snow day, study day

Hi there! 🙋🏾‍♀️ Just checking in to say that I'm still alive over here since its been a quick minute. When I said that this month would be a busy one, I didn't fully recognize the truth behind that statement. Mostly, I've been juggling between getting settled into my new away clinical rotation and studying for this beast. And today (and yesterday), I find that I have extra time to study...thanks to a snow day. So you can find me around town hauled up in the corners of various coffee shops and cafes...studying all the things. 

part two, round two

Here we go with part 2, round 2 of my dental school boards. Hooray for standardized tests. When I took the entrance exam for dental school, I postponed my exam over and over and over again...until I couldn't anymore. When I finally did take the darn test, I aced it and got multiple offers to dental school. A few years into dental school, when it came time to take the first part of the National Board Dental Exam, I was terrified all over again and certain that I would do horribly. But of course I passed. So when it was time to sit for yet another standardized exam for dental school, I finally convinced myself that it would be fine this time around. I've done this before.  

this week of dental school

Orange 🍊you glad that it's finally the weekend? And a 3 day weekend at that. Honestly, I don't know what I'm soooo excited about, seeing as my plans for this weekend involve catching up on lab-work at the dental school. Ha! 

After this crazy busy week of dental school, I'm just happy to have a little more dominion over my schedule. Here's a peak at this crazy week I've had. 

dental school lately: vol. 5

One of the (many) reasons that I chose dentistry as a career is the flexibility. What other medical career offers such great hours? Even as a student, I've managed to make time to travel and see the world and really enjoy life on my schedule. 

dental school lately : vol. 1

It feels that there has been so much going on for me with dental school lately with hitting a milestone marking a year away, a year back and starting a new semester. And I need to start documenting all these big changes.

When I first created this space, I blogged about dental school semi-frequently, but then this space became my stress-free zone, which meant talking about and sharing anything but dental school. But, I would be remise if I didn’t document my journey. I’m in a unique position with being a woman, a black woman and pursuing a career where there are few people like me. As I’ve been getting back into sharing more and more about this journey, I want to do regular updates, hopefully bi-monthly. I’m hoping that this gives motivation to others, but also serves as a time capsule for me to look back on when graduation day finally comes. 

A Day in the Life: Weekend Edition

For this month's version of A Day in the Life of a Dental Student...I thought that I would mix things up a little by showing what my weekends look like. I've been told that weekends can be wonderfully relaxing and have even been fortunate enough to experience a few of these myself. But for the most part, my weekends are typically longer than my school days. Or at least they feel that way. 

Study Plan for NDBE Part 1

I am officially studying for the first part of the National Boards Dental Examination. I have to do well on both parts of this national exam plus a regional practical exam to become a licensed dentist...so it's kind of a big deal! While I have been studying passively here and there, it's time to crack down. 

A Day in the Life of a Dental Student

Stab Lab

If you read my January Review, you know that one of the things that I recently covered in dental school was how to numb a patient. When we learned how to do things like drill on teeth and make dentures, we practiced on mannequins with plastic teeth. The plastic teeth are actually harder to work with than real teeth, so it was a good simulation. But you can't mimic major arteries, nerves, or canals in a dummy head. So in order to get real life experience for numbing patients, we injected each other! Here's a peak at my day. 

If at First You don't Succeed....

If you didn't get accepted this time around, don't fret. It just means that you have a little more work to do. But do know that you are not alone in this, especially with regards to dentistry. With so few dental schools in this country only offering a few spots, it's common to have to apply multiple times. As someone who has had the opportunity to be on both sides of the application process, I'd like share my advice on what to do if you didn't accepted... 

NBDE: National Board Dental Examination

Every licensed dentist has to pass a written national exam and a regional practical exam. I start taking the national boards in August. Now, this may seem far away, but there is a lot of material to cover. And this has to be juggled along with my regular school schedule. Thus, I decided to start studying early. 

Here is what I'm up against.....Part 1 of the boards is an 8 hour exam with about 400 questions from the following areas: 

Anatomic Sciences

Biochemistry-Physiology 

Microbiology-Pathology

Dental Anatomy and Occlusion  

See why I'm starting now? 

Study with a First Year Dental Student

Hello All, I wanted to do this post before I get too much into the Fall Semester of second year as my study habits will be changing. We now have more of a focus on dental lab practicals, and less on taking tests-although studying for boards (upcoming post) needs to start soon. Boooo!

My Study Mantra

With at least one exam a week for the past year, I like to think that I'm fairly decent at studying. It's just become apart of my routine and without even realizing it I developed a few rules to help myself cope with the difficulty of dental school. So I'd like to share my study mantra with all of you with the hopes that it will help someone else out there.