Day in the Life of a Dental Student: Lecture

As promised I will be showing you what a typical week for me is currently like through this "Day in the Life of a Dental Student Series". Each day is unique so I will covering a few different days this week. Here is an overview of my current weekly schedule:

Mondays/Thursdays: 

8 hrs of Lecture

Tuesdays: 

Morning: Dental Lab 

Afternoon: Independent Study

Wednesdays: 

Morning: Exam & Lecture 

Afternoon: Dental Lab 

Fridays: 

8hrs of Dental Lab 

Everyday class is from 8am-5pm with an hour for lunch. Unfortunately, attendance is mandatory which I am not a fan of, more so for the lecture days. One advantage we do have is that we do not have blocks-which are periods of the semester where you would take several exams in a short period of time. This is the system implemented by most medical programs. Instead, we have a weekly exam and the jury is still out on whether or not I like this. Sometimes you just want a day off, but there is always an exam around the corner. 

This was my schedule for yesterday (Monday) so I had lecture all day: 

7AM The dog wakes me up because he wants to go out and I panic a little because I'm running late. Take the dog out & feed him. 

7:15AM Quick shower & hair goes back into a bun. Too tired for contacts, so glasses it is. 

7:30AM Get Dressed & Basic Make-up

7:50AM I could totally leave right now and be on time for school, but I decide that it's worth it to be late to make and eat breakfast. 

Honey Wheat Bread w. Egg and Fresh Strawberries

Pumpkin Spice Coffee w. Whip Cream & Cinnamon 

8:15 AM Leave for school 

8:25AM-9:50AM  In class and taking notes, really wishing that we weren't still in our neurology unit. Ironically we spend this part of the morning learning about circadian rhythm and sleep cycle EEGs. Just reminds me of how tired I am.

9:50AM-10AM Realized as soon as I got to school that I had left my cell phone at home. Thought I would survive because my text messages are linked to my computer, but I can't take it anymore. Race home for my phone during a break (we get a 10minute break every hour). Thankful that I live close to the school and that I wore flats today. 

10AM-12PM Back in class and taking notes

12PM-1PM Sonicare Lunch and Learn: Lunch and Learns are programs that companies offer geared towards offices and students in medical programs. Basically they can be anything from someone talking about a new type of procedure to companies advertising products. Our local medical school offers these to their students on a weekly basis, but the dental school is really strict about them. This is only our second one this year.

1PM-2PM Back in lecture for the afternoon. Taking even more notes

2PM Time for more coffee-love that we have a Keurig in the student lounge. This time I have caramel vanilla coffee



2PM-5PM I can't take it anymore-my attention span in waning. I will have to listen to the rest of the lectures later (school video records them for us). However, I am required to physically be present so if I am not going to pay attention I decide to be productive and study for my test on Wednesday 

5:15PM Spend time with the dog and make/eat dinner

Brown Rice & Black Beans w. Veggies and Greek Yogurt 

6:30PM-8:30PM Study for Exam on Wednesday

8:30PM I'm too exhausted to study any longer today and I can't have any more coffee so I decide to call it a night and start early tomorrow. Get ready for bed.

9PM-10PM Me Time AKA wasting time on the internet

10PM Bed