TIPS FOR SURVIVING YOUR 1ST YEAR OF DENTAL SCHOOL!

Hello Dental Fam!

Congrats to all you first years who just started dental school! Here are some (hopefully) helpful tips that will help you get through the year.

1. Use Microsoft one note to take notes.
2. Don't use too much PVS putty or you will run out
3. Buy floss picks because they will help you put on a rubber dam
4. Get locker shelf's and desk organizers for the locker and drawers at your desk
5 Find a second year to help you organize your locker. Some things you won't need until 3rd trimester and it will be frustrating to find if it is not organized.
6. Purchase or ask your benchmate to let you borrow or have sketching pencils and a good eraser for "drawing class aka morphology"
7. When equilibriating your typodont for a tpx, instead of grinding down all the teeth, you can also use adehesive and light cure to raise a tooth up.
8. Get free "bone box" app to help you learn anatomy of teeth
9. Use Armando and Osmosis videos on YouTube for studying
10. Find your own resources, ask as many people as you can about how they study but ultimately, create your own plan
11. When giving an oral presentation such as in the triple jump exam, "fake it until you make it" if you don't look confident it will show. Do this for your clinical exams as well
12. Before time practical exam day and clinical exam day, close your eyes and visualize yourself doing every step of the procedure. It works!
13. Remind yourself that everything will be ok and if you don't pass a test or class... There is always remediation and you will still graduate as a dentist
14. Take advantage of lunch and learns and get free lunch while you learn cool things for fun
15. Drink coffee to stay awake and Don't forget to drink water after drinking so much coffee. Make it at home to save money!
16. Do your wax-ups at home while listening to a podcast or nice music. You won't have the luxury of taking projects home soon after wax-ups are over.
17. Lock your bike using a U-haul lock so it doesn't get stolen like mine did 😞
18. Invest in airpods and try really hard not to lose them! It's convenient wearing cordless earphones in lab because you walk to the wet lab after and already had to deal with the cord from your loupe light.
19. Take advantage of all the "free things" that you are actually paying for with your school tuition. Some include, free Lyft rides, free HBO go, from Microsoft Office, free gym, tax off at Starbucks, discounts are other food places!
20. Take dental school seriously and learn the material but also have fun and remember to enjoy your time while it last