So tomorrow D-2 year begins with a wonderful summer semester. The schedule looks much lighter than last semester (mainly because we are doing far less lecture-based material and more lab/clinic). I would gladly stay at the school for a few hours longer each day doing lab work with the freedom to come home and relax rather than get out early and have to study all day. Unfortunately that won’t be the case this semester with all my board review materials to go through.
Who knows how it will actually end up. I will do the schedule breakdown later, but we have far less credit hours and the summer is thankfully a shorter semester (12 weeks as opposed to 16ish). However, we really don’t get any time off to prepare for the boards. I will be taking them between this summer semester and fall. We get 2 weeks off in August and hopefully I will manage to prepare enough to do well.
The board exam is apparently changing to pass/fail in 2010 which will render it a useless tool in acceptance to post-doc residencies. I still want to do well on it for my own perverted sense of accomplishment. However, much like my grades in general, I won’t be upset as long as I get through it and do my best. This attitude has worked out throughout my educational career so I may as well not attempt to change now.
I noticed that mid-May is already upon us and all the new applicants are climbing out of the woodwork and being insane. I almost can’t look at the forums anymore because pre-dents are so damn obnoxious. I can’t help but laugh though, because we all have gone through it and have had those same phases. I also remember how much waiting is involved from the day you fill our your AADSAS application to the first day of class..15 months or so, a long time to just sit around with your life essentially on hold.
I am excited for the D-1s to show up in August so that I can see how happy and eager I looked a year ago. It will also serve to reaffirm the obvious fact that I am a year into this educational path and just that much closer to being done. I spent a lot of time with friends of the non-dental persuasion over this break. They are living life in the ‘real’ world, working, making money, getting married and doing all the things young college grads do. I feel stuck in educational limbo. I still couldn’t see myself anywhere else though.
You grow up a lot in a year, especially in a program like this. The scary part is that you still don’t know anything and treating real people is going to be quite a new experience for all of us. As much as lecture halls bored me, at least it was well within my own comfort zone. Getting to interact with patients while attempting to learn new skills will be quite interesting indeed. Granted, we won’t be getting our own patients probably until next spring, but we still will be treating.
So I’m going to pack up my bag and hit the sack. Tomorrow is going to be an orientation day for all the new courses as well as a tour of my group practice. Should be interesting..hopefully learning how to use axium (computer record system) won’t be as boring as I think it is going to be.
Summer is finally here. I’ve lived in Chicago for a year. It feels like I just picked up my degree from undergrad a week ago.
Time flies when you are busy as hell.
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