How To Be A Success At A Dental School And Build A Rewarding Career In Dentistry

By Author: Bimol Bee
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Dental schools have been enjoying noticeable growth in popularity recently. Each year more and more aspiring students become engaged in the application processes, passing their DATs, so the best and most worthy of them (or probably just those with more favorable relations with Lady Luck) are admitted and become dental students. The training process of a good and reputable dental school covers four years, and involves nonstop learning, hard working and hectic tribulations if you are really determined to win and excel in this healthcare specialization. As you can see, the competition is very intensive even at the stage of getting your dental school degree and license. When you leave the school upon your, as we hope, successful graduation, you will be faced with even more severe competition in the employment market of healthcare industry. In order to build a rewarding and fulfilling career in the dentistry segment you should better be prepared the best way and that means you really need to excel while working your way through your dental school training.

A piece of good news is that actually there are a few strategies and ...
... ploys to facilitate your progress towards your ultimate goal of becoming a dentistry superstar and getting the most from your dental school training. By using those methods you will find it much easier to excel at a dental school.

The very first thing of paramount importance for becoming a dentistry superstar is to establish with 100% surety that becoming a dentist is your sincere desire. The rigors of top dental school training are much more hectic than even very rigorous journey through a generic medical school. So, you must be prepared to survive a shock of your first year experience at the dental school, which may require all the devotion and determination you will be able to aggregate. In many ways dentistry training is similar to learning a new language – you need a lot of desire to succeed and some special natural-born talent to compliment it (or, probably, the other way around but that does not make much difference). You will need to use all your mental and time resources to be able to concentrate and absorb totally new vocabulary, terms and theories. But with high enough level of determination and self-motivation you will be able to become a success and excel among other students of the school.

As you can see, taking into consideration all the hardships you will have to endure and overcome on the way to the desired dental practice, you need to be absolutely sure that you really want to become a dentist. If you do not feel 100% sure about this than there is no point in spending your time, mental energy and finance while going through the dental school training. No point at all. Because without the genuine interest to motivate you and power your academic ability, even when the latter is of more than superior kind, the mastering of dentistry can turn out to be the task beyond your capacities. It takes more than learning ability to become a good dentist, to say nothing about a really great one.

If you are sure that your decision to become a dentist is solid as the rock, then you definitely have a chance to excel your dental school training and make a great dentist, in the long run. The first prerequisite for your dental training success would be you ability to manage your study time in the most effective way. The advice may look as something obvious and even trite, but as it happens a lot of people have a tendency to push aside the most efficient strategies leading to their dental school training success.

You will have to experiment a little and find out which ways to study will work the best for you, individually. For some people it works better when their studying time is consolidated in one block. They prefer to devote four or five hours of their free time after the classes to doing their assignments and projects, upon which the go to sleep with a clear conscience. But this method does not work for all individuals, some students get fatigued too soon and it gets extremely difficult for them to concentrate on the teaching material after studying a couple of hours without an interval. That would be a signal that your study habits need to be adjusted and you should try some other pattern of your studying hours. For instance, it may be advisable to split your free time between the classes, devoting an hour each morning for your studies, then assigning another hour or two after lunch, complementing them with a couple of hours in the evening, when the classes are over. So, do some experimenting to determine which pattern turns out to be most agreeable with you.

But you should remember that having a little fun from time to time will help you relax and get better rest after the concentration on dental training, so do not neglect to become involved in extracurricular activities. Dental school should never become your whole life. Having a little fun, socializing with your friends or participating in some kind of a volunteer program would be highly beneficial for your academic success. In this way you can achieve the perfect balance of your daily activities, dividing the time between studies and extracurricular activities. You will see a little bit afterwards that your grades are actually improving. Also devote the due attention to such issues as eating wholesome food and doing enough physical exercises. If you concentrate 100% of your time on studying you can get overtired and too stressed and that will never be good for your academic results. Take care of little refreshing change in your activities before you hit the books with a doubled energy and zeal! Remember that old and wise saying, “All Work and No Play Makes You a Dull Boy!”

In case you have difficulties with absorbing the teaching material, it can be very helpful if one finds a good personal tutor. The training aspects of a good dental school are too many and versatile, and not every student is able to excel in all of them at the same level. The training involves too many different classes, lectures and lab projects – it would be almost an inhuman feat to excel in each and every of them at the same time. So, if you feel you are falling behind in a subject do not procrastinate and go looking for a suitable, experienced tutor. Take care to improve your grades in advance, before the grades get out of your control for good, otherwise it might be too late.

The advantages of getting a tutor are several. In the first place, a tutor will offer you a helping hand in the process of absorption of the material learned in class, so you will get to its understanding in a quicker and more profound way, which would be an advantage. Secondly, a tutor will assist you with your adaptation the student’s life in dental school and soon you will feel quite at home there. Thirdly, a peer tutor will advise your regarding the best teachers, as well as the hardest instructors, to say nothing about the most efficient ways to organize your studying time and schedule. Do not miss your chance to take advantage of a good tutor; this greatly enhances your chance to excel at a dental school.

Careful and comprehensive preparation for Board Exams and Clinical Exam should become an essential plan of your project to excel in dental school. The first Board Exam you will need to take and pass successfully after your second year of dental training, while in the fourth year you will have to face the second Board Exam and Clinical Exam. Passing all those exams is a critical requirement, since if you fail than you will not be licensed to practice dentistry and will not graduate. This means all your efforts and finance have been spent in vain, so you should better take care of preparation for those exams in due time, not to be greatly sorry afterwards.

As you see, getting through a dental school means a lot of blood, sweat and tears, and very hard work as well. But this hard work is to pay off in the long run and upon the graduation you will be entitled to start-up your own private practice or continue education taking up a residency program, which many dental school graduates consider a very advantageous option!

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