1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:14,480 Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Dose to Dental podcast. 2 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:18,200 The focus of this podcast is to share undergraduate and dental school experiences from dental 3 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:21,240 students and dental professionals through valuable discussions. 4 00:00:21,240 --> 00:00:24,080 Through sharing the journeys and stories of current dental students and dental professionals, 5 00:00:24,080 --> 00:00:27,080 our goal is to help you find answers or guidance for your own pre-dental journeys. 6 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:30,360 We are super excited to have Dr. Vernon Goyle as our guest today. 7 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:34,840 Dr. Goyle graduated from Stony Brook University with a degree in biology and more recently 8 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:38,240 just graduated from Stony Brook School of Dental Medicine this summer. 9 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:41,840 During his undergraduate years, he was heavily involved with the Stony Brook Pre-Dental Society 10 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:46,600 and served as dance chair of the Puso Executive Board, which is a national competitive hip-hop 11 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:48,960 dancing team at Stony Brook University. 12 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:52,720 In dental school, Dr. Goyle started a process of dental club, conducted research, and went 13 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:55,360 on to start a YouTube channel to showcase his love for dancing. 14 00:00:55,360 --> 00:00:58,640 Dr. Goyle is now continuing his residency at Stony Brook as well. 15 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:01,280 Dr. Goyle, we're beyond excited to have you on the podcast. 16 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:04,600 How does it feel to complete dental school and how have your first few weeks of residency 17 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:05,600 been going? 18 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:08,680 Honestly, it feels unreal. 19 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:11,680 It's crazy to believe how fast time applies. 20 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:16,120 The first few weeks of residency, it's been kind of getting back into the swing of things 21 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:18,720 since I came back from summer break, you know. 22 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:23,240 So it is definitely going a little bit slow, but I can't wait to see how the journey goes. 23 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:25,600 I feel like we're going to learn a lot this year. 24 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:26,600 Yeah, awesome. 25 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:27,600 That sounds great. 26 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:28,600 So why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself? 27 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:32,440 Like where you're from, where you grew up in obviously, and you know, we like to do 28 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:33,440 for fun. 29 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:34,440 Sure. 30 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:36,440 So again, my name is Varun Goyle. 31 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:41,840 I am currently in my first year of residency, like you all said. 32 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:46,360 Originally, I was born in Queens, but I've lived in Long Island for most of my life. 33 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:50,920 For my first semester of college, I actually studied abroad in Greece, which is part of 34 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:53,720 the Northeastern University's NUN program. 35 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:58,760 Went back to Northeastern after that was over, decided to transfer school to Stony Brook, 36 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:05,960 and then I finished Stony Brook, graduated in 2017, started dental school in 2018, just 37 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:10,200 finished in 2022, and now I'm starting residency. 38 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:14,280 And in my free time, I like to dance, as you mentioned. 39 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:18,160 And throughout dental school, you know, I came up with a few ways to combine both my 40 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:20,480 passions for dentistry and dancing. 41 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:24,200 So that's kind of where I'm at right now, still, you know, trying to learn as much as 42 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:29,680 I can with dental school and trying to continue with dancing. 43 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:31,360 That's great to hear that you're dancing. 44 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:34,440 It's very unique, because I don't think that many people have that link between dentistry 45 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:36,320 and dancing. 46 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:40,600 So every dental student and dental professional has a reason for diving deep into this field. 47 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:43,000 We just like to ask, you know, why dentistry? 48 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:46,800 What motivated you to get to where you are and what has kept you here? 49 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:47,800 Yeah. 50 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:53,080 So I've always been wanting to do something in the medical field. 51 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:55,320 I guess I just wasn't exactly sure what it was. 52 00:02:55,320 --> 00:03:00,640 So when I was at Stony Brook, I was premed on the premed track to begin with, you know, 53 00:03:00,640 --> 00:03:05,480 and then just talking to a bunch of people, they kind of just suggested that I look towards 54 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:07,040 dentistry. 55 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:10,520 So I started shadowing a few dentists, you know, because at the time I still didn't know 56 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:14,440 exactly what it was I wanted to do in the health profession. 57 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:21,280 I started looking towards dentistry and it was pretty late during my college years. 58 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:25,000 Actually, it was around junior year I started looking towards dentistry. 59 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:30,400 Heard a lot of great things about the lifestyle and how, you know, just something, how it's 60 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:35,080 something that's different from the traditional medical track as well. 61 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:39,720 So I started shadowing and honestly, I took a leap of faith. 62 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:45,320 I took a leap of faith and, you know, something like I shattered a few people and I was like, 63 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:47,400 okay, you know what, let's go for it. 64 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:50,200 It's not something that a lot of people do. 65 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:53,880 But when I really thought about it, especially when it came to writing my personal statement, 66 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:59,320 I tried to think of a more personal reason of why I could apply dentistry in my life. 67 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:03,760 So I started thinking about my parents and know my parents actually before then never 68 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:06,680 really visited a dentist. 69 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:11,640 So that I guess kind of inspired me to want to pursue dentistry more because when I thought 70 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:15,520 about it, my first dental visit wasn't until I was 16 years old. 71 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:20,120 I, yeah, I got my first painting at 16 years old. 72 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:22,400 So I was just kind of thinking about that. 73 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:28,120 And you know, since dentistry wasn't really something that was looked that greatly upon 74 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:33,280 in my family, it's something that I wanted to learn more about and bring into my family. 75 00:04:33,280 --> 00:04:36,840 So that's basically why I pursued dentistry. 76 00:04:36,840 --> 00:04:38,760 Yeah, that's a really good story. 77 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:42,680 And honestly, like not getting a claim into your 16, it's got to be, it makes sense why 78 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:46,280 that's like your source of motivation for, you know, pursuing this field. 79 00:04:46,280 --> 00:04:49,560 So yeah, along those lines of color to ask you, like, how'd you maintain your why throughout 80 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:50,560 undergrad, right? 81 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:56,200 You know, there's a lot of variables that go into like motivation and drive and, you 82 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:59,680 know, all that maybe discipline might be the best, the best answer to put it. 83 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:03,120 But you know, what was your motivation to, well, how'd you keep your why? 84 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:06,120 Through a daily grad process? 85 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:13,560 So I think just something about me, I'm a very, like I really take time management seriously, 86 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:16,680 and I really try to prioritize what's most important. 87 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:20,320 So like I said, I did, and I did decide that I wanted to pursue dentistry late. 88 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:21,880 It was around my junior year. 89 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:25,600 And typically the end of junior year is when the application to start. 90 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:29,080 So as soon as I figured out this is one of what I wanted to do, I kind of just started 91 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:35,280 hustling, started studying for the DAT right away, and it was while I was still taking 92 00:05:35,280 --> 00:05:40,000 all my exams and going through my courses in school too. 93 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:42,920 But I just had to learn how to prioritize things a little bit better because now this 94 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:47,400 was a really big goal of mine, trying to get into dental school as soon as I graduate from 95 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:50,120 college. 96 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:56,280 Started studying for the DAT and started to become more involved in the pre-dental society. 97 00:05:56,280 --> 00:05:59,680 And I want to start a shadowing some more people. 98 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:04,560 And it's just when you kind of have a goal, you just want to try to do your best to pursue 99 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:05,560 it. 100 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:10,680 So you talked about you used to be like a pre-med, and then you kind of moved to pre-dental. 101 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:12,680 So how was your undergraduate experience? 102 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:15,560 When did you have that realization? 103 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:17,520 I want to just shift my path. 104 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:22,320 And then how'd you kind of organize your activities and events accordingly so that you would be 105 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:25,720 on track to apply to dental school? 106 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:26,720 It was kind of tough. 107 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:30,840 Like I said, I did talk to a lot of people about it. 108 00:06:30,840 --> 00:06:35,720 And I have a lot of doctors in my family, but I also noticed that I didn't have any dentists 109 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:37,120 in my family. 110 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:42,200 So in the early years of college, I started going to hospitals, shadowing at hospitals. 111 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:48,280 I volunteered as an early in an operating room in a surgical room back at Northeastern. 112 00:06:48,280 --> 00:06:52,200 And of course, I wanted to enter the health profession because I wanted to really help 113 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:54,200 people. 114 00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:59,920 But I guess after that, I kind of just realized that a hospital setting wasn't really my thing 115 00:06:59,920 --> 00:07:00,920 at the time. 116 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:06,240 And then I just started to look at other branches of medicine, one of them which wound up being 117 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:08,680 dentistry. 118 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:10,880 So I guess that's how my work was shifted. 119 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:11,880 Yeah. 120 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:15,480 So I think something that a lot of people may struggle with is choosing their classes schedule, 121 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:16,480 right? 122 00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:19,520 Because everyone wants to choose classes that are going to help them achieve their major 123 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:21,560 and fulfill their requirements. 124 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:27,680 So as you shifted from Northeastern to Soniaburg, what resources did you use to kind of help 125 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:29,080 you along the way? 126 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:30,080 Yeah. 127 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:36,440 So luckily, I was a biology major and a lot of the pre-dental and pre-medical courses 128 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:38,880 biology majors are required to take. 129 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:42,840 So for me, the shift wasn't as bad. 130 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:46,160 But we do have pre-dental advisors at Soniaburg undergrad. 131 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:52,720 I remember talking to a bunch of them and they really just helped me get all of my application 132 00:07:52,720 --> 00:07:53,720 things ready. 133 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:57,080 And also, they made sure that I was on the right track. 134 00:07:57,080 --> 00:08:01,480 And I'm sure most universities out there would have a pre-dental advisor or a pre-medical 135 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:02,480 advisor. 136 00:08:02,480 --> 00:08:07,000 So I would definitely recommend setting up appointments, reaching out to them. 137 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:12,520 Also taking advantage of the career centers and also the writing centers so that they 138 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:17,240 can help you with your resume and your personal statements and things like that. 139 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:18,240 Yeah. 140 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:21,640 So you touched upon the DAT and your personal statement. 141 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:25,680 Can you just talk a little bit more about the dental application in a whole? 142 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:29,960 How did you plan your studying for the DAT? 143 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:31,720 Why did you take the courses? 144 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:33,680 Were you kind of thinking about the exam or was it not yet? 145 00:08:33,680 --> 00:08:37,680 Were you decided to go into the dental? 146 00:08:37,680 --> 00:08:40,120 So I've heard a lot of things about DAT boot camp. 147 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:44,240 I think that's one of the holy grails I was studying for the DAT. 148 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:46,600 So I definitely looked into that. 149 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:52,000 I'm not sure what the main resources that are available are now. 150 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:58,600 But I know at the time, I also looked into Chad's videos for organic chemistry and general 151 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:01,400 chemistry especially. 152 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:07,320 And for reading comprehension, DAT boot camp I looked at mainly and just trying to, you 153 00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:10,600 know, just reading articles on a general basis because it's all reading comprehension, you 154 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:14,880 know, the more reading that you do, the better you get at it. 155 00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:21,880 There was also, and I can't forget, I can't remember the name, but this one doctor that 156 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:28,120 had all of the books for like Orgo and Jen Kim, I forgot the name. 157 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:29,120 Sorry. 158 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:33,120 But once I figured out, I'll let you know. 159 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:39,400 Yeah, and I basically, I think if I remember correctly, it was mainly during winter break 160 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:43,400 because we had about a month off for winter break where I really heavily focused on my 161 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:44,400 studying. 162 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:46,640 I was like, I didn't take any courses. 163 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:48,440 I did all the self-studying. 164 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:50,200 I did all the studying on my own. 165 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:54,320 But I basically created a schedule where I would go to the library eight hours a day 166 00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:59,440 for about five days a week and I would just sit there, grind and kind of create a schedule 167 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:01,520 for myself to study. 168 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:07,080 And the schedule was reviewing materials and constantly doing practice questions too. 169 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:11,680 And I guess my studying strategy was mostly like I spent a couple of hours reviewing doing 170 00:10:11,680 --> 00:10:12,680 practice questions. 171 00:10:12,680 --> 00:10:16,280 That would be like the first four hours, second four hours, I would move on to a different 172 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:18,520 subject and repeat the same thing. 173 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:23,280 And the next day, I would start a brand new subject, same thing for the first four hours. 174 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:27,560 Next four hours, I would do a different subject, but I would also just briefly review what 175 00:10:27,560 --> 00:10:29,200 I did the previous day. 176 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:32,880 So I don't forget anything by the time it's the end of winter break. 177 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:36,720 I don't forget what I did on the first day of winter break. 178 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:39,960 That definitely makes a lot of sense. 179 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:43,200 You're reviewing every couple of days, you don't forget what you worked like four hours 180 00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:44,960 the one day on to remember. 181 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:49,200 And as you said, creating a schedule is very important for pre-dentals. 182 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:53,640 A lot of times, everyone has different activities that doing while they're studying for the 183 00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:56,160 exams could be during the semester, it could be during a break. 184 00:10:56,160 --> 00:10:59,680 Either way, I feel like making a certain schedule and kind of following that is the best way 185 00:10:59,680 --> 00:11:00,680 to go. 186 00:11:00,680 --> 00:11:06,440 And definitely, I feel like incorporating a little bit of activity each day as you study, 187 00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:11,800 just because you might be getting mentally stronger to take this exam, but it's also 188 00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:13,280 important to be physically stronger. 189 00:11:13,280 --> 00:11:17,200 You want to maintain both sides of that coin. 190 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:22,320 So along those lines, how do you, you mentioned you incorporated dancing into dentistry. 191 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:26,960 So can you like touch up upon how exactly that worked out? 192 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:31,600 Like, how did you incorporate these aspects of dancing into the field that you want to 193 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:32,600 pursue? 194 00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:38,200 I think because at the end of the day dentistry, it is a medical profession and most medical 195 00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:41,240 professions are team oriented. 196 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:44,920 You have to learn how to collab with everyone in your team. 197 00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:49,600 With dentistry, we have the dental assistant, the dentist, the dental hygienist, your lab 198 00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:55,040 technician, your receptionist, and if you just got to make sure you learn how to communicate 199 00:11:55,040 --> 00:11:58,880 with everyone properly to help provide high quality care. 200 00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:03,080 And the same thing kind of applies in dance, on a dance team where you're in a team setting. 201 00:12:03,080 --> 00:12:07,000 You have the members, you have the leaders of the team, the choreographers, the person 202 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:10,840 who has to make your music for the set. 203 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:15,480 So I think it's really having experience in that collaborative setting with dancing, which 204 00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:19,800 kind of helped me help prepare me for dental school a little bit more and that's kind of 205 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:21,600 why I included it in the person statement. 206 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:24,920 Yeah, I think honestly, I play basketball myself and like even if you're playing like 207 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:26,720 up or something, it's kind of like the same thing. 208 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:29,240 Like you need to, you can just do it all yourself. 209 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:32,440 I mean, sometimes you can, but you know, most of the time if you're playing like in 210 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:35,840 competitive setting, like you kind of need everyone to be on the same page and like, 211 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:40,360 you know, really help contribute towards the ultimate goal, which is the way in the game. 212 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:43,080 So yeah, you talked about, you know, dancing. 213 00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:46,400 Did you, you also had involvement with the pre-dental society. 214 00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:49,320 So can you talk a little bit about, you know, what kind of role that played during your 215 00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:50,320 undergraduate years? 216 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:55,080 Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest event that I could think of is when they took the undergrads 217 00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:58,480 to visit the dental school. 218 00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:03,800 And you know, when I visited the dental school, this was, I think during my senior year where 219 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:05,440 I visited the dental school. 220 00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:08,560 And then it's crazy because when I went back, when I went to dental school the next year 221 00:13:08,560 --> 00:13:12,080 and I saw some familiar faces, I was like, oh my God, I remember you, you did that mock 222 00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:15,720 interview with me in the pre-dental society last year. 223 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:19,240 So the pre-dental society, I would highly recommend trying to go to as many meetings 224 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:21,960 as you can. 225 00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:25,600 And I think at the end of the day, it's all about connections, you know. 226 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:29,720 I'm sure the pre-dental society also has collaborative events, not just with Stony Brook 227 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:33,880 Dental School, but with other schools, you know, so I would definitely recommend making 228 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:38,360 connections with people that are involved. 229 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:44,400 If they have events with other schools, making connections with those other schools as well. 230 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:47,520 The more people see you, the more they'll remember you, you know. 231 00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:51,200 And especially when you're in an interview, when you're interviewing, the most important 232 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:52,920 thing is you want to make sure you're memorable. 233 00:13:52,920 --> 00:13:54,800 Yeah, for sure. 234 00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:59,360 And like you said, the mock interview process, honestly, I know that I think Harvard and 235 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:02,920 some other schools do conduct mock interviews for like pre-dentals. 236 00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:08,440 And I think that's like the best way to, you know, really hone in on your interview skills. 237 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:12,400 And I think to be honest, I'm not sure, but I think there's a spot in your application 238 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:15,720 to kind of show you like your interest in a different school. 239 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:20,560 So I mean, if you do mock interviews at like, you know, these dental schools that you are 240 00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:23,720 applying to, they might think, oh, wow, so this kid actually has some interest in the 241 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:25,360 school and he actually did an interview with us. 242 00:14:25,360 --> 00:14:29,080 So, you know, because it's why you are in a better position and going on those lines, 243 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:33,240 like can you talk about your own interview experience, you know, whether it be like with 244 00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:37,040 Stony Brook or any other schools you apply to with just so our pre-inalisters can understand 245 00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:41,880 it or what goes into preparing and conducting these interviews. 246 00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:42,880 Sure. 247 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:45,840 So I don't remember how many schools I interviewed at. 248 00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:48,760 I think it was maybe three. 249 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:53,920 I applied to maybe 10, 12 schools and got three interviews. 250 00:14:53,920 --> 00:15:02,400 And I basically, when I went to the interview, right, I just tried to remind myself, you 251 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:03,640 know, just be yourself. 252 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:05,920 You want to be accepted for who you are. 253 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:09,760 You don't want to put on any persona or anything like that, right? 254 00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:14,360 And me, I guess in general, I get pretty excited and I'm just like a fun, jumpy person, you 255 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:18,720 know, so I try to make people aware of that. 256 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:23,400 So I try to, you know, when you're in that room with all the interviewees, try to meet 257 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:26,000 as many people as you can. 258 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:29,520 And you know, I know at the end of the day, you're competing with each other, but five 259 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:34,120 years down the line when you both graduate and, you know, run into each other again, 260 00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:37,800 then it just kind of builds that connection, you know, so definitely just meeting as many 261 00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:41,320 people as you can throughout the, throughout the interview process. 262 00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:46,880 And at the end of the day, the interview process itself, it's just a conversation between you 263 00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:50,120 and whoever it is that's interviewing you, you know. 264 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:55,640 You want to, you, yeah, I mean, you just want to make it sound as casual as you can. 265 00:15:55,640 --> 00:15:58,640 You don't want to sound scripted. 266 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:03,720 And you want them to like you for who you are, you know, and at the end of the day, it's 267 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:05,240 not just a one-sided thing. 268 00:16:05,240 --> 00:16:09,800 You don't, I personally think that you don't have to feel like you need to impress them 269 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:16,960 or anything like that, you know, because they, they will be asking you questions and you 270 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:20,640 want to ask them questions too, to make sure that you also like school that you're going 271 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:24,960 to or you, you're interviewing at. 272 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:28,760 So you know, I think the most important thing is to just yourself. 273 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:31,960 I know it's very nerve wracking and that's okay. 274 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:40,080 That's normal, but practicing ahead of time also helps and not practicing scripted conversations, 275 00:16:40,080 --> 00:16:43,240 you know, but just practicing with the family member and just trying to make it sound as 276 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:45,240 natural as possible. 277 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:49,400 Yeah, I think definitely some people kind of think of every process and they think like 278 00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:50,920 question, answer, question, answer. 279 00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:55,800 But we actually had Brandon Axelrod who was an incoming D2 student at the School of Tent 280 00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:59,360 of Medicine, I don't know if you know him, but he kind of told us that like he kind of 281 00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:02,240 swayed the questions wherever he wanted to go. 282 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:07,640 So he'd ask the interviewer questions back, avoid, not avoid, but kind of like change the 283 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:09,640 direction of the conversation. 284 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:14,600 And like, I forgot what he said, but he said that the conversation just, just became something 285 00:17:14,600 --> 00:17:16,880 really casual, nothing about dentistry, something else. 286 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:19,560 But was that true in your own personal experience? 287 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:24,240 Like, did you have, like, what was the focus of your interview questions? 288 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:25,240 Were they more on dentistry? 289 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:27,480 Was it more like on your personal life? 290 00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:30,120 So it depends who you get. 291 00:17:30,120 --> 00:17:35,840 And I would highly recommend if you know ahead of time the name of the person who was interviewing 292 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:41,240 you, research them, see what they like, see what they're about so that you know you can 293 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:44,280 try to give your conversation towards things that they like to talk about. 294 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:48,400 It might not necessarily be dentistry, you know, but I remember I had someone who interviewed 295 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:50,360 me who loved research. 296 00:17:50,360 --> 00:17:55,640 So I didn't know that ahead of time, but you know, when I found out how much you loved 297 00:17:55,640 --> 00:18:01,080 research, I tried my best to give a conversation towards research. 298 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:05,880 And you know, research is also just something that I was interested in pursuing when I applied 299 00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:06,880 for dental school too. 300 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:08,400 So it kind of just worked out. 301 00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:09,400 Yeah. 302 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:13,040 I mean, if you know, like who your interviewers are ahead of time, maybe you can formulate 303 00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:17,200 some kind of questions to ask them, you know, to kind of steer the conversation how you 304 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:18,200 would like it to go. 305 00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:21,280 You know, I feel like when this conversation is steered by the person interviewed, which 306 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:25,640 would be the pre-dentals in this case, I feel like it makes the whole interview process 307 00:18:25,640 --> 00:18:29,360 a little easier just because it feels like you're more in control of the conversation 308 00:18:29,360 --> 00:18:30,360 now. 309 00:18:30,360 --> 00:18:34,840 So like, what are some questions that pre-dentals could ask the interviewer, you know, to achieve 310 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:38,480 this, to increase that comfort level during the interview itself? 311 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:48,320 Yeah, so I think it depends what it is that the interviewee is looking for at the school. 312 00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:53,680 You know, I've met people who applied for dental school knowing that they want to specialize 313 00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:56,960 in ortho or that they want to specialize in perio or endo. 314 00:18:56,960 --> 00:19:00,880 So you know, a lot of questions that you can ask are, how is the ortho department here? 315 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:03,320 You know, ortho, there's a lot of scanning involved in ortho. 316 00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:06,640 So do they use digital scanners in ortho here? 317 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:09,480 The whole dentistry itself is going to, it's making a lot of progress. 318 00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:13,600 So how heavy is the school in digital? 319 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:15,680 Faculty to student ratio in clinic, right? 320 00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:18,360 Luckily, Stony Brook is a very small school. 321 00:19:18,360 --> 00:19:20,040 There's about 40 people per class. 322 00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:24,200 So there's very heavy interaction between faculty and students. 323 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:28,680 I feel like the faculty literally know all the students here. 324 00:19:28,680 --> 00:19:34,080 So faculty student ratio is definitely something that you want to take into account. 325 00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:36,920 So if you're interested in research, you know, students are interested in research, 326 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:43,040 then talk about like, you know, what type of research are current students kind of thing. 327 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:47,400 Outreach, I know Stony Brook is huge in outreach. 328 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:51,960 We had Mission Trips in Chile, Madagascar. 329 00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:58,360 You know, unfortunately, I wasn't able to be a part of that because COVID hit around 330 00:19:58,360 --> 00:20:01,240 the time we were doing applications for those. 331 00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:04,720 That's something huge too that drew me into Stony Brook. 332 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:12,160 So I think it all comes down to what the individual is looking for, location-wise also, you know. 333 00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:16,720 You know, faculty, they all understand that when you're a student, you're not, 334 00:20:16,720 --> 00:20:19,960 like they don't want you to have like just a 24-7 studying lifestyle, you know, 335 00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:22,080 they want to make sure you have a healthy balance. 336 00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:28,240 You can even talk about like what do students like to do here for fun outside of school. 337 00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:32,040 So I actually went to Guatemala a couple of weeks ago for the, you know, 338 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:36,080 you know, the organization VAW, VAW here of that one. 339 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:37,560 It's just like an outreach. 340 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:39,040 So we went for like a dental outreach program. 341 00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:41,640 So we helped, you know, like assisting and shadowing. 342 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:44,040 And I know personally, I'm also dental assistant. 343 00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:48,160 So like, you know, assisting is like one of the ways I kind of keep myself involved 344 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:50,200 with dentistry even when I'm at school. 345 00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:50,800 Yeah. 346 00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:54,960 So like you personally, like did you, did you, how did you find shadowing and assisting? 347 00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:59,040 Like, you know, how did it, how was it a valuable experience for you? 348 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:03,560 Like, did it solidify your choice in dentistry or did you kind of, you know, 349 00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:05,480 what aspect of it did you love the most? 350 00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:05,760 Yeah. 351 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:12,040 So like I said, I did enter dentistry really late, like right before applications started. 352 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:16,000 So I didn't have as much shadowing experience as I would have liked to. 353 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:20,240 But I went back to my local dentist aspect of shadowing him. 354 00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:26,200 And also while I was a Stony Brook, I would just look at anyone who owns a practice near me. 355 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:29,920 And I actually, I literally just sent him an email, told him that I'm a pre-dental student 356 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:31,000 interested in learning more. 357 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:35,000 And I'd love to step by your office if you have the time, shadow you. 358 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:36,840 And it does work. 359 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:40,440 So I did shadow someone a couple of times around the Stony Brook area. 360 00:21:40,440 --> 00:21:48,160 But majority of the time I was shadowing someone, like I was shadowing my local dentist. 361 00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:52,640 Yeah. And, you know, there's also, there's also other things you can do if you want to. 362 00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:55,200 There's, for example, Discover Dental. 363 00:21:55,200 --> 00:22:00,560 Stony Brook has a Discover Dental program where people are interested in learning more about dentistry. 364 00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:05,040 It's, I think, a two week program where they can get hands on experience to see if it's something 365 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:09,160 that they want to do before they commit to dentistry. 366 00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:12,280 It's not something I was able to take advantage of, unfortunately. 367 00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:14,800 But yeah, there are programs out there like that too. 368 00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:15,120 Right. 369 00:22:15,120 --> 00:22:19,280 And I discovered dental school is like a huge program that the Stony Brook Dental School 370 00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:20,400 did host for a couple of years. 371 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:25,200 But I think because of COVID and all the, the rule and the regulations they got now, 372 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:29,920 it has, I don't think it's been running for like the past two or three years, but I think students 373 00:22:29,920 --> 00:22:34,960 can look into SHPP, which is like, kind of like the same thing. 374 00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:39,320 I know Columbia hosts that kind of program where you go like during the summer and it's kind of more like a 375 00:22:39,320 --> 00:22:46,120 health administration slash pre-med, pre-dental kind of program where they kind of teach you about, 376 00:22:46,120 --> 00:22:50,680 you know, ethics and, you know, you just, you sit, you stay at the school for like the whole summer 377 00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:52,320 and you just go through a bunch of programs. 378 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:56,720 I know our first guest, Stade, was talking about this. 379 00:22:56,720 --> 00:23:03,240 There's other alternatives, you know, to get yourself really involved in dentistry while you're still an undergrad. 380 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:11,160 So, so can we, let's talk a bit more about, let's transition into like your dental school experience, right? 381 00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:17,240 Can you kind of summarize or briefly talk about your four years at Stony Brook School, Dan and Messen? 382 00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:18,040 Sure, yeah. 383 00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:26,200 So as Stony Brook specifically for the first six months or so, you're taking classes at the medical school with the medical students. 384 00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:31,560 And then slowly as the spring semester hits, you're transitioning into the dental school. 385 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:36,560 For the first year, you're taking a few hands-on courses at the dental school also. 386 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:41,960 So things like basic dental morphology, waxing up teeth, basic operatives. 387 00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:50,560 So you learn how to, you know, pick up a handpiece and how to remove decay and simulated teeth and practice composite or amalgamation. 388 00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:52,480 So that's basically all first years. 389 00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:57,360 First year is mainly all didactic with some of those lab courses. 390 00:23:57,360 --> 00:24:02,200 Second year here, you start to transition into more heavy lab courses like prosthodontics, right? 391 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:06,920 So prosthetics, fixed crowns, removable dentures. 392 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:11,960 You have lab courses on those and you're still kind of continuing with your didactic courses. 393 00:24:11,960 --> 00:24:20,120 So now you're taking a little bit more advanced courses like oral surgery, you know, you start to transition to oral pathology. 394 00:24:20,120 --> 00:24:22,400 And you start to take a lot of the specialty courses too. 395 00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:28,640 So like more advanced periocourses, endocourses, courses, things like that. 396 00:24:28,640 --> 00:24:37,600 Towards the later half of the second year, you start to transition into the clinic as a pre-doc student in clinic. 397 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:49,400 So, you know, you start getting patients, you start seeing patients maybe once or twice a week and you have rotations in the school where, you know, you can shadow or assist upperclassmen or specialties. 398 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:52,600 Third year is more clinic based. 399 00:24:52,600 --> 00:25:00,520 You have some didactics, maybe eight to ten, you have didactics and then ten to five is all clinic and then fourth year is predominantly all clinic. 400 00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:06,640 You start even earlier, you start at nine, fourth years and they go from nine to five lunch break in the middle. 401 00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:10,880 So that's a really in-depth explanation of what dental school is. 402 00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:16,800 For many like students wondering what dental school is like, can you just describe how you felt, you know, 403 00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:19,800 winding back the clock, entering your first year of dental school? 404 00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:21,680 Like, how was it adjusting from undergrad? 405 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:22,800 You know, was it just crazy? 406 00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:26,440 Like, did you go into med courses like, wow, what am I doing right now? 407 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:27,920 Like, do you have any self-doubt? 408 00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:29,080 You know, stuff like that. 409 00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:31,240 Yeah, of course I had self-doubt. 410 00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:35,360 I just want to say that that is a normal part of dental school. 411 00:25:35,360 --> 00:25:42,040 It's not easy, you know, it's not and it's also not necessarily the material itself that could be challenging. 412 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:44,760 It's the volume. 413 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:51,640 So I mean, me personally, since I got into the old dental game pretty late, I did shadow, 414 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:53,520 but I didn't have much shadowing experience. 415 00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:59,200 And like I said, I kind of took a leap of faith with this first year, year and a half, I struggled a lot. 416 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:00,400 I'm not going to lie. 417 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:03,960 It took me a while to understand concepts. 418 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:09,600 You know, I had all my friends who did assist in, you know, things like, I don't know, like, 419 00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:18,080 like, pouring alginate impressions, making models, it was a little bit easier for them and it was very difficult for me. 420 00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:30,280 So I kind of just, you know, told myself that this is part of the process and, you know, it's not that bad or anything. 421 00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:32,800 It's just that I don't have as much experience. 422 00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:39,080 You know, something I would suggest is, like, definitely try to get as much experience as you can before coming into dental school. 423 00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:42,080 It's not required, but it's going to help a lot. 424 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:44,760 And I'm telling you that firsthand. 425 00:26:44,760 --> 00:26:49,640 For the first year and a half or so of dental school, I definitely had a lot of self doubt. 426 00:26:49,640 --> 00:26:52,560 I struggled a lot. 427 00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:59,400 But you know, the thing is, when you have peers and friends here, like, everyone really cares about each other, you know, 428 00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:01,000 everyone wants everyone else to succeed. 429 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:07,680 And so like, there's a lot of things that I've learned from my friends that, you know, if it's a certain technique, 430 00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:14,880 like after learning from them, it's something that I kind of have with me now to take on. 431 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:21,760 But it was more so during the pandemic where I personally had more time to get my stuff together. 432 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:28,040 I reviewed a lot of basic stuff we were taught for the first one and a half years or so. 433 00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:30,760 And also just practiced a lot more in the lab. 434 00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:40,560 And over time, I kind of just got a lot better and I started to have more passion for the profession itself. 435 00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:48,920 So I mean, if there's one thing I could say, it's that it's like, don't don't beat yourself up if you don't get something on the first try. 436 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:53,320 Or even if it takes a lot of tries to get it, it's part of the process. 437 00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:59,160 And for me personally, like I'd rather fail 100 times than get lucky and pass, you know, it's a huge learning curve. 438 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:04,160 It's a learning process, but the four years are going to fly by and it's totally worth it. 439 00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:13,440 Right. So how did you like manage your social life and how'd you just how'd you get that good time management throughout your throughout dental school? 440 00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:19,480 Yeah, so it was probably around second year because first year I struggled a lot, right? 441 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:26,760 And then second year in the beginning of second year, I was kind of thinking about how I can do better, right? 442 00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:30,760 I in a way had to sacrifice a little bit of my social life, right? 443 00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:37,760 But second year, I actually became more involved in dancing because I kind of told myself, I was like, OK, if I if I really want to dance, 444 00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:48,240 then I have to do better in school and I have to really manage my time to get better grades and just develop better habits and better techniques, right? 445 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:55,880 Because, you know, like in first year, you're all with your friends, you know, you're going to say you're going to study at the library for hours and half the time, you're just chilling, right? 446 00:28:55,880 --> 00:28:58,400 Like, that's I think that's how it is in the beginning. 447 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:05,240 So second year, I kind of had to cut out my social life a little bit and use my motivation to do a lot better. 448 00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:13,200 So literally, my schedule was second year, I would be in class from eight to five, five to eight, 30. 449 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:17,800 I would study really hard and at dance rehearsals, like eight, 30, 11, 30. 450 00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:20,000 And that was like basically my day. 451 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:22,960 So I had to sacrifice my social life, especially on the weekends. 452 00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:25,840 I took a lot of time to study and catch up on things. 453 00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:31,000 And like surprisingly, my grades actually improved dramatically after this. 454 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:41,160 So I think it's just it's just all about learning how to prioritize and learning what it is that you're weak at and what you want to get better at and try to make that into a string. 455 00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:43,920 Yeah, I think I kind of touched on like time management. 456 00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:51,120 Yeah, I mean, if you set blocks of time to study and then you have class before you study after and you just really enjoy at the end of the day. 457 00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:58,080 I feel like, you know, your brain kind of goes to sleep restful because you're doing something and then you really love to do. 458 00:29:58,080 --> 00:30:04,800 Right. So I think, you know, whether that be like going to the gym or just playing basketball or something like that, the answer is really good thing to end the day off. 459 00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:12,200 You don't want to be, I don't know, are you the kind of person to study like late at night or kind of more like a daytime person to study here? 460 00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:14,520 I'm not, I would say I'm a morning person. 461 00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:21,080 In the beginning of school, I definitely was not a morning person, but I kind of wanted to get in the habit of going to the gym in the morning. 462 00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:26,640 You know, because I really feel like that pump gives you a lot of energy to take you through the day. 463 00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:34,800 So after like about two weeks or so of trying to experiment with that, it wasn't easy in the beginning, you know, because who wants to wake up at like six o'clock. 464 00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:40,120 But after kind of practicing that, I feel like I developed myself into a morning person. 465 00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:45,320 So I don't really like studying late at night. 466 00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:50,800 I think it just, it just doesn't really work for me. 467 00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:55,080 So what is something you wish you knew before like dental school? 468 00:30:55,080 --> 00:31:01,080 Was it, you know, like what, what did you feel like you should have known until you'd be like better prepared? 469 00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:03,080 I just wish I got more experience, honestly. 470 00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:04,080 Yeah. 471 00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:10,080 Yeah. Again, like experience is not, it's not required, but it will help you a lot. 472 00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:20,720 Like things like I think if you can identify what a cavity looks like on an X-ray, we learned that in first year, you know, if you can, if you, that's something that you already know ahead of time. 473 00:31:20,720 --> 00:31:41,720 If you know the types of teeth that we have in our mouth, you know, like the insiders, anions, premolars, molars, and you know, the names of the surfaces that are on teeth, just anything that you can kind of get your hands on and learn before dental school, it's going to be a huge plus for you. 474 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:45,720 So you, you talked about like your experience, you wish you had more. 475 00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:49,720 I know like in dental school, I've heard about the wax ups you have to do. 476 00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:52,720 Yeah. So everyone last one. 477 00:31:52,720 --> 00:32:01,720 Yes. So how did you, you know, how are your hands skills going to dental school, your hand, eye coordination, like how'd you kind of, you know, make that better. It can't be as easy as playing a video game, but 478 00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:06,720 Yo, my hands are trash. 479 00:32:06,720 --> 00:32:16,720 So bad. I'll be that, that dude who was always like the last one to leave first one to enter and last one to leave because my hands are just that bad. 480 00:32:16,720 --> 00:32:35,720 But I think just learning from, from your peers who know what they're doing, you know, and just kind of asking them to show you, I know, I really think the more times you do it, the more you start to develop new techniques and you start to see things that you 481 00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:38,720 haven't seen before. 482 00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:51,720 And it just takes time and patience. I really think that's what it is, especially if you're not getting good at it in the beginning. You just got to try to figure out what your mistakes are and try to figure out how you can make that but you know because 483 00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:57,720 for for wax ups, we have all these different instruments that have a specific function right. 484 00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:09,720 At the end of the day, you just want to try to figure out what works best for you like if this instrument that has this particular function if you don't like it for that function and you see a different benefit for it and use it for that. 485 00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:15,720 You know, dentistry I've learned throughout the years it's very intuitive. You just got to try to figure out what works best for you. 486 00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:25,720 Yeah, it's definitely good to know that you know not everyone starts at like the golden level when they start doing school right that's the whole point of going is to hone in on your craft and just kind of get better. 487 00:33:25,720 --> 00:33:39,720 So how's the, how are your peers and helping each other, you know throughout this process are they is there a lot of competition or they just kind of is everyone just kind of helping each other do it in school, like how is that like, yeah I mean, I feel like everyone 488 00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:56,720 is better than me, you know, and it does, it does get upsetting, you know, but I always try to think about it this way you know I am not in high school anymore you know I'm more mature than this you know I like rather than being upset about it you know ask them what works best for them. 489 00:33:56,720 --> 00:34:03,720 And you know my friends are really open to helping I think because we're all kind of struggling together you know we all just want to be there for each other. 490 00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:10,720 So yeah like, like one of my best friends, they call him like thank God. 491 00:34:10,720 --> 00:34:16,720 And like he is literally always so happy to help, not just me but literally anyone who's struggling. 492 00:34:16,720 --> 00:34:28,720 You know, and they're going to be people who are better than you there's going to be people were way better than you but I think you just kind of have to remind yourself that you got to think about this more maturely. 493 00:34:28,720 --> 00:34:36,720 You know, rather than being upset about it try to ask them for help and see what you can do to be better. 494 00:34:36,720 --> 00:34:49,720 Yeah, I think, you know, I mean someone like especially when your friends like guide you to dental school sounds like a really good thing and I think, you know, that's where you see that contrast between undergrad and like dental school I think dental school 495 00:34:49,720 --> 00:35:02,720 is those, you know that they all deserve to be here. So they're willing to help each other know like this competition but there's not it's not like the toxicity you might see in like an undergraduate pre med pre dental environment. 496 00:35:02,720 --> 00:35:08,720 You know it's something that I've, you know, heard about over the past couple years and weeks. 497 00:35:08,720 --> 00:35:16,720 So I kind of wanted to ask you did feel a little bit behind while you're in dental school but you ended up founding a process on us club. 498 00:35:16,720 --> 00:35:22,720 Can you talk a little more about you know how that came about you know what was the motivation we took behind that and like how's that going. 499 00:35:22,720 --> 00:35:36,720 Yeah. So, it was probably around the pandemic where, because you know right before the pandemic I was still in this phase where I didn't know if dentistry was actually for me because I was just having a really hard time with the you know. 500 00:35:36,720 --> 00:35:54,720 And so with the time that we had during the pandemic I just sat down and started reviewing a lot of my old lectures. And I think I was more so focused on learning process better both fixed and removable because those are the current courses that we were taking at the time. 501 00:35:54,720 --> 00:36:09,720 And I just did not have a good understanding of those two. But you know as I started to review it more my grades and those classes improved significantly and, and by the time the pandemic ended I was like wow I like literally cannot wait to go back to our lab courses for both fixed and 502 00:36:09,720 --> 00:36:29,720 removable because I think now I kind of understand what it is that I have to do to get better. And so when I, when I got back I didn't improve significantly with my head skills in those courses. And then down the line, I started to that that specialty just kind of like I just got drawn to that specialty 503 00:36:29,720 --> 00:36:42,720 and it's one of those specialties where I was very weak at in the beginning. Right, but then it's something that I wanted to get a lot better in and I guess I'm the type of person who wants to make a weakness into a strength, you know. 504 00:36:42,720 --> 00:36:55,720 So that's something that really drew me to it and I wanted to learn more about it. And I was just thinking about all the clubs that we had in the school, you know we have the perio club the end of club the local public in my head I was like I don't see a 505 00:36:55,720 --> 00:37:11,720 lot of people here. So, so then I just talked to one of our faculty, and I asked her she'd be willing to start it with me, got an entire executive board together and then we had a few lectures, and some events and that was really awesome. 506 00:37:11,720 --> 00:37:15,720 I am a resident now so I'm not in charge of the prospect anymore but I did. 507 00:37:15,720 --> 00:37:20,720 I guess pass the torch on to someone who I know is going to take really good care of the club. 508 00:37:20,720 --> 00:37:35,720 Right so you've been achieving all these great things you're done in school so what qualities you think you're an undergrad have really that you've really taken and developed as your new continued general school like what qualities and skills have you really just been using that you've learned from undergrad 509 00:37:35,720 --> 00:37:36,720 in general school now. 510 00:37:36,720 --> 00:37:55,720 I think definitely communication I think is a big one. And being open to collaborating, right because now that I'm in residency right I'm in general practice residency I'm going to be working with period on this and the donists process on this or the donists. 511 00:37:55,720 --> 00:38:12,720 So, throughout my years of just trying to make more connections with people. That's something that I think it's, it's, it's something that I'm trying to keep, keep in mind of more so that because I know it's, it's a very important quality you know. 512 00:38:12,720 --> 00:38:20,720 So I think that's probably one of the biggest skills that I'm trying to be more aware of, making sure my communication skills are up there. 513 00:38:20,720 --> 00:38:27,720 And other personal skills. 514 00:38:27,720 --> 00:38:35,720 I think this isn't really a skill but I think mentoring is something that's really important to keep in mind also. 515 00:38:35,720 --> 00:38:46,720 Now that you've been through the whole four year process of dental school I think you kind of have a responsibility to help those who are looking to apply. 516 00:38:46,720 --> 00:38:59,720 And, you know, just kind of guide them through the process, especially if they reach out to you, so you know what kind of works, you know, doesn't work for you. So, I guess that kind of falls into like the category of just being more open minded. 517 00:38:59,720 --> 00:39:06,720 So, I would say being more open minded and communication is two really important skills. 518 00:39:06,720 --> 00:39:23,720 I think communication, you know dentistry is such like a social practice that, you know, if you don't get communication, your patients might not you're like, you know, like the New York trustee as much you need to be sure to, you know, because I mean it's a very like valuable. 519 00:39:23,720 --> 00:39:35,720 It's a very valuable service like you know they're paying a lot of money to get this done in the trust and you know, given the right diagnosis. So I kind of want to ask you like how did it feel, you know, I was it D3 or D2 D3 years 520 00:39:35,720 --> 00:39:41,720 when you were with my patients. It was the end of me to start. 521 00:39:41,720 --> 00:39:49,720 So how does it how did it feel like start saying you like your first patient and kind of, you know, being responsible for that person for however long you had them for. 522 00:39:49,720 --> 00:39:58,720 Yeah, I mean, I guess when I saw my first patient I was like, well, I have no idea how to talk to my patient. 523 00:39:58,720 --> 00:40:06,720 I don't know what to say. I don't really know what I'm doing, but I kind of got to sound like I know what I'm doing. 524 00:40:06,720 --> 00:40:15,720 So I mean it's definitely, it's definitely nerve wracking like there's no doubt about it, you know, but I think it kind of goes back to if you're being yourself. 525 00:40:15,720 --> 00:40:27,720 You want to make sure the patient's comfortable, you know comfortable with you and I think just by being yourself, making sure you're looking out for them and kind of reassure them that, you know what you're doing is best for them. 526 00:40:27,720 --> 00:40:36,720 And you're going to get a lot of different types of patients, you know, patients who are easy to talk to patients who are hard to talk to patients who are quiet, since we're more social. 527 00:40:36,720 --> 00:40:56,720 You kind of, I guess the way I, I looked at it is, I tried to gauge the, like the type of person my patient is, and I guess I tried to orient myself towards that person so if they were very social and I tried to figure out very social, you know, if I find out they like music, play some music for them. 528 00:40:56,720 --> 00:41:02,720 And kind of just kind of gauge the patient. 529 00:41:02,720 --> 00:41:14,720 Yeah, so how did it feel, you know, trans transferring from, you know, working on a mannequin and type of it on to work in an actual people was like scary what kind of what kind of feelings we feel in there. 530 00:41:14,720 --> 00:41:22,720 I feel like no matter how many times you practice on a type of it on or a mannequin, you're always going to be nervous for your first patient. 531 00:41:22,720 --> 00:41:26,720 And I think that's just the reality of it. 532 00:41:26,720 --> 00:41:40,720 I mean, I would still recommend, you know, just definitely practice more if you don't feel like you're comfortable practice more before you do it on your first patient but faculty, especially a storybook are always there to help you and guide you, you know, they'll take you step by step. 533 00:41:40,720 --> 00:41:50,720 And patients also understand that it is a school, you know, but you know, it's reassuring to them as well that back to you're there so definitely asking your faculty for help. 534 00:41:50,720 --> 00:41:55,720 Taking things one step at a time, you know. 535 00:41:55,720 --> 00:42:00,720 So it is nerve wracking and being but the more you do it, the more comfortable you get. 536 00:42:00,720 --> 00:42:08,720 You know you get your for you get your patient. How long do they give you for each appointment like how does it work, you know, for like a filling a crown was like the difference. 537 00:42:08,720 --> 00:42:12,720 Um, so I think. 538 00:42:12,720 --> 00:42:23,720 So while you're in second and third year. As Tony book also you're kind of responsible for booking your own patients you're responsible for contacting your patients and booking the appointments. 539 00:42:23,720 --> 00:42:40,720 I think they, you kind of have to see so there's two sessions of the morning session, but in the afternoon session and for the second and third year you kind of have to have a one patient on each in each session so one patient in the morning and afternoon. 540 00:42:40,720 --> 00:42:56,720 And in the fourth year you kind of have more freedom, you know, because fourth year you, you can kind of, we have a different pre doc clinics, sort of say, we have the general pre doc clinic right but we also have specialty based pre doc clinics which is the peri 541 00:42:56,720 --> 00:43:11,720 focused pre doc clinic, the prosthodontics focus pre doc clinic where, you know, in your second and third year if you're doing a peri procedure or a process procedure you have to work with that specific faculty. 542 00:43:11,720 --> 00:43:22,720 But in fourth year, they kind of treat everyone as general vented so in fourth year you can do even some of those advanced cases that are cross focused to peri focused in the general clinic. 543 00:43:22,720 --> 00:43:29,720 So by the time you're fourth year you kind of have a lot more freedom and leeway in terms of how you want to organize your patients. 544 00:43:29,720 --> 00:43:45,720 So you know if you, if you say have to take alginates on one patient right, and you have time to do a filling on another patient, you can kind of do that but it's more so during fourth year you get that freedom to see more patients in one session. 545 00:43:45,720 --> 00:43:52,720 So I'll just add to you about sunny brick school done a medicine itself. You know what kind of jury to the school. When you're applying. 546 00:43:52,720 --> 00:44:00,720 Honestly, I think digital dentistry is one of the biggest things that the school has our lab technician. 547 00:44:00,720 --> 00:44:11,720 Within the past two or three years he literally created this entire lab that's devoted to digital technology. So we have so we have a lot of different scanners we have 548 00:44:11,720 --> 00:44:17,720 different sewing machines to help build crowns and restoration we have 3D printers. 549 00:44:17,720 --> 00:44:28,720 You know, and our lab technician has so much knowledge in this area where, you know, I, looking back I just wish I took more advantage of it, you know I am so heavily involved in it. 550 00:44:28,720 --> 00:44:45,720 And I think that's one of the key things about Tony Brooke. Other than that the faculty student ratio is, they're important thing. 40 students per class, and you probably in clinic have sometimes 67 faculty for those 40 students, and just having that extra 551 00:44:45,720 --> 00:44:54,720 wild type of experiences is amazing. And the thing about Sony Brook I think it since the school is so small it just feels like a family, you know, 552 00:44:54,720 --> 00:45:03,720 there's like a family atmosphere, you know, doing your hard years and Sony Brook. So I kind of want to talk about you know we kind of finished the dental school, like experience. 553 00:45:03,720 --> 00:45:14,720 How has residency been I know it's only been a couple, you graduated in May correct. Yeah. So how long, you know, did you start right away after you graduated or was it a couple weeks like how did that. 554 00:45:14,720 --> 00:45:26,720 So, for me it was a couple weeks, you know, I think because of the pandemic not everyone walked on the same day but everyone kind of has a different date on their diploma for graduation so I mean I was still seeing patients even after I 555 00:45:26,720 --> 00:45:36,720 walked because I just wasn't done with all of my requirements and all my patient care. So, by the time I graduated I probably only had two weeks of break. 556 00:45:36,720 --> 00:45:52,720 Whereas people who graduated on time had about a month or a little bit longer than that. And so I mean the schedule is definitely rigorous for residency because not only are we seeing patients straight from nine to five but we also have 557 00:45:52,720 --> 00:46:11,720 hospital call hours. So this month alone we're on call. Each of us are on call like eight times. And there's day call and night call. So day call is seven am to 5pm whereas night call is 5pm to 11am but you can get called back up until 7am. 558 00:46:11,720 --> 00:46:26,720 So there could be people out there who have days that are nine to five and then they're on call from five to 11. Whereas like five to 11 you're required to be in the hospital, you can leave after that but again you can call back anytime. 559 00:46:26,720 --> 00:46:42,720 And so other than that you know we have lectures sometimes before clinic starts and during lunch. I definitely like residency more in the aspect that we don't have to book our own patients. You know our front coordinators they have our backs and they 560 00:46:42,720 --> 00:46:51,720 book our patients for us. Of course if there's any changes that we want to make in the schedule we can do that we would just tell them to do those for us. 561 00:46:51,720 --> 00:47:00,720 And a lot of things, actually something else that people I guess like about GPR is that you don't have to do all your own lab work. You can just send it out. 562 00:47:00,720 --> 00:47:11,720 Me personally I'm trying to do lab work still just because it's something that I want to get better at because you know down the line if a patient comes in and you know you need to fix something up on the spot like you can have, you know how to 563 00:47:11,720 --> 00:47:18,720 troubleshoot things like that. So that's just why I want to try to continue doing lab work. 564 00:47:18,720 --> 00:47:28,720 And you know the other thing about residency is that we have assistance professionally trained assistants who got our back also who helped us and anytime we need help. 565 00:47:28,720 --> 00:47:32,720 I feel like in dental school you literally have to do everything by yourself. 566 00:47:32,720 --> 00:47:36,720 You know you have to book your patients by yourself you have to. 567 00:47:36,720 --> 00:47:43,720 A lot of times you may not even get assistance, because you know all students are kind of seeing their own patients. 568 00:47:43,720 --> 00:47:49,720 And setting up your base, breaking down the base, we still set up and break down our base in residency. 569 00:47:49,720 --> 00:48:01,720 But it's you know you feel like you're actually working in a private office now that you have assistance there to help you and you know it's you have the front desk coordinating your patients for you. 570 00:48:01,720 --> 00:48:05,720 So, in that aspect it's definitely better. 571 00:48:05,720 --> 00:48:13,720 So yeah it's definitely a little bit early for you know pre dentals and undergrad to think about residency but you know as they get to dental school. 572 00:48:13,720 --> 00:48:24,720 It's something they think about. So can you just give us a little rundown of how the residency process works like applying and you know how the residency it's past and it's also by idea. 573 00:48:24,720 --> 00:48:29,720 So it literally looks exactly like the dental school application but it's just for residency. 574 00:48:29,720 --> 00:48:42,720 So it's pretty straightforward and it's actually really simple in that aspect because I mean access, like no one likes applying right but access at least kind of tip that we organize and it was just easy to follow. 575 00:48:42,720 --> 00:48:45,720 So it's literally the same thing. 576 00:48:45,720 --> 00:48:53,720 For residency, I mean some schools don't use the pass application they kind of have their own thing. 577 00:48:53,720 --> 00:49:00,720 But the other thing that actually it's actually different is that there's match for residency. 578 00:49:00,720 --> 00:49:13,720 So, rather than having a school telling you that you're in, like how it is for dental school and you could kind of choose which school it is you want to go to all the schools that you apply to an interview at, you actually have to rank them. 579 00:49:13,720 --> 00:49:26,720 So that school ranks the applicants. So it's like if your first choice is this school but that school put you as like their fourth choice, you're less likely to get in. 580 00:49:26,720 --> 00:49:29,720 Yeah, I've heard of that ranking system. 581 00:49:29,720 --> 00:49:35,720 It seems kind of like scary. I mean, you know, like you're not really sure. 582 00:49:35,720 --> 00:49:40,720 You know, second guess your rankings and they could like get you differently so yeah. 583 00:49:40,720 --> 00:49:55,720 Yeah, definitely. So I just want to ask like what so you know during dental school might have three or four hour appointments during residency like is that the same same amount of time you have or is it kind of different and like what kind of things have you seen, maybe some things you haven't seen before, or 584 00:49:55,720 --> 00:49:58,720 you know, things you have to kind of figure out on the spot. 585 00:49:58,720 --> 00:50:12,720 I mean, in the in the beginning since we just got out of dental school the coordinators give us a little bit more time for each appointment. But as I'm like looking ahead of my schedule I'm noticing that I'm getting less and less time for each appointment and getting maybe two or three patients in one session. 586 00:50:12,720 --> 00:50:23,720 So it's kind of forcing me to not not having to rush through treatment but just teaching myself how can I be more efficient and still provide good care, you know. 587 00:50:23,720 --> 00:50:38,720 And I know in the beginning it's going to be tough trying to see three patients on one setting, but it's something that I am looking forward to because like I said the more times you do something, the more times you, the more times you start to develop new techniques and think of things that can make your 588 00:50:38,720 --> 00:50:40,720 experience a little better. 589 00:50:40,720 --> 00:50:48,720 And so I was other question was kind of like what you know what things that we've seen that you haven't seen before, you know, procedure wise. 590 00:50:48,720 --> 00:51:01,720 Yeah, yeah. I think something that I wasn't the most confident. And after graduating dental school was how to manage dental emergencies you know so patients in pain, how you go about that. 591 00:51:01,720 --> 00:51:06,720 Right. So I think that our hospital rotation is really help out with that. 592 00:51:06,720 --> 00:51:11,720 So, you know patient comes in pain. 593 00:51:11,720 --> 00:51:26,720 You can prescribe antibiotics you can give them an injection to help relieve the area. You can do incision and drainages where if they have an abscess you can just kind of relieve that area for a little bit, and then they can come back to our clinic if they need it to extracted. 594 00:51:26,720 --> 00:51:38,720 You know, so I think dental emergencies is something that is really something it's something that I'm just looking forward to on handling, you know, because you want to make sure that your patients aren't in pain. 595 00:51:38,720 --> 00:51:52,720 Yeah, no, it's really good insight. You know, I kind of our goal was to have you touch on everything about dentistry because I know you're like in that in that part of your life where you just finished out of school now you're in residency you kind of like in that, I guess, you're jumping 596 00:51:52,720 --> 00:52:00,720 that that bridge towards a professional life. Thank you, you know a lot for telling us, give us valuable information. 597 00:52:00,720 --> 00:52:11,720 So, if you have any questions, please reach out to you for further advice or any questions like you can drop your Instagram handle, you know your dance page anything like that. Yeah, I would say the best way to kind of contact me is my Instagram page. 598 00:52:11,720 --> 00:52:21,720 Just get me on Instagram I can drop the handle here at oil moves. 599 00:52:21,720 --> 00:52:30,720 And that concludes our episode of the dos and don't podcast. Thank you, Dr. Goyal for joining me and sharing your experiences. Your insight was definitely valuable and I hope that will be the same for potential listeners. 600 00:52:30,720 --> 00:52:37,720 Everyone, please feel free to reach out to Dr. Goyal as socials if you have any further questions. Lastly, we think everyone for listening if you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to follow us on Instagram and Spotify. 601 00:52:37,720 --> 00:53:01,720 We'll see you next time for the dose of that.