Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Dose of Dental podcast.
The focus of this podcast is your 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 goal is to help you find answers or guidance for your own pre-dental journeys.
Joining us today is Paul DeMarzo, a dental student studying at the University of Buffalo
School of Dental Medicine.
Paul graduated from Sonnenberg University with a bachelor's degree in health science
along with a minor in chemistry.
He's an incoming second year dental student at the University of Buffalo School of Dental
Medicine.
During his undergraduate years, Paul was heavily involved with the pre-dental society at Sonnenberg,
took part in an international dental outreach program in Germany for the Republic, and was
also a dental assistant for five years.
Hey Paul, welcome to the podcast.
How does it feel being done with your first year of dental school and now entering your
second?
What's going on guys?
Yeah, so I just finished up my first year.
It went very well.
It definitely was a little difficult in the beginning adapting to a new environment, but
overall it went pretty well.
I'm excited to move forward and learn some more.
Hey Paul, welcome to the podcast, Long Time No See.
So why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself, like where you're from, where did
you go to school, stuff like that.
Yeah, so I grew up on Long Island in New York, right by Sonnenberg, maybe 25 minutes away.
So I stayed home during undergrad and I went to Stony Brook for four years.
And then I applied to dental school at the end of my third year and then I went straight
from undergrad into dental school and now I'm up here at Buffalo.
Yes, let's start with that dreaded question on every interview.
Why dentistry?
Why did you choose to pursue this field?
Yeah, so I always feel like I wanted to go into healthcare and then as I was in high
school trying to figure out what I wanted to do in undergrad, I was talking to my dad
one day and I was actually on my way to an orthodontist appointment and my dad asked
me what about being a dentist or an orthodontist or something like that.
And I didn't really know much about it, so I started asking my orthodontist about it
and it kind of turned into a thing where I would go in after school and shadow him here
and there and then eventually he hired me as an assistant.
So that's kind of how I got introduced and then I at that point I wanted to be an orthodontist.
I mean, I think a lot of people in the beginning have that idea.
At this point, I'm more pursuing general dentistry, but I'm definitely interested in
exploring different options as I get through dental school.
But I think, you know, as a lot of people realize as they start dental school, there's
so much to offer and there's so many opportunities there.
So I think what solidified me going to dentistry was that I got more involved in like different
things at Stony Brook.
I got involved with volunteers around the world and I got to travel to Dominican Republic.
I think, Siraj, you did that too recently, right?
Yeah, so we just went May 27th to June 9th.
We went to, well, we didn't go to DR, but we went to Guatemala instead.
We went to a place called San Pedro, which is like, you know, my Spanish is all right.
My Spanish is okay, but honestly, when you go there and like, I probably took Spanish
for like seven, eight years maybe on my life, like in school and like, I learned so much
better when you're like live in the place and everyone around you only knows Spanish
and that's all you can say.
So my Spanish got a little better, but since I got back, it's been kind of, it's just,
it's gone away.
But yeah, the experience was definitely really good.
It was like the third world country.
So it's like really interesting to see, you know, what we take for granted.
They don't really even have.
So it's nothing cool experience.
Can you actually elaborate a little bit on, you know, how your experience was?
Yeah.
So I actually got involved with planning the trip during my sophomore year.
Yeah, my sophomore year.
And then I ended up being chosen as like a team leader for the trip.
And so I went to the Dominican Republic with a bunch of students from Stony Brook.
There was a few from UC Berkeley and then there were some from NYU.
And it was really cool experience.
I mean, I had to meet other people that were interested in dentistry and we got to, you
know, treat patients in the clinic.
I mean, we weren't treating them ourselves, but we were assisting and sterilizing and,
you know, just helping run the clinic.
And then we had like a little bit of time where we got to go explore Dominican Republic
and, you know, immerse ourselves in the culture and everything.
And then when I came back, I took over the lead for the whole club.
So I became like the president of the club and I helped plan more trips.
But unfortunately, those trips got canceled because of COVID.
So that whole club was kind of on a pause.
But I had a great experience with VAW.
I definitely learned a lot.
I got to see how dentistry works in another country and see, you know, the differences.
At that point, I was already an assistant in the U.S.
So I got to, you know, compare my experience in the Dominican Republic with my experience
in assisting on Long Island.
So that was really interesting, very cool experience.
And that probably was one of the number one things that, you know, solidified dentistry
for me.
At that point, I was already going for it, but that's when I like knew myself that like
this is what I was going to do.
Yeah.
So I'm also an assistant and, you know, in my head, when I thought we're going to go
here, I thought we wouldn't have like the basic tools that we use like in our office
right now.
But there's like a lot of parallels between what we have here and what they used over
there.
So it's kind of cool.
And if I'd ever assisted, I feel like I wouldn't have really known that.
So can you talk a little bit about your own assisting experience?
I know you mentioned that you were an ortho assistant.
Yeah.
So I started assisting in ortho during high school actually.
So it was my senior year of high school.
And so I did that in senior year of high school.
And then since I stayed home for college, I was able to assist after school and, you
know, work with my college schedule.
And then I did ortho for another two years.
And then so it was like three years total straight.
And then I found a job at a general dentistry office.
So an ortho, I kind of got to assist him in, you know, placing brackets, different things
like that.
And eventually I got to experience, you know, how to take wires out and change the colors
on the brackets and everything.
I would take, you know, panoramic X-rays and scan for patients for Invisalign and retainers.
And I did a lot of lab work too.
So I would actually make the retainers, which was an awesome experience that actually helps
me now in dental school because we, you know, do that with our indirect course.
We had to make a, I got an Essex retainer type thing and cut it in a certain way.
This way we can make a temporary crown with it.
So that was a really, you know, helpful experience.
And then when I started working in general dentistry, I, you know, assisted with everything.
I assisted with root canals, you know, crown preps, composites, different types of things.
I took X-rays, which definitely will be helpful in dental school.
You know, a lot of my classmates that didn't get to assist, they never really learned how
to do that before dental school.
So it's a little tricky at first when you went about it.
So I got to do that, help take impressions.
I would assist with attractions, all types of things that you see in the general dentistry
office.
And that, when I started working there, that's when I, it was the same around, around the
same time that I started getting involved with VAW.
When I got to go to the main republic, you know, that was part of what was solidified
dentistry for me.
But then on the same, you know, wavelength, I also was kind of solidifying that decision
by assisting that if I hadn't been assistant, I don't know that I would have been completely
sure in my decision to go into dentistry.
I learned so much, I, you know, learned how to set up for different oper, operatories
and different things.
So that actually not only helped me solidify that decision, but now that I'm in dental
school, I'm familiar with all the materials and I, you know, kind of have a grasp on what
is used for what, what.
So yeah, that was the number one thing I did in undergrad was dental assisting.
I recommend that to everybody that I've talked to.
I mean, it is probably the best thing you can do as a pre dental.
Yeah.
So, you know, Paul, can I ask you like, where can pre dentals, you know, find this information?
How can they apply for these dental average programs, you know, these valuable resources
that we've, you know, benefited from greatly?
Yeah, of course.
So I know volunteers around the world has chapters at a lot of different colleges.
So definitely look into that because that's a great opportunity that is pretty easy to
get involved with.
And then if your undergraduate program is affiliated with the dental school or there's
dental school at your college.
So like Stony Brook had a dental school.
So I was able to volunteer at their dental clinic, which I'm not sure if they do anymore
after COVID, but I know that a lot of me and all my friends that were pre dentals at the
time, we did that.
So that was another great volunteering experience.
There's a lot of different things I would, you know, reach out to your pre dental society,
see if there's volunteer experiences with that.
And then I know there's some other organizations, I can't think of the names, but there's, they're
definitely out there and you just kind of have to look for them.
And yeah.
Yeah.
So you mentioned you were an ortho assistant.
So and you also did shadowing on this trip.
So what's the best way for pre dentals to, you know, get those shadowing and dental assisting
positions and opportunities?
You know, like, what's the best way to go about that?
So the first thing I would do is start with your actual dentist.
They know you more than any other dentists out there because they've been treating you.
So you know, I would express interest to them and tell them that you're interested in dentistry
and that you want to learn a little bit more.
And then you could start shadowing them.
If they're not comfortable with it, you could also just reach out to other offices in your
area.
And again, if your school has a dental school affiliated with it, or if there's one nearby,
you could also see if there's an opportunity for you to shadow at the dental school.
That also is a great opportunity aside from shadowing in a traditional dental office or
dental setting, because you'll see how it's what it's like to kind of be a student in
dentistry, and it's a lot different than when you're actually in an office.
They work at a different pace.
They see different types of cases.
So that's definitely a good idea to start.
And then what worked for me in the beginning was that my shadowing opportunity kind of
turned into an assisting position.
So I don't know that if that hadn't happened, I don't know that I would have even been able
to find a dental assisting position.
And but they're out there.
I mean, even if you just go online and look up opportunities and job listings for dental
assisting, they're out there.
And especially in New York state, you have an advantage.
There's no like licensure or certification required to be a dental assistant.
Some offices might want you to go and take the, I believe it's called the Danby, and
then get your certification for dental assisting, but most offices don't require it.
So, you know, they're out there.
You just have to look for them and, you know, look online, you know, build your resume.
If you don't have a large resume, they might not really care all that much.
You know, they know that you're interested in dentistry.
They know that you have to get this exposure and it helps them.
And, you know, it helps you that you're going to be experienced, but it also helps them.
They know they need staff, especially, you know, since COVID, a lot of dental offices
are, you know, understaffed.
So they're out there.
They're looking for you as much as you're looking for them.
And, you know, I actually shadowed my dentist in the beginning.
You know, in the beginning, I was not even dental.
I did not care for it.
I thought it was nasty.
But then, like, once I found out it was more than just getting teeth, because I had no
idea, I got a VizLine, which is like the first step in my dental journey.
And then while I was, like, waiting in the chair, I was like, where is she?
What else is she doing right now?
Like, what could she be doing?
And then she came in and asked her.
I was like, what, where are you been?
Like, what's going on?
She's like, I have other appointments.
I'm doing like, cleanings and crowns and blah, blah, blah.
I'm like, what is that?
Like, what are these things?
Because, I mean, my teeth were pretty good as a kid.
Didn't really have that many problems.
I wasn't really exposed to as many, like, all these things.
So I started shadowing her.
And it really got interested in, like, you know, the hands-on aspect of dentistry and
like how it's such a, it's also in your mind, but it's also like with your hands.
And, you know, you're very active.
And I liked that part.
So I started shadowing her and then I really enjoyed it.
And then I actually contacted my, the one doctor I work with for now, I contacted him
over like social media, which is like crazy.
And then started shadowing him and then I started working for him eventually, you know,
we're cool.
So he offered me a job and no like formal interview process, no resumes, no things like that.
You just kind of pick and find your opportunities as they go.
There's no like formula to getting an assistant job or shadowing job.
Like, yeah, you can do it over LinkedIn, deed, all these random job sites.
But honestly, like it's, it's up to you and like how you network, you know, whether that
be, you meet the guy at a basketball court, you meet him in the gym, you meet him at a
store, a coffee shop, you never know, you never know who you're going to talk to and
where they might be.
So, you know, it's really interesting how different people can get their jobs.
I know a lot of my friends have gotten jobs different ways.
So, yeah, I agree too.
Like, and to kind of build off of what something you were saying.
So like, you had really no idea before that what Dennis really did besides cleanings.
And I think I had a similar experience because the only experiences I had as a young kid
was, you know, getting my cleanings and I had braces.
So that's all I really knew.
And I was actually talking to a friend of mine about kind of about this the other day,
like, so they're starting a program for speech pathology and they were talking about like
their interviews and all that.
And they were saying like, it's so tough sometimes because some of the other people
that are going that are pre dental or in their case, you know, pre speech or whatever.
They have like a history, like some people have a history when they're young kids of
like really bad dental experiences or like, you know, they had to get a lot of work as
a young kid.
So that's kind of like their story when they go for interviews, which is great, you know,
people, you know, have those experiences, but then there's people like us who never
really had that experience.
So when you get to the interview and they ask you, why do you want to be a dentist?
You know, it's okay to be honest and say, you know, I don't have some life changing experience
that made me want to be a dentist, you know, I found the career interesting.
I explored it and I found that it was something I really liked.
So, you know, not everyone has that life changing experience that, you know, makes them have
a calling for dentistry, you know.
Yeah, no, not that you mentioned that we had Brandon on the other day, I don't think you
would mind me sharing a story.
It's not like that personal, but he said he like broke his front teeth.
He like went into his gum, he went to the doctor and the doctor did like a magic trick
for him, which kind of stuck with them.
And he was, he didn't like like the dentist before, but once he had the experience of
like a doctor being friendly and doing like a magic trick in front of him, it kind of
sparked like, ooh, what is this?
Like what's going on here?
Like I want to do it.
And now he does like magic, like for kids on the weekends, why is this hospital?
Which is crazy.
Like when we, when we heard that story, I was like, there's, you never know, like there's
so many things that could be the why.
And you know, some people might not have the most exuberant lies, but you know, they're
honest, like it's, that's just like how, how it happened.
So yeah, I mean, if you have a story like that, and that's the reason you're going to
dentistry, like that's great.
Like the fact that you have that ability to share that is an awesome ability, you know,
when it comes to the interview, but some people don't.
And you know, that's okay.
You can, you can have just a regular interest in dentistry and that's enough.
You know, I think a lot of people like struggle with that.
Like, oh, I don't have like a crazy story to say my personal essay.
I don't know what to do.
But like, I've heard even one of my other colleagues who like just, he's, you know,
actually, you probably don't know him, but he goes to Sunup, he's always a D one.
He was a D one.
And he just Kevin Zang, Kevin.
Kevin what Kevin Zang.
No, I don't know.
No.
I think he wrote his personal narrative or personal statement on like a book or something.
Yeah.
And tied into what, like why you want to do it.
So it's just like a bunch of ways to do that.
So now that we're on a topic of why is like what kind of kept you like focused and like,
like what kept your why as your motivation, how'd you keep your motivation to continue
dentistry like throughout undergraduate, your undergraduate years and dental school?
Because I know that's something that can be mentally challenging as well.
Oh yeah.
Definitely.
I mean, I think the number one thing that I did that kept me on the track was being so
heavily involved with Stoltenberg pre-dental society and, you know, building a group of,
you know, friends and colleagues that are also going on that path.
Because when you have people that you can talk to and, you know, pick their brain on,
you know, what can I do to get more involved?
Or what do you think of like this plan for the DAT like, or, you know, where are you
at in your process?
Like, you know, just like getting ideas from people on how to better build your application.
And you know, people that are going through the same process as you, like they have those
same, you know, points in that path where they're like, wow, I don't think I can do this.
Or, you know, this is going to be really hard.
Like, so building a group of friends that are also going through is definitely the number
one thing.
And I think just getting involved in general, like the more that you get involved and you
do the things that you like, the easier it is.
So for me, I am pretty open with everybody.
Like I didn't have the best grades in undergrad.
So I was never the type of person that was studying every night for a test coming up
in a couple of weeks.
I never did that.
I still don't do that.
Sometimes I wish I was that person.
But I think that I focus a lot more on what am I enjoying?
So in undergrad, I assisted maybe 20, 30 hours a week, which looking back, I don't know how
I did that.
I 100% could never do that in dental school.
But that kind of, you know, kept me interested in the field.
And when you're more interested in it, you're more willing to, you know, keep trying and
putting more effort in and, you know, keeping your hopes up.
So I think just focusing on those things.
I mean, in dental school, with my didactic classes, I study a lot, I will be honest, but
there are friends of mine who study way more than me.
And, you know, they might do better than me on those classes.
But for me, I'd rather focus on the more hands-on aspect.
So when I have free time, if I'm not, you know, hanging out with friends or studying
or, you know, in class, a lot of times I'll go to the pre-clinic and I'll practice that
kind of, you know, thing.
So I think focus more on the things that you're enjoying.
Focus more on the things that are driving you to pursue this career.
And don't get too hung up on the little things that, you know, you think are so important,
like, you know, statistics and your scores on things.
Like those are important.
Don't get me wrong.
But it's not everything, you know?
So you just have to pick the things you like, you know, focus more on those.
Yeah.
No, I think kind of answered the question, but like, you know, keeping yourself involved
in dentistry while being like in the books during school is very important.
You know, even if you're just like kind of shadowing like a day or something, just to
kind of get your head back into it, like this is where I'm going to be instead of like, where
am I going when you're just doing orgo all day or just doing bio all day?
Like, I know even during the school year, I try to keep, I worked like a Friday to Saturday,
which hindsight, I might change that in the future because Fridays and Saturdays are fun,
but like, you know, it's whatever.
But I worked those two days and like, it kept me, it kept my head in it, you know, and it
motivated me to do better in school.
So like that's something that I do to try to keep, you know, keep my head in dentistry
as much as I can, even if I don't have all the time in the world.
Yeah.
I also think like, like you just said, like Fridays and Saturdays, like even if you need
that time for free time, like you don't have to always be focusing on dentistry and your
application and all this, you need to find time to do, you know, fun things.
Like even just finding friends that, you know, undergrad that have maybe a little bit different
pathway.
I mean, my two closest friends in undergrad both started medical school, you know, last
week.
So like they were doing the same thing as me, but we were at a point where like we all needed
to really focus on, you know, pre dental or in their case pre med, but then we found
time to like do other fun things too.
Like you need to make time for yourself as well.
Like if you are putting 100% of your time and your mindset into your dental school application
and all that, you're going to become run down and you're honestly not even, you might not
even want to do it anymore.
You know, you might realize this is like way too much and you can't handle it.
But I think if you, you know, balance your schedule enough, it's definitely attainable.
Yeah.
So can you tell us a little bit about some of the obstacles you might have faced during
your undergraduate career, you know, even in the process of applying to dental school
like the dental school application, what were some, you know, maybe some major hurdles
you had to face and overcome?
Yeah.
So this is one thing I'm also very open about.
I took the DAT twice.
So I did not, you know, focus enough on that the first time around the first time I did,
I would, it was the summer that I went on that trip to Dominican Republic.
I was working like full time over the summer at the dental office and then studying for
the DAT at the same time.
So I think that, you know, looking back so that I didn't have to take it twice, I would
have the first time, you know, maybe stopped working for a month or two or, you know, decreased
my hours and really just focused solely on the DAT.
I think that when you put, you know, all your time into the DAT specifically, you are like
bound to do well.
And then that definitely reflected in my scores when I took it the second time.
I think my like first time I got like an 18 overall and then the second time I had a 21.
So that definitely was something that I struggled with.
My GPA in general, I had like around a three, four or something like that.
So that was definitely something that I struggled with during the application cycle.
And it's mentally draining too.
I mean, you hear all these stories of people getting to dental school that have a three,
eight or higher or they have a four, oh, and then you also like, even if you're talking
to like a friend and they're like, oh, my GPA is not good, like anyways, and then you later
find out they have like a three, eight and then like, are they serious?
Are they really complaining right now?
So I think that that's that's probably, yeah.
Just I think, you know, my scores were something that I struggled with a little bit.
That was probably the biggest obstacle for me.
I mean, I was very involved in a lot of different things and I had plenty of experience and
dentistry.
So that I was pretty confident when I was going into the application, but definitely
my scores, that was that was the toughest part.
Yeah.
So you mentioned your application already.
So, you know, scores, whatever has a thing, but it seems like your extracurriculars and
you know, what you do outside of dentistry outside of school and academics is like what
the dental, what Buffalo kind of really saw in you.
So how did you approach like which schools to apply to and like, did you like research
the schools like a lot before you went and like, did you kind of check out the atmosphere
before you decided?
Yeah.
So as a Stony Brook undergrad, I was like really familiar with the dental school at Stony
Brook.
So I definitely knew I was going to apply there.
I applied to Buffalo as well because it's in state tuition and it also is just a very
well known dental school.
It's like number eight in the country or something like that.
So like I knew I was going to apply to both those.
I applied to Toro and yeah, those were the three in New York that I applied to.
I knew I didn't want to live in the city.
It was too expensive for me.
So I didn't, I ruled that out.
In my head, I kind of figured if I don't get in the first time, I'd rather, but I was,
you know, had to go to the city and you know, live for so expensively.
I would rather just like reapply.
So I just didn't even bother applying there.
I applied to the three schools in Florida.
I have a lot of family down there.
My parents are down there half the time.
So that was something that was drawing me towards there possibly.
And then I applied to like a few in Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh was one of my favorite interviews.
I'll say that.
I think Buffalo and Pittsburgh were my two favorite interviews.
So you know, that's a great school.
I stuck to the East Coast pretty much though.
That's really where I stuck to.
Yeah.
So can you, you know, talk a little bit about your interview experience and you know, we're
really stuck out to you at those two schools.
Yeah.
I think that for my interview experience, I applied to like 11 schools maybe and I interviewed
at like four or five, I want to say.
But what I think sticks out when you're going into an interview, not only are they interviewing
you for the position, but you're there to learn more about their school as well.
So I think having, when you're in the interview, if they're portraying themselves as like, you
know, just like genuine people, that is a great sign.
My Buffalo interview was very conversational.
It wasn't all about dentistry.
It was about, you know, who I am outside of dentistry and, you know, what my interests
are.
And I think that that makes the interview a little bit easier, a little bit more relaxed.
So that's one thing that stood out to me.
I think, you know, asking them about outreach was a big thing for me because I knew that
that was something I wanted to do.
I did it in undergrad.
I did it a little bit in high school and now I'm part of the outreach organization at my
school now.
So I think that that was something that, you know, I really wanted to make sure that they
were big in, which Buffalo is huge in outreach.
They send out like an email once a month through the whole student body of like several things
per week and you can sign up and then they narrow it down, you know, based on how involved
you've been.
So that was another thing that I really focused on.
And clinical experience, obviously.
So that was another thing that you really want to learn more about, you know, when are
you going to start in clinic?
When are you like, what are the requirements systems?
Like, do you have to, you know, reach a certain quota of each procedure and all that?
So, you know, asking those questions and learning more about them.
Don't really treat it as you're supposed to sit there and get grilled.
Like make it conversational and you'll have a great experience as long as they're conversational
as well.
Yeah.
I think like it's kind of like a look at the draw, like who your interviewer is.
Did you have any that were like very stern and kind of not conversational?
Let me think, Buffalo and Stony Brook were very conversational.
I want to say the I interviewed at two of the schools in Florida, one of them very conversational,
the other one not so much.
It really depends.
I might not even be the school, honestly.
It could be just the person that you interviews you, you know, I think people at, you know,
everyone has a different experience when I applied to Buffalo and I interviewed at Buffalo.
I was told be prepared with ethical questions.
Like they are very heavy on asking questions about ethics.
And while some of my classmates had that experience, I maybe got one ethical question
during their interview.
Other than that, it was like totally conversational and relaxed.
Yeah.
So now you've chosen Buffalo.
How'd you feel going into a dental school?
Did you feel like anxious?
Nervous, excited?
Did you have like imposter syndrome when you first got there?
Like how was the, how was it, how were the vibes when you first started?
When I was coming in, I was more excited.
I wasn't very stressed out.
And then I came very stressed out once you start.
It finds its way to you.
But going into it, I was pretty relaxed.
I was more just excited and, you know, like you see all these dental students on Instagram
or, you know, I had friends that were dental students before me and you see what they're
doing and you just get so excited about having that opportunity until it starts.
And, you know, then you're stressed out and you're like, I need a break.
Yeah.
And I see those Instagram dental students all the time.
And I really, I think about like, what is the actual reality, you know, of a D1, D2,
D3, D4 student?
So can you kind of walk us through like a day in the life of a D2, maybe D1, you know,
what you do on a weekday, on a weekend, you know, step by step throughout the day?
Yeah.
So my first semester, I had classes maybe on average, it was different every day, but
maybe let's say eight to four each day.
So I took gross anatomy, biochemistry, histology.
I took dental anatomy.
There was like an intro course.
And then there was like a pre-clinic basic skills class where we, you know, just kind
of learned how to use the drill.
We weren't even doing preparations or anything yet.
And then our second semester, we took direct.
So that is learning how to do composites and amalgams.
And then we took microbiology, physiology, occlusion.
So learning how the, like how teeth bite together, you know, how teeth match up and
all that.
And how that also, you know, plays a role in your jaw and all that.
And then we took a course on, I don't even remember, there were so many of them, but
we, oh, radiology, we took radiology course.
So there was a lot of courses that we took our second semester.
And then we started our second year classes this past summer.
So we took indirect, which is crowns, you know, crown preparation.
So we started that over the summer and that's going to continue into the fall this semester.
And then we took a course on nutrition.
And then we took a periocourse.
So we kind of got to practice doing like scaling and replanting on each other and practice
pro fees and all that.
So that was our whole like, you know, first year kind of our second year started, you
know, before our first full year ended.
But I think the daily life of a D one is kind of like, you go to class, you come home, eat
something real quick, study.
And then the second semester, you had to not only do all that, but you also had to find
time to go and practice, you know, drilling and doing preparation.
So, but you definitely learn how to do it.
Like, you know what I mean?
Like you fall into a rhythm and you figure out a way to just get it done.
And while like the first week or two, it's like very hectic.
You figure out what you need to spend more time in.
You figure out, you know, how soon before a test do I need to start preparing for it?
And you definitely get very used to going into an exam and feeling like, you know, absolutely
nothing.
So that that is definitely something that's very eye opening, especially for a lot of
us who would go into test and undergrad and, you know, hopefully know as much as we could.
Now I go into test sometimes and I'm like, I don't even know what will be even taken
this test on, you know, you figure that out and you make it work.
You just figure out your rhythm.
Yeah.
So how do you manage?
How do you, how are you able to balance like, you know, your social life along with dental
school as well as the other hobbies that you might have?
I will tell you, I definitely balance it.
I definitely do enjoy myself.
You know, some weekends we don't have time to, you know, go out or do anything.
So you're in the study room of the library all weekend.
But when, you know, we get done with a big week of tests, we are out and about enjoying
ourselves.
There's a lot to do in Buffalo, especially during football season.
The bills is a huge thing up here.
So bills games are a lot of fun.
I went to, you know, one or two of those, I think, you know, tailgates for that.
There's a lot of really cool restaurants and bars in Buffalo.
Niagara Falls is 20 minutes away.
So you find, you know, you find time.
And again, like what I said during under, like I talked about earlier, we were talking
about undergrad.
I think it's so important to make time for yourself and enjoy things that you like doing
and, you know, kind of step away from dentistry here and there.
Or else you're going to burn out and, you know, you're going to be very miserable.
So it's definitely a very important thing to me is balancing.
I totally forgot that the bills are in Buffalo.
I have the fund agency team.
So like, you know, that'd be great things next year or else I'm losing 30 bucks.
So yeah, so you're kind of debunking some popular myths about Buffalo here.
Like, you know, because I always hear, you know, I could have got a Buffalo for undergrad,
but obviously it's Joe Sonnybrook.
Like, how is like the weather, is it as bad as they say it is?
And like, is it in the middle, is Buffalo in the middle of nowhere?
Like, is it actually like that over there?
It depends who you ask.
I have friends that are from the South, like Florida and the Carolinas, and they think
it is so bad up here.
But then there's someone like me, like, I really don't think it's that different from
Long Island.
You guys are both from Long Island as well.
So like, I mean, it's, it's not, it's not terribly different.
It snows most days, I'll say, but it's not accumulating to feet of snow.
You know, when I came up here, I had this idea that I was going to like walk out of
my apartment building and I wouldn't be able to get out the door.
Like people tell you about the tunnel systems.
I've never even seen the tunnel.
So I don't even know if it's really there.
So like, I mean, it will overhype the weather.
It gets cold.
But I don't think it's too different from where we're from.
Yeah, so I'm just going to, I just have to know just cause like, I don't know, I have
some family that lives up there and like they say it's good, but I have no idea.
And the long drive.
So like, you know, maybe, I mean, that's another thing.
Like I thought it was so far such a long drive.
Like I personally enjoyed the drive.
Like I did this morning.
Actually, I came back this morning because I had to move into my new apartment and I
left at like 6am, I got back here at like 130.
So it wasn't terrible.
So I always want to go back to the coursework in dental school.
So how could, how like comparable is it towards coursework and undergrad?
Like is it, you know, I've heard like a lot of, even like mad students say in dental students
say that like it's kind of easier just cause you're only, it's not like focused on crazy
places.
Just kind of, this is like what you're doing and you have a lot of time to do it.
So how, you know, what is your opinion on that stuff?
I think that it's not, it's not necessarily harder.
I'll agree on that.
It's not harder material than what you are doing in undergrad.
I think that a lot of it is similar and that like you'll recall things that you learned
in undergrad and it helps you learn it quicker.
And I think another part of it is that it's related to what you're doing in somehow, you
know, I mean, I won't lie.
Like there's some classes like biochemistry that we would do a whole lecture on something
and then the last two slides would be how it's related to dentistry.
So like some classes it's not really, but I think overall like it's the material itself
is not harder, but there's more of it.
So you know, I'll have like for each exam, maybe three or 400 slides sometimes that I
have to look over for the exam.
And each slide is usually packed with information.
So it's definitely a lot more workload, but it's not necessarily harder.
Cool.
So yeah, I just want to ask like how, you know, about Buffalo, about the down school
itself, you know, what, how is the relationship between, you know, the faculty and the students,
you know, do you feel like you're getting adequate help throughout your classes?
Do you feel like they prepare you enough for exams?
You know, how helpful the resources that they have there, you know, and do you feel like
Buffalo is putting you in the best position to succeed?
Yeah.
So definitely the student body like is awesome.
I mean, we have like a big little system where you have a big and then you're above
you and they kind of help guide you throughout your first year.
I mean, really through all your first three years because you have them throughout all
dental school to refer to and not only that, but like I'm friends with a lot of people
the year above me and, you know, like you become friends with people in other classes
and everyone's very helpful.
No one's really out there to get you or, you know, hurt your grades or anything.
Everyone's, you know, there to help each other.
And when it comes to the faculty, same thing, faculty for the most part are there to help
you, but the curriculum itself is designed at least for the preclinical to kind of simulate
what the ADEX exam is.
So when you graduate dental school, I believe it's 48 out of the 50 states require you to
take an ADEX exam.
So when you take the ADEX exam, you have to do like a specific type of restoration on
a tooth or specific procedures that are like textbook almost.
And what happens with that is our preclinical practicals and competencies and everything
are those same preparations that we might see on the ADEX exam.
So New York state actually does not require the ADEX exam if you want to practice New
York state, but they do require that you do a year of residency, at least for general
dentistry.
If you want to specialize, it's a little different.
But I think the school definitely prepares you very well for, you know, dentistry.
I mean, I haven't gotten to do any procedures yet on patients.
So I don't know how it translates from preclinical to clinical.
I can't really tell you much about that.
But I have seen the students in the clinic and assisted them and shadowed them, the upperclassmen.
So I've seen that, you know, they all feel pretty, you know, good when they're doing
a procedure, obviously, they're dental students, so they need help from faculty here and there.
And they need to ask questions, you know, they might need assistance on certain things.
But overall, I think they definitely really prepare you well.
And, you know, dentists that I've shadowed and assisted and spoken to have told me a
lot of them, you know, work in a residency program.
And they've told me that the best of the best residents come from Buffalo.
So I like the school a lot.
I think it really prepares me well.
And we are already like, you know, our first year, we were already doing rotations in different
clinics.
And we were already assisting upperclassmen and getting that experience.
And then this semester, well, this past summer, we started, you know, practicing on each other,
doing profis and all that.
And then I believe we are getting our first patient this in like the next month or two
to do a profion.
So yeah, so it's definitely very early clinical, you know, curriculum.
And I was just curious, like, what is the what's the class as again for Buffalo?
95.
Yeah, there's 95 per class.
So I know the Buffalo just they just renovated like their entire facility like recently,
right?
All their things like we're the entire campus.
Yeah, I want to say maybe within the last five years, they they did renovations in the
pre clinic.
So our pre clinic is one of the nicest ones I've seen, you know, during interviews and
all that.
It is like we have like electric handpieces.
We have like mannequins that are fairly new.
The facility itself itself is just really nice looking.
We have like a really good wet lab.
They are currently redoing.
We have in our for our actual clinics, there's three floors.
And I believe they're redoing one of them right now.
And then all for the most part, all the operatories and all three clinics all have like new seats
and new like a quint and everything.
The only thing that they still have to replace that is in the plans is the countertops and
all that.
So yeah, they've put a lot of money into it.
I know that they plan on building or they might have already started building a special
needs clinic, which has a lot of really cool things.
I think one of the things they have is a platform that like a patient in a wheelchair could be
wheeled onto the platform and then the platform tilts back this way.
The patient doesn't have to be like lifted out of their wheelchair and they could sit
in the wheelchair during the procedure or whatever they're there for.
So they have a lot of plans to do redo things.
They've started a bunch of things already.
It obviously takes time and it's not something that just happens super quick, but the pre-clinic
is very nice.
And that's where I spend most of my time, especially this coming year.
I'm going to be there all the time.
So I'm definitely going to look out for those Instagram pictures.
So you talked about the class as like a 95.
So the faculty student ratio, like is it, do you find it like there's a lot of one-on-one
attention given to you guys?
Not necessarily like one-on-one, but well, yeah.
So we're separated in the pre-clinic into pods.
So I'm at pod E. So there's me and I want to say maybe five others in my pod, four or
five others.
And we're like in a circle kind of.
And we are assigned a faculty member for each class.
So they're sticking with us and if we have questions.
So maybe it's like one faculty member to like five or six students, maybe something like
that.
But if you have questions, you know, there's always someone there to answer your question,
give you help.
And then usually on top of that, whoever the main professor is for the course will be at
the front of the room.
So you can go get feedback from them too.
Sounds good.
So like it looks like Buffalo is really just, you know, there to help you reach your goals
rather than, you know, like being the way of them.
So so Paul, like what what what are your own personal goals that you have, you know, for
the next year, maybe a couple years, even after down school?
So I think my number one goal is to just improve my hand skills.
It's something that, you know, it doesn't necessarily come perfectly easy to me.
Some of my classmates pick it up very, very quickly.
I think I'm somewhere in the middle.
And so that's something that I want to improve on.
And really just like learning more, you know, maybe learning more about different specialties.
But for me personally, I think I'm probably going to go into general chemistry.
So it's not that important to me to, you know, get my application get my whole application
ready for residence season stuff.
I mean, it's definitely important to, you know, keep your grades up and all that.
But I'm not really somebody interested in research or anything like that.
So really just, you know, focusing on my hand skills.
That's probably the main thing.
So kind of like building on that on the work, well, like personal qualities and skills you
think you've developed throughout undergrad in the past year in dental school, they think
you're going to utilize once you're actually a dentist, like once you're, you know, graduate
dental school, you're working into practice.
I think the number one thing that I was able to do during undergrad that helps me now is
just balancing a lot of different things.
So I was, you know, working like 20, 30 hours a week, a lot of times during while taking
like a full load of courses in undergrad, I was involved in like different clubs and
things.
So just like being able to handle a lot organizing that, like, you know, having your schedule
all planned out, because now that I'm in dental school, it's not not that it's easy for me
to handle everything and manage all my classes and all that.
But I think that I'm better able to, you know, take in my workload and, you know, prioritize
what I need to do now and, you know, plan out my schedule for like the week and all
that.
So that was probably the most helpful thing that, yeah.
That's great.
That sounds good.
So, you know, just before we wrap it up here, what are, what is some major advice you can
give your pre-dentals, you know, to kind of aid them on their own journeys as they navigate
this complicated and sometimes intriguing pre-dental process?
I think the number one advice I'd give you is do not compare yourself to other applicants
and your friends.
Everybody's application is completely different.
You know, they're sure there's people out there that may have a 40 and, you know, what
was the DAT, the top you can get is a 30, right?
So a 30 DAT and a 40 and involved in everything and dental assisted and do that, all this stuff.
But that doesn't necessarily reflect on your application.
Yours is totally separate.
Like I said earlier, I think it's very important to have friends that are really, you know,
involved in the same things as you and, you know, pursuing dentistry as well.
But don't let that intimidate you as well.
You know, I had friends that had, you know, a three, seven GPA and they had a great DAT
score and I got more views than them.
So it really depends on your application.
Sometimes, you know, for example, say you and Siraj both interviewed at the same place,
you had the same statistics, everything was exactly the same.
But say there was something about you that really stood out to that interviewer, you
know, they might, you know, put you in a different pile because there was one single thing that
stood out to you, stood out to them about you, you know, and that could be based on
them or it could be based on you.
I mean, so everyone's different.
And I think that just keeping your head high and, you know, focusing on the long goal,
don't get caught up in all the little details is really important.
You know, that's great advice.
Honestly, like personally, I do that a lot, you know, where I would get lost in it and
start comparing myself to other people.
Even though, you know, like at the end of the day, you know, we're all doing enough to get
to where we want to go and, you know, all of our own experiences are unique in their own
rights.
So comparing each other is not going to do anything.
And, you know, when you feel like you're not doing a lot, you're doing a lot.
Like you got to trust yourself and you got to know that you're doing a lot.
So that's awesome.
So how can other pre-dentals, you know, reach out to you and can save on any other questions
related to the entire process?
You know, find me on Instagram.
I'm sure you guys will be posting something or whatever.
So you can find me there too.
And yeah, I mean, I'm always here to help anybody or anybody's questions.
So let me know.
Awesome.
For sure.
So that concludes our episode of the Dose of Dental Podcast.
Thank you, Paul, for joining me and sharing your experiences at D1 slash D2.
Your insight was definitely valuable and we hope that it'll be same for pre-dental listeners.
Everyone, please feel free to reach out to Paul at his socials if you have any further
questions.
Lastly, we thank everyone for listening.
If you enjoyed today's episode, please be sure to follow us on Instagram and Spotify.
And we'll see you next time for another Dose of Dental Podcast.