nowadays are choosing to do a GPR.

In dental school I did 9 simple extractions. My friends at other dental schools did 20-30 including surgical extractions... It didn't make a shred of difference because within my first month of work (at a mostly Medicaid clinic) I pulled over 50 teeth, some of which were way more difficult than what I would have been allowed to do in dental school, and I learned more about pulling teeth than I did in dental school.

The other good advice is, if you are an enterprising person, you can get a lot of procedures done in dental school.