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Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of the DOSEDental Podcast.
The focus of this podcast is to share undergraduate and dental school experiences
from dental students and dental professionals through valuable discussions.
Through sharing the journeys and stories of current dental students and dental professionals,
our goals help you find answers or guidance for your own pre-dental journeys.
I'm very excited to have a Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine
student Eli Hiller with us today. Eli graduated from the University of Maryland,
is now an incoming D3 student at GSDN.
What's up Eli? How you been? Welcome to the podcast.
Small and odd with your dental school journey so far.
Yeah, I'm good. Still finishing up the second year. Our semester doesn't end until July 7th,
so technically still a D2 until then. But it's been going good so far.
It's nice to hear. So again, welcome to the podcast. So why don't you tell us a little bit
about yourself, like where you're from, you know, where you grew up, where you like to do for fun.
All right. So yeah, my name is Eli. I'm from Baltimore, Maryland.
And that's where I grew up, like born and raised.
I went to University of Maryland College Park for undergrad, like you said.
So kind of been in Maryland my whole life until I came to dental school.
Yeah. I mean, what I like to do for fun, I like to hang out with friends a lot, work out a lot,
and work on my YouTube channel, honestly. Yeah. I mean, so I actually found Eli from YouTube.
So I mean, he, I just applied to dental school last week, and I watched a video of yours,
and it was like, what to do after you submit your access application.
Because that's super popular one. I love that one. I mean, it's just,
you're just talking about like, just don't worry about it. Just kind of do anything you can besides
looking at your status update. But like, why is it a stressful process to say the least? And like,
if anybody knows I do, like as someone that didn't hear back on the first day,
I feel like you kind of, when you don't hear back on the first day, you're kind of like,
all right, well, I don't know if I'm going to get in. Even though it's just the first day,
like you start having that feeling of doubt already, especially if you had interviews before that.
Right. Yeah. I just, I know how I get it's like,
up until that day, I was basically pretty sure I was going to get in. So when I, and I was just like,
oh, I don't know what's going on yet. And things worked out. But, you know, when you're applying,
you don't really know that, and you don't know if things are going to work out. So it's very
stressful to say the least. I know I submitted my stuff to my parents,
they're just like, all right, so you're done. Like, no, like, not even close. Still got to wait
for like another two months, maybe three or four months, however long it's going to take. So I mean,
but we'll get into all that stuff. So like, everyone needs, everyone needs some kind of
feel for the journey, right? So like, we want to ask you, you know, why'd you end up deciding to
pursue dentistry? What kind of inspired you? When did you got to get inspired to start going on this
path? Yeah. So I've always been like an avid sports player growing up and stuff. So when I,
when it came time for me to apply to college, I didn't really know what I wanted to do. But like,
since I was going to be done with sports, I was like, all right, maybe like a team
physician or something like, I don't know what I was always said or running like,
I was like, okay, I got a major in biology and go to med school and
action, the orthopedic surgery and all that good stuff. So I started like taking the steps towards
that shadowing, volunteering at a physical therapy or inpatient hospital type of thing.
And after a while, I just sat back. Well, during my time as like a pre-med student, I didn't really
feel that like passionate about it. Like, I was like, oh, being a team physician would be cool
because I like sports and I'm pretty good at science. So this is kind of just the way I'm
naturally supposed to go. But I definitely never had that true passion for medicine. And I feel like
that reflected in my grades and stuff because I just really wasn't that into it. So when I
graduated college, I was still pre-med. But I started working at NIH, doing like a full-time
research position. And when I started getting a little lay in my pocket, the first thing I decided
was that I wanted to go back and get braces again for the second time. And I would just pay for it
myself this time. So I went back and got braces. And the orthodontist I went to was a black woman.
That's actually like the first black healthcare provider I had in my life. And I just like,
naturally like took an interest towards like my braces journey and stuff. Like it just kind of
naturally happened. And it helped like also seeing someone that looked like me in the field,
like it just became a much more attainable dream. And yeah, I decided to switch from pre-med to
pre-med. I went and shadowed my cousin is actually a dentist and she owns a practice down in Georgia.
So I asked her if I could come shadowed. And I think like one of the really beneficial things
about my shadow experience is that I got to see the dentistry side as well as the business
over there side, as well as like her entire life since I was staying in her house and stuff.
Like I got to see what life was like outside of the work game. And I think like all that stuff
kind of definitely solidified my decision to switch like seeing the work life balance,
seeing like the kind of autonomy you get at being a practice owner and stuff like that.
And then like just a whole bunch of other things. But it like, it just made the most sense to me
at that time. And like, I'm 100% happy with the decision that I made for sure.
Did you take a gap year? Like how many did you take multiple gap years? You just kind of take
one and then go for it. Or had you waited college in 2017 in December of 2017? Right.
And then start dental school until 2021. So I was working at NIH for a year and a half.
And then I did a post back program for a year. And then another gap year for like the application
cycle. Gotcha. I mean, that's, I mean, we have an whole episode on gap years, but if what is your
like advice to people like not necessarily want to take a gap year, but like they're afraid that
it might like her application or like, it might be like a waste of time or something like that. I
feel like the more listen to people, it feels like it just benefits you. I feel like that.
That's what I was going to say. At this point, a gap year should be almost necessary, I think.
I think like one, without taking that time off, you're going to experience burnout a lot quicker.
And I just don't think, honestly, like me personally, I'm glad it's a big gap year because
at 22 years old when I graduate college, I wasn't like mentally mature enough to handle
school. And I feel like a lot of 22 year olds aren't like it's, it's way different than college.
And it's honestly, in my opinion, not necessarily that much harder. It's a matter of
how you react to adversity, how well you manage your time. A lot of that stuff plays into how hard
you think dental school is. And I think that me starting dental school when I did being a lot,
I wasn't even like a lot older, but I started at 25 and like, I just feel like I was a lot more ready
for it at that point than I would have been at 22. And I saw it firsthand, majority of the people
that end up dropping out taking a leave of absence, repeating a year.
Or the ones that come straight from undergrad, it's just a lot to handle for them. And I don't
blame them like, I would, I 100% would not have been able to do it. And I think that a lot of people
benefit from taking a gap year. Right. There's life aspects about it too. Some people, like they
genuinely are missing out on life. They don't know what it's like. They see all their friends
graduating, starting real jobs, making real money. And like, in the short term, that looks really
good. But like for me as someone that has been there and experienced that already, I know I'm
not missing anything. So it's a whole different perspective as far as life comes as well. And
all that stuff plays into your dental school experience.
Right. I mean, I'm a bunch of friends who are like, business and consulting and stuff like that. So
they're already like, well, I'm a junior now. So, they're all getting jobs, internships,
like stuff that I can see them just doing right after they graduate.
And like, yeah, sometimes I'm like, damn, it's gonna take like another
serious seven years. But like, I work in an office too, sometimes patients will like ask me,
like, are you like a student or something? Like, yeah. And they would ask like, so when you
just started like, what are you gonna be a dentist? Like six, seven years a year? I don't know. Yeah,
I'm just like, damn. But like, but then you got to take a step back. And like, in your case,
you already know like what that feels like. Like, what it feels like to work and like kind of have
some free time after you graduate. It's far really beneficial. So can you talk a little bit about
how you got that NIH? Was it Interim Shipper? Just like a job? It was a, it's like a,
I won't say a fellowship. It was called. But it was like, basically, it's a one year fellowship.
Some, some labs do like two years just because they're lazy and don't like to turn over of a new
person coming every year. But it's called the NIH Post-Bag Intrural Research Training Assistant.
I don't know. It's called Purse Bag or, or to I forget what the A stands for, but it's essentially
for like people that are just graduating that are looking for research experience. Most people that
do it are either pre-med or going or planning to like start going to school for a PhD.
And they're just like getting some more intensive research experience than you really could have
gotten in undergrad. Cause like, I did research in undergrad, but it was for like half a summer or
something like that. Way different than like what it was at, what it was like at NIH. But
in reality and in retrospect, I probably should have just like graduated and just did a post-bag
like I did after working at NIH for a year and a half. I mean, I wouldn't, I don't take away the
experience for anything. I think it was beneficial for me. Maybe not something I necessarily needed,
but I did get something out of it.
Did you end up like publishing your project or did you kind of just look?
Yeah, as though, so I worked there like the whole year, 2018 and a half of 2019. I mean,
I was working on there actually like just got published maybe like two months ago.
Oh, yeah. It takes a little bit of time sometimes, right? To do all that stuff.
So, you know, you finished working at a ticket post-bag. How'd you go about the application
cycle? Cause I know when you shadowed your, was it your cousin at Georgia? When you shadowed her
and you kind of wanted to decide the dentistry for you, at what point you started kind of thinking
like, all right, so I gotta get this done, this done, just apply it down in school.
Honestly, I started thinking about that as soon as I started my post-bag. So like I basically
switched during that summer, right before I started my post-bag. So I immediately started
studying for the DAT. I had taken the MCAT in March of 2019 and then I switched probably in like
June and just immediately started studying. I bought DAT boot camp because that's what everyone
was saying to you and I just stuck to the study schedule that was on there and planned to, I
was hoping to take my DAT like Labor Day again. So like right when I started my post-bag kind of
thing, but I ended up pushing it back a little bit cause school was getting in the way. So I
didn't take it till October, but yeah, I took the MCAT and the DAT in the same year, 2019.
And most of the stuff like Wargo camp like should have been kind of fresh in your brain,
right? From MCAT or it was a little different? So the MCAT is definitely a different exam,
mainly because it's like passage based. So I felt like the DAT was very straightforward.
Either you know it or you don't. Whereas the MCAT, you might know it or you might know like one
aspect of it, but like you also have to understand what the passage is saying, what the question
is asking you. And there's probably like multiple different things that you have to know to be able
to answer one question. So as far as like studying for content went, like things were fresh in my
head kind of like after I took the MCAT, I had no intention of taking the DAT. And like we all
know usually like when you study for an exam, the information leaves your brain within the next
couple of days. And it was a couple of months before I started studying for the DAT. So
it wasn't as fresh in my head as I would have liked it to be. But I do think like studying for
the MCAT prepared me for like how I'm supposed to study for the DAT and made DAT studying a lot
easier for me in that sense. I mean definitely. I mean, so you took the DAT in October, you
get your score right away. Did you already have like your personal statement all this other stuff
like ready to go by the time you applied? By the time I applied, yeah, because I waited until
the next application cycle. So June 2020, right? Yeah. In retrospect, like in my post-bac program,
it was, I don't know, I want to say maybe like 60 to 80 of us, I really can't remember. But there
were only like 10 or 11 pre-dense. So just about all the pre-dense that were in my class were
in that application cycle. Like they applied and like did the post-bac during the application cycle.
And in retrospect, like that is what I should have done too, but I didn't really think of that.
Like even after I took my DAT in October and I was telling my friends like when they were like,
you should just apply right now. And I was like, it's already October, like it's kind of late. They
were like, no, you should apply right now. And I honestly probably should have. Like
October is not too late to apply to be quite honest. I know people that have applied in like
November and gotten in. So, but you know, it is what it is. I felt like I had better chances
if I waited. And so I waited and COVID came. So just everything at least.
I know if COVID happened. So how did them, you know, what, where'd you like kind of think about
where to apply at? So you live in, you live in Maryland, right? Or in Baltimore. So
where'd you kind of think about in terms of dental school, like where would you apply out?
You know, what gave you the best chance? Yeah. So I knew that I wanted to leave Maryland for
once. Like I used to always say, like if I was mature enough, applying to undergrad, I would have
left the state for undergrad. Right. But like I was 17 when I graduated high school. Like I just,
I wasn't ready for that. Now I was ready. So I knew I wanted to leave, but it would have been
done for me to not apply to Maryland because of the price. So honestly, I looked at the list of,
my post-bac program had like a list of success, like alumni success stories and like where they
went. So I looked at a list of all the dental schools and I really just picked anyone that like
I'd met the cutoff for or heard of before or was like somewhere that I would want to live. So
basically the only ones I didn't choose on there were like the ones that were on the West Coast
and the ones that were like in like Wisconsin or Nebraska and stuff like places I've never been or
never thought about living. Yeah. And I mean, that same thing went for Boston as well. I only
applied to BU because it was on the list and like one of my childhood friends was already
going to go to BU because she had applied that year, but didn't get in and did the master's
program here. So like she basically knew she was going to be in my class if I applied and got in.
So she was like, you should apply here. And I did. I mean, it works though. It works out. So when
you applied, so that was like what you said June 2020, then you'd start, but when was like after
that what happened? So like, what was your? Yeah. So I got my first interview, which was BU.
Like I think my interview was the first week of September. Like I got invited for an interview
really early, but I hadn't heard from any other schools until after like that December,
when the first round of the big sentences go out. Now didn't hear back from BU when that first
round of the big sentences went out. So that's when I was like starting to take a little bit
of it. Cause I thought BU was a lot for sure. Like I thought I was getting that email at 12.01
the way my interview went. But you know, I found out at a later time that BU only really accepts
like 10 or 15 people in the first day. So most people that thought they were going to BU like
me were in the same boat. Right. But yeah, after that I was kind of like, okay, well the one school
I interviewed at, I didn't hear back from. So what's next? And I pretty much for the whole
month of January, I was starting to think of what my other options were. I knew that like
my post bag program had an option to like finish the masters. And I decided not, I decided that
would be my backup plan if I dig in the dental school, right? Cause I didn't want to waste the
money. And so like, you know, the whole month of January, I'm like, okay, how am I going to set that
up? Cause that's the next step. Cause I'm not getting in this cycle. And then like maybe
January 25th or so. It's a crazy story, but I actually like woke up that morning
and I submitted a prayer request on like my church's website. And then later that day,
like when I was at work, I think I came back from lunch and I looked at my email and I had
another interview invite. So I'm like, okay, cool. Like all hope is in law. And it's like,
I have another interview invite literally as soon as I respond to that email and schedule the interview
VU calls me. And they're like, you're like, you should be getting your acceptance within the next
couple of days. So while I wanted to be excited, I was like, I mean, I was supposed to get accepted
like a month ago. So I'm like, I hear you, but I'm going to go on this interview just in case,
because you know, but yeah, you know, I ended up working out. I got into BU. I still went on the
other interview, but I didn't really enjoy it. So after that, I got more interview invites,
but I ended up denying all of them just because the second interview just felt like such a waste
of time. And then after that, I put my deposit for BU. So all the other schools, that was like no
thanks. But I was getting interviews all the way up until April. I think my latest interview
invite was in April. So they like when people say like the cycle keeps going, you're like,
they don't say no to you, then they're still a chance. That's facts. Like that's very much facts.
I mean, because I guess at that point, like people are like accepting other offers, you know,
so that like spots might open up, you know, this label, I'm going to interview, like real
probably like next to the line or something. They don't tell you that probably. But yeah,
I mean, like honestly, I have a friend that's now a D4 at Maryland. And when he was applying,
he interviewed at Maryland in like February and just never, he ended up committing to Howard.
He moved to DC and everything. And like a day before orientation at Howard, Maryland calls
and like, we have a spot for you. And then like I said, he's a D4 at Maryland now.
He just left? Yeah, he just left. I mean, like he's from Maryland. And like, yeah, the way that it
ended up working, I was like, one of his really close friends had just bought a house that's like
five minutes walking distance from Maryland dental schools. So he broke the lease with the apartment
that he bought in DC and like got like $500 a month rent down the street from Maryland. So
it kind of worked out plus like tuition for in state is like $25 a week. You might be the cheapest
dental school in the United States. I don't know, but probably is like $25 a week.
I know Texas has like $30,000. But none of us can get to the fact that school was in West
DC. Oh no, the out of state is like to buy a plier there. So if y'all hear me, come on.
Yeah, they're bothered when I found out they had a separate application.
Yeah, I mean, they have the TMD, whatever it is, SAS, but like they have the you can submit
through ads as but oh, you can. But like, I feel like they don't look at those like that's the
ad that you're on a man because they want to in state, they want to say kid. I thought you had
just applied with the I don't know if that's like a recent thing, but I don't know if they just made
that happen. But I'm not sure. But like, I'm curious about how did the BU interview go itself?
Like, how was the format? Was it was a virtual? Yeah, it was very to all the interviews are
virtual. I don't know. But it was it was just a casual conversation. I think maybe one question
was asked. Maybe maybe two questions were asked. Like, I know they asked, like, why did I want to
come to BU or maybe like why I wanted to be a dentist, right, wanted to come to BU and like,
what was the most like relevant experience that I I had, like in my journey to
dentistry kind of those right. So did you do like any like interview prep before you went on?
I tried because like my post back program offered like mock interviews and stuff.
But like, I didn't have enough time. I found out about the interview, like, scheduled it for like
three or four days later. And like, honestly, my my biggest advice for prepping for interviews is
to just look over your application. And I mean, like, see, that's kind of it. Like,
I've heard some schools are like crazy with the interviews, specifically University of Florida,
in case anyone's applying. But any other school like interviews are honestly chill, like, it's a
way for the school to get to know you beyond your application. And my other biggest piece of advice
is to use it as your way to get to know the school. I feel like that's your chance to ask questions,
sense of what the faculty is like, get a sense of what kind of education you're going to be
getting if you go there. It's important to ask those kind of questions during your interview,
because if you're faced with the lucky enough problem to have multiple dental school
acceptance, is it choose from, you're going to want to think about how your interview went,
what kind of vibe you got from the faculty, what kind of vibe you got from the school.
Do you think you're going to get like, you know, your money's worth in education, all that kind
of stuff. Definitely use your interview as your chance to feel out the school and kind of interview
the school to it kind of goes both ways. I think some schools, I don't know if they do this, but
like they have like closed application. I don't know if that's for med schools mainly, or I don't
know if dental schools do that, but they don't even look at your application. They just talk.
I've heard about first-hand dental school, specifically which ones, but I know like,
still we're going to be open. So I mean, just look over your application, just kind of know.
We're not going to ask you about grades or anything. They're not, they can see your transcript,
like, they're just going to ask you about like the experiences that you put on your ads,
sass and stuff. Like, just get a feel for who you are and like the stuff you wrote.
Did the school have like a presentation during the interview, like of what their school is and
stuff or was just kind of, well, so my interview cycle was a little different. The way that they
did it, which I want to say like, all of these different sessions were just like combined into
one interview day back when in-person interviews, but we had like one interview and then they had
a separate session with like the Dean of Student Affairs and this was like probably a month or two
months after my interview. So this was maybe like October, still, or you can get in, but
separate and they would do like a virtual tour of the school. You get to like have a quick
conversation with like the Dean of Student Affairs and stuff and like the Dean of Admissions and
they were just kind of like an open house type of thing, but virtually. But it's specifically for
people that have already interviewed and my school still does that now, but they do that in person.
So like they'll have the virtual interview and they'll give you the option to come in person
for like that open house. And then I remember there being another session that we had,
but remember what it was, but there were definitely like two supplemental sessions
after the actual interview and God shit. It's interesting. I mean, yeah, I don't know,
like I was just wondering about the, like now everything's probably like in person.
Besides some school is still at virtual interviews, but I guess we'll find out later.
So I mean, you got your interview, you're accepted. What are you feeling right now?
And what are you expecting going into your D1? You're basically,
honestly, after I got the acceptance, like I felt just so much relief. Like just,
I have to worry about whether I was going to dental school or not the next year. Yeah.
So I could really tell like my parents and my age and stuff.
And honestly, like I quit my job and I just chilled. Like I just,
What were you working as at that moment?
I was working as a research assistant at University of Maryland School of Medicine.
And I really didn't enjoy the job, but it was better than working at Best Buy.
Well, better money than working at Best Buy. I enjoyed working at Best Buy,
but it was better money than working at Best Buy. And I thought it would be a helpful stepping
stone in case I didn't get into dental school that year, like another resume booster.
But yeah, after I got in, I quit my job and just, I was honestly just chilling.
Like I just wanted to enjoy my life before starting dental school. And
I think everyone should do that. Because once you start dental school, your life is gone.
That's crazy. So I mean, so what would you expect when you're D1? Were you kind of
like expecting like a really hard transition? And how was the transition since you've already
gone through it? So I would say like, I don't really know what I was expecting.
I tried to get a feel from it by asking like different D1s, like people from my postbag
program that went straight in after. And honestly, like, you know, everyone's like,
oh yeah, get ready. Like it's super hard. I feel like the transition wasn't as bad because I did
a postbag. And like in my postbag, we were taking like the Georgetown med school classes, like
already had an idea of like how rigorous the courses would be and like how to manage my time
pretty well. And like that time management is like the most important thing in dental school.
Like that's gonna, that's basically gonna determine how miserable you are. Oh, well,
you manage the time. And I happen to have a really good time management skills. And I'm very
thankful for that. So my D1 year went pretty smoothly. Honestly, like, I mean, I personally
didn't think it was like super crazy. I was enjoying myself. What is like the Boston like,
what is the GSTL like curriculum like? Is it, is it with med school students or not?
No, it's not. It's just straight dental school. You take class, your whole class.
The way the curriculum is set up, well, it's like you take maybe 45 credits your first year
or something like that. Basically all basic size courses and one, like, I guess like two courses
in the sim lab dental anatomy and general dentistry. I liked that like you get really
early hands on experience and be you like you start in the sim lab at like early September,
I think. And yeah, I mean, like you have sim lab every Thursday. The rest of the days of the week,
you have your basic science classes, biochem, physiology, anatomy. Second semester, you take
stuff like microbiogenetics was first semester. There's a whole bunch of different classes,
but our schedule is like staggered. So you're like, a lot of the classes don't last the whole
semester. Like they'll start maybe like a month after the semester starts or like some that start
the beginning semester will end in November. Right. Courses will only be like six weeks of the semester.
It's a really weird like to explain it to anyone. But like, in my opinion, it makes school a little
more bearable. Like it doesn't feel like such a heavy workload all the time. Like a month or like
six weeks out of each semester that actually feel like a super heavy workload. Right. So I mean,
so basically the first whole year of your down school was kind of more like, is that called
didactics? Like, is that what you would so like, how was, what was like the first kind of things
you guys did like in the same lab? And how'd you guys kind of progress throughout your D1 year?
What did you guys like end up doing project? We were doing all like feelings type of thing,
like class one, perhaps class two, perhaps that's all you're doing in a sub lab in a D1 year in my
year in my school. I have heard of some schools that like first year they're doing fix like they're
doing crown pressure and stuff, which I think is amazing. Like the earlier you start with that's
that's the hard stuff. That's what you should be starting with earlier to be honest. But yeah,
first year is like just all like cavity preps pretty much. And for dental anatomy, we were doing
like wax ups like every school does. Honestly, my least favorite thing in the world, but you got
to do it. Yeah. No one really does wax ups. Well, I won't say that, but people like you do a wax
up your first year and then you never do it again. Right. I think it's just to learn the anatomy of
teeth right and like the whole thing. So I mean, how'd you kind of like, did you find yourself
really good at it in the beginning or now like how old skill like? Not at all. It was definitely a
learning. It wasn't too bad, but like, I mean, it's learning a new skill. And I feel like the
important thing to remember is that like eight times out of 10, when you start, you're going to think
you suck. And you probably do. So does everyone else. Like there's nobody in your class that's
been a dentist before. There may be a few people in your class that have prept teeth before, but
that's probably because they're repeating D one. So you should very soon to them. Honestly, like,
you just got put into work and practice and you will get better. But, you know, it's going to be a
learning curve for every one of your class. So if you suck, it's okay. I'm personally glad. Like,
I decided to vlog my first day in SIL lab and like, I go back and watch that video often because
like it just reminds me how far I've come. But also like my classmates as well, because I like,
when we took lunch, I decided like interview people asked them like how I was going. And we all thought
we suck. And I mean, we all did, but we all got a lot better over the year. So yeah, I think I saw
that one. And so like from D one year, what do you guys do? Like, what is the transition between D
one D two year? Like what is like the step up? Are you guys more ecstatic now at that point?
So D two year at my school, we're way more in the SIM lab taking like all your didactic courses,
not all of them, but 75% of them are accompanied with the SIM lab and like a SIM lab course.
We're taking like process all the dentistry classes now, frosted, donnings, endodontics,
all that stuff. And then we're taking those classes in the SIM lab as well. You still have like some
didactic courses like pharmacology. What else is there? There's some other stuff, but I came in
really can't remember that well, it's been such a long year, like every seriously long year. But
it's a nice transition, I would say it's the only hard part about it is again, like now you're
learning new skills again, start off pretty trash once again. And you're learning how to balance like
studying for school with practicing in the SIM lab. Yes. It's definitely like another learning
career. I feel like every year is just like, okay, you learn to adjust, you plateau a little bit,
you finally like get your groove and then next year up again. Same thing like next year, I'm
going to start learning how to balance clinic with classes and all that stuff. And then at my school,
D3 year, your last exam is like the end of April and then you're done with like classes in general,
like a straight clinic. But then even then like now you got a balanced clinic with studying for
boards and preparing for your licensure exam and all that stuff. So it's just like, it's a constant
uphill battle in dental school, but you know, each year you take a step up and you're always
ready for the next step. Right. That makes sense. I mean, so when you guys like see
do you want to see patients? Is that D3 year? Yeah, D3. So I started seeing patients in August.
Oh, shoot. Yeah. Just two months. I feel like I just started and now I'm about to see patients
craziest thing ever. I mean, I was talking to Omid from Topsteadle. I don't know if you know him
on Instagram. Has his name is handles Dr. Way Baby, I think. Yeah, I've heard. Yeah, he said that
like the deep, like there's like big little systems there. Do you guys have that at Boston?
So do you guys like absorb patients from the deep, the graduating D3 students and D4s eventually?
The patients are kind of all the school's patients. So like the school will just reassign the patient
whoever and then like you do have the freedom of you know, bringing your friends like getting
them registered so they can come see you specifically. But the school kind of has like a database and
they assign the patients as is. So we don't have like the big little thing where like people hand
you their patients specifically. Oh, I got you. Everyone's kind of registered with the school that
way. Patients are like kind of moved around depending on what requirements you might need done. So
that's the one has a patient that needs 10 crowns and they've already done seven. They'll probably
reassign that patient to someone that needs right, go to graduate. The main. So yeah, but for the most
part you do keep your same patients but in that event where someone needs to be shifted around.
Yeah. Way back school does it. I mean at school because you don't have to like compete for like
your arguments that would suck. And it does suck and that's the reality for a lot of schools.
And that's honestly a flaw of the dental school system in itself. But you know,
we pay them so we can make them money and work for free just for.
Yeah, I should love. I mean, to learn how to do stuff. I guess it's like a weird,
it's like a really interesting aspect of the dental school system that they
it's pretty strange to say. Yeah. I mean, so like what are you looking forward to in D3 or looking
forward to to get in patients getting on to patients? I'm most looking forward to being
done with classes. Right now. I am pretty excited to start seeing patients. I was just telling
someone yesterday I think like my main thing is while I'm excited to start seeing patients,
I am not excited to do like hygienist work and lab work. Like I'm excited like the dentist work,
but like doing like profis and probing and stuff and like doing all the lab work. I'm not looking
too too forward to that. But it's happy anyway. I mean, so how does it work? So like, do you
have to do all of the, like if you're a crowned brim or something on a patient eventually,
do you have to do the lab work for that? Or do you guys have a lab in school that kind of helps
you out and stuff? I have a lab at school, but we kind of have to do the lab work. And then like,
if anything, like we can send the, we can send the stuff out to get like the
sent back to us. We can also do milling at school. We have all the stuff at school. But
honestly, I still haven't had clinic orientation that's like in a few weeks. So I still don't know
all the information regarding that. Yeah. So I mean, you still have like orientation in a couple
weeks. But what are some like things you like about, I apply to BU. I got some family up there.
I really want to kind of go to a school in Boston if possible, try the option. So like,
what are some kind of things that you, you love about, you know, GSCM that you tell like a pre-down
student applying like what, what are some things that you kind of found out, love about the school?
One, the community for sure. Like the students at my school, I think people are very helpful
and well-being. Especially like, I mean, your class will kind of depend. Sometimes it can be that way.
Sometimes it can't. Firstly, I love my class. Like everybody in my class, they're all like
amazing people. And like probably everyone in my class would say that about my class as well. So
that's number one. Number two is definitely like the emphasis that they put on digital dentistry.
Given that that's the way dentistry is going, that's the future. I like that my school like really
emphasizes the use of like optical impressions and CAD-CAM and like in-house milling of crowns and
stuff like that. Because like if you're going to be a general dentist in 2025, that's going to be the
norm. And so I like that they're not doing things the old school way. And you know, they, you know,
although the tuition costs are arm and a leg, it's going towards something for sure.
Yeah. I mean, it's like what 85? I think that's what it is right now.
But now it's not. 91? Yeah. It was a while when I started.
Second year went to 87. 30 years going to be 91. Stats are kind of off now, I guess. Yeah.
So, so like what is like a, what is your day in life kind of like from like eight to five or
you know, do you have like days off? Like how does the class schedule?
I don't know. So yeah, that's what I was saying. Like it's hard to explain to someone because the
class schedule literally changes week by week. Like it varies so much. Honestly, like if it wasn't
for the school populating a Google calendar for us, we wouldn't have a single clue what's going on.
But yeah, I mean, in general, I have class like eight, eight, basically eight AM every day.
And usually we'll end most of the time around like three, sometimes it'll go all the way to five.
Kind of depends like if you have that day or not. But yeah, usually my days are around like eight
to three. Sometimes I like to kind of do what I want. Like some of our classes take attendance.
If they don't, I may or may not go. It just depends on like what class it is, what time it's at,
like, and how it fits into my day. So like if we have class eight to 10,
and then we have another class 10 to 12, and then another class from one to three,
I might go to school like eight to 12, and then just go home eat lunch at home. So I don't have to
buy lunch. And then if the one to three class doesn't take attendance, I might just like go to the
gym instead while it's not crowded. And then come home and then class will be over. And I'll just
watch the recording on two X speeds, save my time a little bit. And it's just just works a lot better
for me. So it just it differs every day. But I find a way to fit everything that I need to
into the day, no matter what. I mean, how do you so like where's the time management coming from?
I was actually from like your I feel like your gap years, I'm gonna help you there.
The resource help. Probably the gap years helped me also, like, I'm literally saying here,
playing with it right now, but I use like my planner, I take it everywhere. Like, I literally
write everything down that I need to do everything goes into the calendar, like, or even like,
day to day, there's like, all right, whatever I need, I'll cross it out when I'm done. I get some
type of satisfaction like crossing that stuff out. But like, there's my work, I had most of the week
off and I still never all this stuff in my planner, just like, everything I have to do, not just school
stuff, but like YouTube stuff, the gym, all that stuff, like I just write it down. And when it's
done, I cross it out. So let's talk about YouTube, man. So like, where did that start? Like, why did
you think about chronicling your life? And just kind of having that on there? Yeah. So when I was
an undergrad, and I was pre-med, like I said, I was, you know, I feel like it's very easy to lose
passion and kind of like lose sight of the angle. So I honestly went on YouTube and I think I typed
in like, day in the life of a doctor or something. And I was honestly, honestly, I think I was looking
for like, the lavish stuff, not necessarily the work stuff, or like, you know, something, or maybe,
but I ended up finding this doctor, Dr. Antonio Webb, and he's an orthopedic, he's an orthopedic
spine surgeon now. But when I found him, he was still like, in his maybe fourth or fifth year
of orthopedic residency. So I was like, okay, like I found someone that looks like me that's in the
specialty that I want to be in. And I think like, during his residency, he was work, like,
occasionally he would work as like, on the team of physicians for the San Antonio Spurs. So I was
like, okay, he's also doing like the team physician thing, which is what I want you. So I just started
watching his channel, like, all the time, like whenever I needed some motivation or whatever,
I was watching that. And then when I switched to dentistry, I found the Future DDS channel.
Right. It was like, I felt like their channel was like more so like application tips and DAT tips
and kind of like how to get into dental school, which I definitely needed at the time. But I was
also like, man, like, I wish there was like a Dr. Webb that like, I could just see their day to
day life in dental school or residency or working as a dentist. And I just didn't find anyone like
that. So I was like, I'm just going to do it myself, I guess. And yeah, I mean, I kind of always like,
enjoyed like using a camera, like editing videos. I never really learned like how to do it. I
just want to pick a lot of weight. But, you know, I just decided to do it. And honestly, I just,
I don't know, I don't know, it's just kind of like a regular part of my life. Now, I don't even
really think about them. But yeah, I just kept doing it.
I mean, that's dope. I think that like, people that, you know, pretense that they really need
some guidance, like want to know what life is like in dental school, there's nobody else better to
learn in front of people who are going to dental school. And like, not only are you like kind of
developing, not only like journaling your own life, but you're kind of like getting better at like
talking to like an audience, just kind of reminding yourself what you do at every single day. I feel
like that's like a big thing that you're getting from YouTube. I don't know if that's, I'm interested
to hear it today, because honestly, like, isn't very, and that I talked to someone that like found
me on YouTube or like that watches my YouTube that doesn't know me in like real life. So like,
you know, of course, my friends will tell me like, yo, your videos are dope, bye. And then like, of
course, people will like randomly send like an Instagram DM or something, and be like, I watched
your video on this, or like, I'm the fool or whatever. Like me personally, I was just like,
I don't really, I don't know if I really know like what, what people are looking for when they come
to my channel. Like, when I started my channel, it was kind of just like the, oh, I'm going to do
like this, like how to get into dental school with a low GPA thing. And then I'm like, okay, so I see
the thing around my channel is like, you know, the hope or like, you know, getting into dental
school where you think you might not or something, but like, as far as like the vlogs go, like, I don't,
I guess I don't really know what people get out of it. I don't know. People like vlogs in general,
but like, specifically pre dense, like, I don't know if they just like want to see what
it's like at school or I don't know, what's some random entertainment.
I mean, like, I guess just depends like what stage everyone's at. So like, you know, me,
I was, I just applied, I think I watched you a couple of times before, before I started my
DAT, I watched that DAT video you put. I watched like twice actually, because I was just like,
I don't, you got to do so. It's honestly, like, when you mentioned the video, it was like, I have to
because it's probably a while ago, it must have been like two years ago, a year ago.
Yeah. Like, there's tank in the back. Yeah, that's that's what it was. Yeah. Fish tank. Yeah.
But I mean, yeah, that point I was out, I was taking my DAT, like, about tickets. I was watching
HALA, just like DAT. Just kind of make myself feel better about taking the test. It's kind of what
we don't go to YouTube for. You can pretty much go to YouTube, just like, find some like,
parallels. So like, if you do a daily life video, it's kind of like, we're there, you know what I mean?
Yeah. Like, taking us. So, and we want to see like, what every school is like. So,
we're trying to find as many different DAL students are doing YouTube as possible with
different DAL schools. So, that's kind of what I'm getting from it. But like,
how do you like Boston? Because I mean, you never lived there before. How do you love the city?
I actually never, like, I've never stepped in Boston until after I, I was coming here for school.
I, I enjoy things about it. I definitely enjoyed the change of scenery. I enjoy living in a city,
like, somewhere that I feel like I can, I literally don't need a car. Like, I sold my car.
Somewhere I can just like, get up and walk around places to public transportation.
Like, living in a new city and like, just seeing new things. Like, that's a very, I felt like,
that was a very valuable experience that I got from moving for dental school.
I personally think like, it's not as fun as like home was, like, especially being as close to DC.
But I'm not here for fun. So, that's all the better for me, you know, the less the strapped,
it's the better. But, you know, I do like that it's not too far from home. The flight is less than an
hour. When I used to have my car, like the drive was like six and a half hours. But I would take
that drive by myself. And like, it's fine. But overall, like, I definitely enjoy being here.
I definitely don't plan on being here longer than I have to, though. And the worst part is
definitely the weather. And when I say that, I don't mean like the snow. I think I expected more snow.
But I think the worst part is like the weather. It just stays cold for so long. Like, it's June
and some days the highs in the 60s. And I'm like, like, where's summer? I can do the winters where
it's 10 degrees outside. Like, it's not that. But it's just winter doesn't have to be October to May.
That's the only way.
I just feel like this year, though, it's been kind of crappy, like the weather, it's still kind of
chilly here. It's been like 70s. Yeah, I don't know. Maybe it's like a worldwide thing. But
last thing I want to know, over you play sports, right? You said you play sports?
Yeah.
You play, did you play in high school?
Yeah, I played basketball all four years in high school. I played lacrosse for a year.
Before I started high school, I was like really big into football too. But I got injured playing
football and it stopped me from playing basketball. And I liked basketball or so I gave up on football
after that. And if I come up to Boston, we got to, we got to go somewhere out where the courts are at.
But I played, I played all four years in high school too and I still play now. So.
Yeah, I still cook around. Like I played all in college. Like a lot of my high school teammates
I went to college with. So like we started an interview team there, won interviews three years
in a row. I came here and like one of the, he just graduated, but he's two classes ahead of me.
So like my D1 year and this year, like he had already had like the interview team going here.
And so I just joined them and like we were playing the interviewers with the undergrad.
Well, it's like all the schools are like, there's undergrad, there's law students,
med students, there's us. But like we put together like a dental school team.
So now that he's gone, I think that might lie out because I'm not taking over it. I mean,
so yeah, I mean, that kind of wraps it up. Do you have any last mid vice-ferrero pre-dentals in
that application cycle kind of stressed out? Just wondering what to do right now, man.
If you're in the application cycle right now, Larry, just take it day by day, but like there's
Larry no point in stressing. If your application is in already, just let it, just let it be,
let it be in, let schools take a look at it. They will find you.
Honestly, like you never know. You really never know. It doesn't matter what your grades are,
what your DAT, I mean, yes, it matters, but you know, don't have to be a 4.0 student with a 25 DAT
or whatever like as long as you meet around the averages, everything else matters a lot more.
The GPA and the DAT are kind of like boxes you have to check, but if you're a decent person
and you did a good job portraying that on your application, I'm sure that there are schools
that are going to be in touch. So just be calm, let it be, and then in the misfortune that maybe
you don't get into any dental schools this year, the number one most important thing is contact
schools and find out what you can improve about your application. There's so many people that DM me
that are like, okay, I'm thinking about reapplying, what do you think I should do? I can't answer that
question for you. The admissions office can put them and ask them, what do I need to improve?
I can't tell you if you need to take your, if you need to retake your DAT. I don't know what
your school is looking for. I don't know. Ask them what you need to improve, work on making those
improvements and apply again. And that's it. But that's not something to worry about right now.
Right now, just hope you get a call for an interview. And when you go on those interviews,
just be yourself. That's the main thing, be yourself, be your best self. That's what I always say.
Don't put on a front. Don't try to be someone you're not. Just be the best version of you.
If the school likes you, you're going to get in. If they don't like you, you probably didn't want
to be there anyway. That's good advice, man. So I appreciate you coming on. It was a fun time
talking to you, meeting you too. And if I come up to Boston, probably this summer,
try to give me a tour of the school. Oh yeah, of course. Yeah, definitely. I've been giving
tours, just hit me up and you can come here because I'll hopefully be here in school until
July 7th and D3 starts July 24th. So I'll be around. Appreciate it. Yeah, no problem.