Musings of the dental nature....with other stuff

Boards and Beyond

2008-07-27T10:59:00.001-07:00

Boards are done, the semester ended, and now all there is to do is pretty much see patients. Time has been going by slowly and I have so much free time that I am bored at times. Crazy. It has been a long time, years in fact, since I have been really bored. Being bored has let my mind wander a bit, and I have started thinking about what I am going to do when I get out of school. I still want to buy or startup my own practice, but the reality is starting to hit about how scary that could be. But, I will have to do it sometime, and I really don't think that an associateship or residency is for me. I am too sick of making money for someone else, and I do not think I can do too many more years of doing dentistry the way I want to.

So, I started my journey towards my practice by going to dentaldemographics.com and beginning to research the areas I want to go when I graduate. At this point I am trying to compile fourteen zip codes to have studied and then I will move onto the next step of deciding whether or not to buy or scratch start. Exciting and scary times.

2008-05-03T17:07:00.000-07:00

Here is what I have consumed myself with since the semester ended. If you look at the fading tulips, you can see the annuals already planted.

Bored...

2008-04-30T07:49:00.000-07:00

Which is a good thing...I think. I have waited two years to finally be done with the worst Temple could offer me and now that it is here, I don't know what to do with myself. I keep reminding myself that I need to enjoy it while it lasts, for a couple of reasons. 1-I will be academically cleared soon to take the boards, and that will be stressful, and 2-when we get patients and have classes, it will be time consuming and stressful once again.

So, in trying to stay relaxed I have begun to fix up the lawn. I have planted my salsa garden (jalepenos, tomatoes, etc), planted the annuals for this summer, and need to lay down fertilizer sometime today or tomorrow. Today my goal is to clean the living room, lay fertilizer, and maybe tackle the basement (if the wife gets laundry done in time). Boring, I know, but I love it.

Clinic begins...sort of

2008-04-25T15:36:00.000-07:00

So the horrible semester is finally done, and we have started into the summer session which consists of Treatment Planning and Introduction to Clinic. Talk about getting into the good stuff. Lectures are a lot more laid back, but full of useful information, and we are finally in the clinic. True, it is just assisting the upperclassmen, but it is in the clinic. We have one admissions and one oral surgery that are scheduled for us, and then we have to go in on our own time and attend two sessions of pedo, endo, treatment planning, removable, fixed prosthetics, and restorative. I have done my required time in Admissions and one session in restorative and treatment planning.

Admissions was a little boring at first, as we are waiting for someone to come to be admitted. But once the patient showed up, it was a little intimidating. You have to review the medical history, and it is amazing how many people are just sucking down the medication. One thing that was crazy is when the attending doctor grills you on what to do if the patient has this medication or what would you ask or what would prescribe for this problem remembering that the patient has these problems. It got hectic and you are humbled when you realize how much you need to know. The good news is, I know most of the information, I just need to learn how to mash it all together and apply it to each situation.

Treatment planning is kind of fun. It basically consists of a recall/hygiene appointment in private practice without the hygiene cleaning. We record the probing depths, mobility, recession, previous restorations, and then treatment plan (duh) what would be best for the patient to help them get back to their optimal health.

Finally Done

2008-04-18T18:39:00.001-07:00

Finals ended yesterday. Finally. Ha. Scores have been trickling in so far, and so far so good. I have aced every final up to this point (with a 90 being the lowest) and am glad that two weeks with 2-3 hours of sleep a night paid off. I am a little worried about my local anesthesia test, as it wasn't so much on local anesthesia as it was on who discovered Oxygen and math. Remember that I haven't done any long division since the eleventh grade (which sadly was ten years ago). But alls well that ends well.

Waiting for Local Anesthesia

2008-04-16T06:41:00.001-07:00

Now, I know that this picture has nothing to do with dentistry (or at least legit dentistry), but it is cool, and I really should be studying so I went with it. It is 9:44 am, Thursday morning and my local anesthesia test is this morning. I am so sick of studying that I couldn't take it anymore and decided to throw down a couple of thoughts on here.

Finals has mostly come and gone, minus today's anesthesia test and tomorrow's Oral Path test. I can't believe that they are almost done and we pseudo-start in the clinic on Monday (pseudo-start meaning we are in the clinic, but just to observe. I believe we get patients sometime in May). It all started with Pharm and it started well. I aced that test (quite literally, and thankfully making up for my first Pham test) and have since had Perio, Radiology, Endo, and two Pedo tests (don't even get me started how dumb that was). I have done quite well in everything except Endo, which I have no clue how I did.

Every Endo question had two possible correct answers, and depending on which question she picks as correct will dictate what my score will be.

Anyways, I am looking through Anesthesia and am bored to death...well back to the grind.

Drudging up to finals

2008-04-03T13:38:00.001-07:00

Thursday once again. I can't believe that in one weeks time, I will be done with Pharm. That is fun and crazy at the same time. It feels like I have been studying for this class forever, but still have so much left to do. Finals are coming up quick, with Perio on Tuesday, Pharm on Thursday and Radio on Friday. Then, Monday is Endo, Tuesday is Pedo, Wednesday is Pedo again with Anesthesia, and finally Oral Path of Thursday. So, I guess that means in two weeks, I will be done with the hard part of dental school, or so they tell me. I can't believe how much I have studied the last two weeks. I have kept telling myself that soon it will be over, and then I can relax, but that motivation is quickly wearing off.

Tomorrow we have our big denture practical. We get to rip the teeth out of the denture wax-up we have been working on for the last month and set up our teeth in a couple of hours. Fun times. I actually don't mind the waxing up as much as other people in my class. Granted, it is not my favorite thing to do [I would much rather be doing Endo (my new found love), or restorative or anything dental related other than pedo] but it is a nice break from all of the stress of finals looming. My lowest practical grade this semester was an 87 in Endo and I think a 90 in Restorative, so I am not too worried about tomorrow at all. Even if I bomb the practical, I should still be sitting well in that class.

Dang...I hear something softly whispering my name from across the room. And I have a sneaking suspicion that is my Oral Path stuff...

Another week gone

2008-03-28T16:43:00.000-07:00

It is Friday already. I can't believe how fast time has been flying by. I really can't believe it when I sit down to study Pharm and it seems like I get through half of what I want to and over two hours have passed by. That part stinks. Pharm is a scary class for me. It is cumulative (which completely sucks, but it probably should be...grrr) and that is scary. That is a lot of drugs that I supposedly have a good grasp on that will be tested on in no particular order. One of the few things that gives me hope is that I see some of the upperclassmen and tell myself that if they could do it, so can I....ha ha.

One crazy thing that has been going on here lately has been the recent number of attacks on SEPTA trains by teenagers. Over the past few weeks, it has mainly been teenager on teenager, but yesterday that changed. Sean Patrick was killed by four truant teenagers for no apparent reason. According to the many news sites (here is one) he just was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It is crazy how uncivilized this city is. This city has some of America's most important history, amazing culture, and atmosphere, but turn the corner and this city is a dump. Some of the areas in this city are unbelievable. Not only can you not believe that human beings live this way, but I am amazed at how little they want to change their lives. Anyways, just one more unbelievable story out there.

Back to school. I can't believe that I am getting ready for finals. This is what I have been waiting for what seems like forever. I am so pumped to finally get the chance to work on real people. As exciting as typodont teeth are, and realistic as you try to make doing endo on real teeth feel like a real patient, as much as drilling into pig skulls seems more realistic, it is not the same. I can't wait to not only work on people, but to have the interaction with them. I have been working for a very, very successful dentist and I want to see if I have learned anything from him when it comes to dealing with humans.

This last week we received an email from our restorative IV teacher about a quiz we took last week. I did fine on it, but a lot of the class did very poorly (failing badly poorly). She decided that we would retake the quiz next Wednesday. At first I was bugged, because I don't want to spend another day of my life studying that stuff, but then when she said that the quiz was optional and she would take the higher of the two scores, I thought what the heck. I will study a little and see if I can't pad my grade a little so I am not as worried come finals. Anyhow, the wife wants me off the computer to spend a little time with them before I get to feeling guilty again and bust out Pharm.....

p.s. I found the pics of my gum grafting on pigs....I will have to post those soon. I still can't find my implant pictures. :(

Tonight, you get two for one

2008-03-24T18:48:00.000-07:00

Just about to sit down and tackle a Pharm back exam in preparations for the final coming up soon, and then my son had a milestone in his life. Whether it is a good one or bad one, well that is up to you, but I am leaning towards not so good. My wife is playing with one of the hundreds (or so it seems) toys that he received from the wife and I, grandparents, wife's patients, etc for Easter when I hear a cough/sneeze. The wife lets out a holler and calls for a tissue. Just seconds later, another shriek (again from the wife) comes from across the room with a more frenzied call for a tissue. I put down the back test, get the tissue and go to deliver the wanted good. When I get there, I discover what the commotion was all about.

My son sneezed, partially blowing out a bugger (gross, I know, but I must continue). That was the cause of the first holler. Then, probably due to the fact that Garrett is now 4 1/2 months old and discovering all sorts of new feelings and that he can direct his hands very deftly now, Garrett takes his finger straight to his nose and cleans that nostril right up. Hence the second scream. My son's first nose picking experience. My son is now officially a nose picker; at 4 1/2 months. Like I said, whether or not you think that is good, well that is up to you. I just wanted to get this special moment in time written down.

Quiet before the storm

2008-03-24T18:20:00.000-07:00

Mid-terms came and went, were stressful and are now done. It feels weird, the quiet before the storm. Starting April 8, we begin finals which runs until April 17. So, as of today, there is 24 days until this all ends. I have been trying to get through Endo and Pharm, but it feels as though I am not going to remember all of this long enough for finals. It is hard to really describe how it feels. I know in my mind that I need to be cracking down and really getting this info down, because I am running out of time, but there isn't that feeling of urgency that really makes you bust your butt off.

Today was our endo practical. We had to access two molars; one maxillary and one mandibular molar. That wasn't too bad. My mandibular molar access was a little wide, but I am happy with it considering that is was only the second access I have ever done (whoops, I should of practiced maybe once or twice more) and the pulp chamber was very, very small. Talk about being relieved when I finally found the pulp chamber. We also had to access and obturate the canal. That went smoothly.

All in all, not a bad day.

Shooting at School

2008-02-23T20:01:00.000-08:00

Photo Info

Today is Saturday, I am watching the Jazz game while my son is being used as workout weight by my wife, I decided to write up a little something. So much for my daily update, huh? Ha ha. Well, something interesting did happen to me this week. On Wednesday, in the subway station in front of the school police shot a suspect. A link to the story is found on abc.com. It was pretty crazy. I actually didn't even know anything had happened until I was getting ready to go home for the day. I grabbed up my stuff after a wonderful afternoon in our "special session" denture course (total waste of time...okay, not total, just not exactly organized to produce maximal efficiency) and headed down the stairs out the door and was greeted by pandalerium (as jeff foxworthy would say). There were cops everywhere, tv crews were everywhere, and there was nowhere for me to go to get home. I called the wife, and she was able to turn on the tv and internet to find out what was going on.

Apparently, two undercover cops found a guy smoking in between cars on the subway. They removed him from the subway, when he started to fight them, ran away, then for some strange, dumb reason, decided to turn around and pull a gun on the cops. So, the cops (as any cop would) shot him. What that meant for me was nothing more than a headache. Don't get me wrong, it is a sad commentary on the state of Philadelphia, that someone smoking on the subway would lead to gun shots being fired, but I guess you tend to get desensitized by this stuff. That might be part of the reason why this kind of behavior is so common here. It happens so much, that it isn't really news anymore. It is just a headache.

Anyways, I had to cram onto a way too crowded bus, wait half an hour while the bus driver tried to explain that when he said "no stops from here to Girard street" actually meant he wasn't going to stop.

Every person that came up to the bus: "Do you stop at XXXXXX St?"

Driver: "No, only Girard"

Next person: "So, do you stop here?"

Driver: "No, only Girard"

And so on. I came home and talked with the wife about buying a car, or bringing out the old "green" car (a 1994 Toyota Tercel) from Utah, and so on. But I think we have decided to risk life and limb to save the $15,000 a car would cost us over the next two and a half years and continue to take the subway. I even tempted the wife with a new Jeep Liberty, but she didn't budge (which is probably a good thing; if she gave into me, we would probably be one million bucks in the hole, with her around, we can keep it in the hundreds of thousands).

Well, the wife just brought the son by, and he has his sleepy eyes and still needs a bath, so I am off for the night.

Peace.

Oral Path done, time for Perio

2008-02-11T19:38:00.001-08:00

Oral Path exam has come and gone, and it wasn't that bad. The questions were all very straight forward with no surprises. I definitely can't complain; if every test was like the one today, then I don't think I would ever worry about a test again. It wasn't cake, you needed to know the information, but all the questions were straight forward and straight from the material presented. So, after the Oral Path test, it was time to study for the Endo quiz later that day. This entailed going Temple Hospital for a three dollar cheese steak and a quick run over the quizzes given in years past. This turned out to be a great move, as who can turn down a toasted, three dollar cheese steak, and the Endo quiz was straight off the back quizzes.

After the quiz was completed our row instructor pulled the row aside and told us how disappointed she was in the result of our first practicals. She said our row had the worst scores when it came to our accesses, and she felt that we weren't filing our canals out well enough. Although I admit that my access was not perfect, it was triangular, and not bad. I am proud to say that my filing was excellent, and that is not just my opinion; my row instructor told me so. :)

After that, half the class split to go study for the Perio midterm tomorrow, and me being either 1) the sheep that I am or 2) not wanting to dig through human teeth looking for a good one or two for an upcoming practical, decided to split as well. This meant that I could come home and spend some time with my wonderful wife on our anniversary, then scoot off to study for the perio test coming up that I had not even looked at yet.

Oral Pathology Midterm Looming

2008-02-10T19:34:00.001-08:00

So, here it is, awhile since my last post (which was posted full of good intentions to keep posting), the night before my oral pathology test, and possibly the worst week I have had in dental school, and I am here posting. I think of all the time I have wasted the last month and a half, when I could of been keeping up on what has been going on in my life, and now is when I decide to post. But, it is Sunday, and after a day of church, a little scripture study, a little uplifting music, I am all inspired and ready to go with this. My new goal is to post everyday, no matter how little I write. I can find five minutes a day to do this....I think.

Tomorrow I have my Oral Pathology midterm. I don't know what to think about it. The information is straight forward, the notes are easy to understand, I have all the summary questions answered, BUT there is no back test. That always makes you feel wary, because you aren't quite sure what she thinks is important, and you don't get those five repeat questions that always make you feel good as you are taking the test.

After the Oral Path test, I am planning on rushing home on my wedding anniversary and kissing my wife, telling her that I love her, and then locking myself in a room to wrap my head around some Perio. My Perio mid-term is Tuesday and I have yet to even look at it. In fact, I just received and copied the notes twenty minutes ago. I feel bad about kind of ruining the wedding anniversary, but I have to do what I have to do....I hope. I can justify it by saying that a couple of crappy wedding anniversaries will pay off down the road when I can really afford (both monetarily and time-wise) to spoil her.

Well, it is 10:30 and I am just watching the minutes pass by, thinking that I could be sleeping, so I am off to bed to get my standard 4-5 hours of sleep, then up tomorrow morning for some last minute Oral Path cramming.

2008-02-10T19:23:00.000-08:00

So, here it is, awhile since my last post (which was posted full of good intentions to keep posting), the night before my oral pathology test, and possibly the worst week I have had in dental school, and I am here posting. I think of all the time I have wasted the last month and a half, when I could of been keeping up on what has been going on in my life, and now is when I decide to post. But, I it is Sunday, and after a day of church, a little scripture study, a little uplifting music, I am all inspired and ready to go with this. My new goal is to post everyday, no matter how little I write. I can find five minutes a day to do this....I think.

Tomorrow I have my Oral Pathology midterm. I don't know what to think about it. The information is straight forward, the notes are easy to understand, I have all the summary questions answered, BUT there is no back test. That always makes you feel wary, because you aren't quite sure what she thinks is important, and you don't get those five repeat questions that always make you feel good as you are taking the test.

After the Oral Path test, I am planning on rushing home on my wedding anniversary and kissing my wife, telling her that I love her, and then locking myself in a room to wrap my head around some Perio. My Perio mid-term is Tuesday and I have yet to even look at it. In fact, I just received and copied the notes twenty minutes ago. I feel bad about kind of ruining the wedding anniversary, but I have to do what I have to do....I hope. I can justify it by saying that a couple of crappy wedding anniversaries will pay off down the road when I can really afford (both monetarily and time-wise) to spoil her.

Well, it is 10:30 and I am just watching the minutes pass by, thinking that I could be sleeping, so I am off to bed to get my standard 4-5 hours of sleep, then up tomorrow morning for some last minute Oral Path cramming.

First Day Back After School This Year

2008-01-07T18:06:00.000-08:00

Today was my first day back at school, even though I have missed the first week of school. I am sitting here at the computer dead tired (our flight was delayed yesterday, we didn't get home until 5 a.m. this morning) and having completed one day of school so far. Today was Pharm, Oral Path, and Endo. Endo was very basic today, very introductory, and very boring. We basically went over info that we have covered ten times before in Histo, Anatomy, Physio, Micro, etc and then went into the lab and made sure that we had all our instruments. Don't get me wrong, I am definitely not complaining. I need all the help I can get right now as I try to get caught up. I am a little worried that I am getting dangerously behind in Pharm and Oral Path.

The good/bad news is that tomorrow we have all dental classes, but I have to stay at school until 3 p.m. to do my radiology rotation. So, while it will be fun to actually have a whole day of relevant classes, it will stink to wait around 4 hours for the rotation to start, but it will be good to have that time to hit the books and get rolling on this studying stuff (I guess).

Anyhew....I am dead tired, and it is getting late, and if I don't head off to bed I will be dead tomorrow, so Peace.

Principal Dies During Root Canal

2007-12-27T14:59:00.000-08:00

I was on studentdoctor.net and came across an thread that linked to this article:

Chicago Tribune: Woman Dies at Dental Office

My thoughts on what was reported are these:

"I would think that she had to have some kind of underlying health problem," said Dr. Christopher Wenckus, chief of the department of endodontics at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "Healthy people just don't die from heart attacks."

I find it funny that they would quote the chief of endo here. Right off the bat, this just shows that the reporter either has no clue about anything pertaining to this subject or is lazy. Autopsy reports showed inconclusive results, but we do know a little about what happened and, if a proper expert is consulted, I am sure that an educated guess could be made about what caused the patient to go into cardiac arrest.

I also love this bit from the article:

"Both dentists had their licenses placed on probation for 18 months starting in July after the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation alleged that a "crown and bridge treatment" performed by their office was substandard. They were also cited for poor record keeping."

Is it any real wonder that we never hear about the doctor (dental, medical, etc) that takes meticulous records, proper histories, treatment plans ethically for their patients killing people? Don't get me wrong, even the best of doctors make mistakes and bad things happen to everyone, BUT it usually seems like the morons are the ones creating a scene when things go wrong. Also, if you are providing substandard crown and bridge treatment, what makes you think that you can perform a root canal properly, and on top of that, sedate your patient? These guys show once again, that just because you are a doctor, it doesn't mean you are smart.

"Watson received twilight sedation"

Don't they always? I know that twilight sedation works. I know that hundreds of thousands of procedures are done every year on patients using this method with no complications. In fact, the article states that the same patient received twilight sedation just month earlier with no adverse effects. I do not fault dentists that use this method to help their patients receive the care they need. BUT, why take the chance. I compare this to getting implants placed in a patients mouth without having a CT scan done. Does it work? Yes. Is there minimal risk? Yes. Could that risk be reduced by having a CT scan done? Yes. So why put your patient in a higher risk category? Why put yourself, as the provider, in a position to be second guessed, when there is a better way out there. I know that twilight sedation works, but I also know that there are other alternatives out there that allow the dentist to do what he does best, and the anesthesiologist to do what they do best.

"It was done at the same location, but it's unclear whether it was the same dentists."

One more example of the ineptitude of these two doctors. There should never be any doubt what procedure was done, and by whom.

I feel bad for this woman and her family. I do not know the whole story, but as it is currently unfolding, it does not look good for these two doctors. I hope I will remember what has happened here and make sure that I take the steps in my practice prevent this from happening again.

Gold Onlay Final Project RD III

2007-12-26T17:01:00.000-08:00

So, here I am looking through photos of my new son, and I ran across these. Here is the gold onlay that we had to do as a final project in RD III. Overall, I like it, though my polishing wasn't completely perfect, and my lingual margins really suck (the only check I received on the project).

Week Two of Finals

2007-12-26T16:40:00.000-08:00

So, week two of finals consisted of three finals. I had Restorative III, Oral Surgery and Microbiology. The stress level for this week was about the same as the previous week mainly due to the fact that I didn't do as well on my Oral Surgery midterm, so I needed a relatively high grade on the final to make sure I reached the level I wanted to. The other finals were pretty much bagged up before they started. I needed really lower scores than normal to end up where I wanted to be, so the stress wasn't there.

The tests ran Tues (restorative), Wed (micro), and Thurs (oral surgery). Restorative was relatively easy, due to, in large part, the fact that we were being tested on information that had been put to use every day in pre-clinic. How can you do well on your practicals if you don't know how deep to make your preps, the materials needed for each product, time requirements, etc.

Micro wasn't too bad either. There was a ton of information on this test. Basically, in years past, there were 5 tests in the micro class. But this year and last (I think), they decided to combine the last two tests into one test. Now, even though there was a lot of information on this test, most of it was actually dental related (what a novel concept, I know. You mean we will actually cover dental topics in dental school. Wow), so it was interesting enough that you were motivated to remember it the first time you read through all the information.

Then was Oral Surgery. I was hoping to pull a B after my low midterm score (67%). Now, there wasn't a ton of information, but knowing that you had to nail the final to get where you wanted to go was stressful. The good news was that the information was very interesting as well. The final covered complications, facial spaces, and infectious diseases. I spent the most time studying for this final. The good news is that unlike most of the other classes I had to spend a significant amount of time on, this information will actually be relevant to me 10 years from now. That made studying for this test a little easier. But just a little.

So, finals came and went, and I am pleased to say that I continue to improve my gpa with every semester and cannot believe that I now have 3 of the 4 horrible semesters over. Just a couple more months til I get to play dentist!

Whoa....long layover....

2007-12-22T01:05:00.000-08:00

A lot has happened since my last post...wow, it is crazy to even sit back and think about it. In the last two months, I have finished up all the classes that will be covered on the boards, waded through the first half of my second year of dental school, been lucky enough to receive a huge scholarship and I have become a father. I sit here at 2 am in the morning and really don't believe it all. I do know one thing, after a long day of my new son being awake, he is finally asleep. I know what you are all thinking, "silly rabbit, the kid is sleeping, go get yours" but the extended fam is still up and in the middle of a vigorous game of countdown and youtube'n it, so here I am thinking I may get caught up with the last couple of months of my life.

So, to the catchup.

I have pictures, I really do. I just, uh, forgot them back in Philly. I swear. Really. So this catchup is all words. School first, seeing how that takes up 76.89% of my body, mind, and time (an accurate stat, I had my people verify it this morning). School ended the 14th of December, after 8 finals. As I sit here and look back on this semester, it really wasn't bad. If I absolutely had to re-do a year (knock on wood that it never happens), I would rather re-do this year. It was hectic at times, but overall, the material seemed more straightforward and easier to study.

8 Finals; Path Lab, Ortho, Restorative, Path, Micro, Dental Public Health, Perio, and Oral Surgery. Technically 7, but I split the Path into two separate finals seeing how the classes weren't too related. Finals started out with the dreaded Path final.

I actually went into the Path test feeling very confident in my knowledge of the pathological conditions that would affect the body that might happen to appear on the current investigation of my intricate knowledge....okay, I'll level. My complete lack of knowledge. Thinking of how well I did on the midterm (100% Woohoo!) I kinda coasted a little in my study leading up to this examination and it showed. I received an 80% on the written, and I got a 50% (WHOA!) on the slide portion. It really rocked me, until I looked on blackboard and realized that I scored the class average. So, I am amazing at my midterm, and perfectly average come finals.

The next day was the Ortho final. I studied about 1/2 hour for that class, because, frankly, that class was a joke. All we did was bend a few wires and look at a bunch of pictures of the wonderful work our instructor has done in the past. And the final matched that. So, chalk up an A in Ortho for me.

We then had the weekend, which we really didn't. I spent the whole weekend studying Perio, Dental Public Health and Path. Actually I spent the whole weekend studying Path, seeing how I hadn't touched it since our last test in the class. After a Friday, Saturday and Sunday of Path, I decided that it would be wise to look at the Perio on Monday, the day before the test. Which was wise, because Perio was cake. The general stuff relating to age, smoking, and a little bit of viral. All in all, nothing to worry about.

After Perio, I went home watched some Family Guy, then busted out the DPH. I spent about 3 hours studying for that, which was about 2 hours too much.

Then came Path. I was worried about Path, not due to my grade going into the final, but to the fact that you needed a 74% to pass (which is higher than the other classes) and we had a student in our class that failed it last year and is now class of 2010 instead of 2009. Nobody wants to be that guy. So I basically spent all my time going over Path again and again and again. Over and over and over. Until about 3 am the morning of the test. I took a three hour nap, woke up and began the drilling over again. I traveled to school repeating the differences between AK, SA, basal cell carcinoma, etc hoping that some of the information would stick in my sleep deprived brain. Well, I am glad to say that some did stick, and I passed quite easily.

I was so relieved at having Path done for a couple of months (until I have to get ready for boards at least) that I celebrated by coming home, heating up a Swanson Meatloaf frozen dinner and called it a night. I slept like a rock, and for about a day. And taking my cue from that plan of action, and seeing that it is now almost 3 am, I am off to bed. I shall plan to return on the morrow (or later today, depending on how you look at it) and finish this less than riveting tale of my finals.

Night.

October 30, 2007 - Halloween Eve!

2007-10-30T18:21:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it has been awhile since I last posted, and I need to get this thing updated, and I am sick of studying for my Micro test tomorrow that historically has failed most of the class, so here I am. I noticed signing in here, that my last post talked about the 9-11 bridge practical we had 2 Fridays ago. We got the results back the following Tuesday and I got good news and bad news. I did both of the preps in 45 minutes, and as I thought, my 11 was perfect (no checks, woohoo!) and my 9 failed. That bummed me out. That was my first non-A practical this semester, and it always sucks to fail a practical, especially a prep as easy as 9. Oh well, there are some silver linings in that practical. I talked to my teacher and although 9 was clinically acceptable, it sucked as a practical tooth. At least my speed is going well, and if I would of just angled my bur a little buccally, I would of had two beautiful preps. So, with all of that, life has been good. My kid is also due any day now. My wife is hoping that he isn't born tomorrow, because she wants to be home for trick-or-treating, doesn't want him born on Halloween, and wants to paint her belly as a pumpkin. Ha ha. Happy Haunting!

October 19, 2007 - Practical day with no alarm

2007-10-19T10:27:00.001-07:00

So, my wonderful day starts out this way. I wake up at 7:30 a.m. to the sun shining on my face, the birds chirping softly in my ears, a nice breeze blowing on my from my fan, and Mike and Mike on the television. Sounds perfect, doesn't it? The only problem is I was supposed to get up at 6:00 am to get ready so I could catch the trolley at 7:00 am to be to school by 8:00 am to take my practical. I jump out of bed realizing that it takes me around an hour to get to school, and my practical starts in 1/2 hour.

Panicking, I grab my poor pregnant wife out of bed so I can drive to school, hoping to save a couple of minutes. We jump in the car, get about 1/2 miles from the house, when I realize that I don't have the keys to my chair at school. So, we turn around and head back home. By the time we get home, get my keys and get back into the car it is now 8:00 am. So, as you can guess I am freaking out right now. I run back into the car and with spinning wheels, tear off down the road headed back to school.

The only problem with this is that two blocks down the road, we hit traffic again. So, I decide that taking the subway is going to be much quicker than trying to drive to school and making my poor Prego wife have to fight traffic home. So, the subway it was.

I finally arrive to school 1 hour late. Remember that this is a timed practical. I get my test teeth from the instructor and rush to my seat and start to prep number 9. Oh man, it was horrible. It was definitely clinically acceptable. I think my 9 was better than most done by practicing dentists with a busy schedule, but it was not pretty. It was a little short, a little wide. I reduced the lingual a little too much. But I got it done.

On to number 11. That prep was magic. I busted it out beautifully. You could have taken my prep, put it next to the example one we get and you wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference. Okay, maybe mine was a little over reduced lingually, but other than that, perfection.

So, I get both preps done in 45 mins. That made me feel great. If I can do two preps for a practical in 45 minutes, then I am doing pretty well (that being said, I’ll have to see what scores I get on these preps. That may take the wind out of my sails a little). It seems like I may be on the right track to being able to open my own practice when I graduate.

Anyways, after I get the practical done and turned in, it became time to turn my attention to the ortho project due that day. We had spent the last two weeks bending wires (oh man, that was quite the adventure) and pouring the acrylic for our beautiful retainers. So I polished it up, went down to the ortho clinic and turned my retainer in.

I am exhausted and have to be at the Hilton in Philly Airport at 8:30 am tomorrow morning, so I am off to bed.

October 18, 2007 - Telemarketing cops

2007-10-18T15:06:00.000-07:00

So, I just got off the phone with Philly's Police force and I am amazed at their attitudes. Here they are calling me at 6 pm asking me for money (after I pay around $1,800 a month in taxes anyways). I politely tell them I am not interested, and guess what they come back with. Is it a nice, polite: "well thank you for your time, we hope you'll be able to donate next time?" No. I get this instead:

"Well, don't you want the police to have money to be able to protect you?"

So, not only is this guy implying that I am not doing my duty as an American, but he tries to guilt me into donating by questioning my desire to have police protection. Isn't that technically extortion? Anyways, I say,

"I am sorry, I can't help you right now."

Their reply, "This city is going to the s***-hole because people like you won't donate money to help the police officers fight crime better."

Can you believe that!? This guy is actually accusing me of the 300+ murders that will happen in this city this year because I won't give him 5 bucks. Unreal. Typical east coast attitude. If you don't do it their way, right away....well then...you just aren't American. Pathetic.

So, I respond, "Don't call me again, I will never donate money to you."

Mr. Police Officer responds with a string of profanity and raised voices, so I just hang up. Unreal. Welcome to Philadelphia. There is a lot of good here (the Phillies, what a great story, and we'll get them next year), but you gotta accept the good with the bad.

October 18, 2007 - First post, oral surgery ce thoughts

2007-10-18T14:45:00.000-07:00

So, here it is, October 18, 2006 and I am sitting in my living room after mid-terms have finally ended, playing NCAA football (killing the University of Utah, while I am BYU), typing this blog. What a crazy last two weeks. I have endured a ton of tests, and am still standing. I may be absolutely exhausted, but I am done. I now have the weekend to kick back and relax, and as long as my kid doesn't show up, I do believe that I will have quite the good time.

I am sitting here wondering why i am doing this blog. I can think of a couple of reasons: 1 - I am bored. 2 - This can kinda be like a journal type thingy. 3 - The wife doesn't want me blogging on the family website, that is for updates on the family, not my comments on life that nobody cares about. 4 - I want a place where most people don't know who I am, and I can say what I want to say. 5 - I am curious to see if anybody out there actually will read this, and if they do, will they come back? 6 - Well, that ends my list for now.

As I said, I am sitting here playing good old PlayStation 2, as BYU. There is 2:34 remaining in the second quarter, and I have just taken a commanding lead, 42-14. Maybe I have the settings set a little too low for my skill set? I think so too.

This weekend I am starting an 8 month dental implant course here in Philadelphia. I am a little worried/apprehensive and completely excited about it at the same time. I am only in my second year in dental school, and I have only taken 1/2 semester of oral surgery. I am completely confident in my ability to learn and apply the techniques being taught. I, in my own opinion, though my practical grades do back me up, am very, very good at clinical dentistry. I am just a student, and I am still learning, but the procedures I have learned, well I do excel in them. I am worried about how I will be treated by the other doctors attending this course.

It is out of the norm for a dental student to really get into continuing education, especially one with such a strong surgical focus. Implants are a tool in dentistry that really hasn't hit mainstream general practices yet, and even those doctors who do learn to do them, usually don't. Just from talking to other students about taking this course, they almost seem mad that I would try to do this. Oh well.

So, I am little apprehensive about the course.

BYU-Utah update: Halftime BYU 56, Utah 14.