1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:19,040 Everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Dose of the Dental podcast. 2 00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:22,200 The focus of this podcast is to share undergraduate and dental school experiences from dental 3 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:25,340 students and dental professionals through valuable discussions. 4 00:00:25,340 --> 00:00:28,560 Through sharing the journeys and stories of current dental students and dental professionals, 5 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:32,240 our goals help you find answers or guidance for your own pre-dental journeys. 6 00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:35,800 Joining us today is David Cruzotti, a dental student studying at the University of Connecticut 7 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:37,720 School of Dental Medicine. 8 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:41,040 David graduated from Stony Brook University with a bachelor's degree in biology along 9 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:42,160 with a studio art minor. 10 00:00:42,160 --> 00:00:45,920 He's now an incoming second year dental student at the University of Connecticut School of 11 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:46,920 Dental Medicine. 12 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:51,080 During his undergraduate years, David was heavily involved with the Stony Brook Dental School, 13 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:54,920 participating in an intensive, discovered dental program during the summer of 2018, being 14 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:57,720 awarded scholarship distinction in 2020. 15 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:00,760 He's volunteered in both a dental outreach trip as well as in the Stony Brook School 16 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:02,320 of Dental Medicine clinics. 17 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:06,400 David also held various positions in the Stony Brook pre-dental society and has researched 18 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:08,120 experience as a data entry specialist. 19 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:10,000 Hey David, welcome to the podcast. 20 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:13,360 How's being able to say you finished one whole year of dental school feel and what are your 21 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:14,920 thoughts as you enter your second? 22 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:17,600 Hey Serge, that was a great introduction. 23 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:19,400 Thank you so much. 24 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:24,280 It feels really good being done with first year and getting into a lot more dental this 25 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:25,280 year. 26 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:31,320 It's been a really crazy journey so far, but I'm really excited to be continuing. 27 00:01:31,320 --> 00:01:33,120 That sounds great. 28 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:36,440 So why don't you just tell us a little bit about yourself, like where you're from, you 29 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:39,560 know, just kind of your background. 30 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:41,040 Sure. 31 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:42,920 So I'm from Long Island, New York. 32 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:48,480 And as Serge mentioned, I went to Stony Brook University for undergrad. 33 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:53,000 And now I'm here at University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine. 34 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:56,680 I was really involved with the pre-dental club and a few other organizations on campus 35 00:01:56,680 --> 00:01:57,680 at Stony Brook. 36 00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:02,920 I had a great time in undergrad and I think our pre-dental society really prepared me 37 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:06,520 for the application process and for getting into dental school. 38 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:11,680 So I think we're really lucky to have such a strong program there at Stony Brook. 39 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:15,680 So something we like to ask all our guests is like, why did you choose to go into Dentistry 40 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:17,240 in the first place? 41 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:21,520 Yeah, that's a great question and one that everyone gets asked on on the application 42 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:23,720 trail and all the interviews. 43 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:29,480 And it was one that I did a lot of thinking for when it was my turn to start interviewing. 44 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:35,840 And everyone has their own reasons and their own experiences that they've had throughout 45 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:36,840 their lives. 46 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:42,560 For me, I had a close family friend who was a dentist and his wife was a dentist as well. 47 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:44,520 They both still practice. 48 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:51,160 But I always knew I wanted to do something related to people and health care and interaction 49 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:55,360 with patients or however that may be. 50 00:02:55,360 --> 00:03:00,560 Just people in general are what I'm passionate about. 51 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:03,320 And I come from a minority community. 52 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:05,600 I'm Hispanic. 53 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:10,680 And my first introduction to dentistry as a whole was when I went with this family friend 54 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:14,640 and his wife on an outreach trip in Mexico, actually. 55 00:03:14,640 --> 00:03:17,880 And it was an amazing experience. 56 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:24,320 They both founded Smiles for Hope dental ministries and seeing them perform dental care on patients 57 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:29,200 who might not have been around a dentist in years due to financial reasons or accessibility 58 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:30,520 reasons. 59 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:31,520 It was amazing. 60 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:38,600 It really opened my eyes to what health care is and what it is about and also how it can 61 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:41,640 help me become the best person that I can be. 62 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:48,200 I can be doing something that is financially good for me and a future family maybe. 63 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:51,240 And it's also something that I can serve the community with. 64 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:53,400 And that's what I'm really interested in. 65 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:59,600 I actually went on a dental outreach trip recently to Guatemala. 66 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:03,080 And I saw the same thing as you did. 67 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:08,680 The inability for access to health care that we feel is so basic and where we live and 68 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:09,680 how fortunate we are. 69 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:13,080 So it's interesting and I hope you can see that kind of perspective. 70 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:18,320 So Dave, can you walk us through your experiences and reflect on how your goals may or may not 71 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:19,720 have changed as you progress? 72 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:22,920 Like when freshman year or sophomore year, it's like junior year. 73 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:23,920 Sure. 74 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:29,920 So for me, I was pretty young when I was first trying to decide what I was interested in. 75 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:33,040 And that family friend really helped me hone in on dentistry. 76 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:38,040 I guess that first experience I had with dentistry was actually pretty early on in my high school 77 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:39,280 experience. 78 00:04:39,280 --> 00:04:43,920 So by the time I got to Stony Brook, I had kind of cemented my mind on where I wanted 79 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:48,400 to end up at the end of those four years at Stony Brook. 80 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:54,200 So throughout that time, my idea of the future didn't really change. 81 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:58,720 Before that, I had considered other medical oriented professions, other health professions, 82 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:02,240 including medical school, as a lot of students do. 83 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:07,360 But by the time I entered my freshman year, I knew that I wanted to do dentistry. 84 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:11,560 And that's why I became involved with the pre-dental clubs so early on. 85 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:15,000 I made sure to go to their first meeting that freshman year. 86 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:19,040 And from then on, I was very heavily involved with that. 87 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:23,200 Yeah, what other question can I answer related to that? 88 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:28,440 So yeah, so what is that distinction you made between dentistry and the Med route? 89 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:30,880 What kind of really pushed you towards dentistry? 90 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:37,240 Was it just the experience in Mexico or was it more like what it consists of? 91 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:41,680 So for me, it was a lot of things. 92 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:45,760 One thing that I would say is a big thing is the quality of life. 93 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:53,880 So my family friend who is a dentist and his wife is a dentist as well, they live in a way 94 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:58,680 that they still have, they make time for their family, they make time for extracurricular 95 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:04,880 things and well, for their children and community outreach and support, they do a lot in their 96 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:10,680 free time, which if they were still long term, if they were medical residents for four or 97 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:14,400 five years, that would be very difficult for them. 98 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:21,280 So I always admired how much time and energy they invested into their community and into 99 00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:22,280 their children. 100 00:06:22,280 --> 00:06:26,920 So that was something that was important to me in terms of how I want to live in the next 101 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:29,480 10 years. 102 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:36,080 Another thing I would say is the ability of a practitioner to do hands on procedures almost 103 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:38,200 every time you have some of the dental chair. 104 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:43,600 So if you're a family practitioner, a medical doctor, a lot of times you'll see people and 105 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:48,680 you'll ask them a lot about their personal medical history and you'll make assessments, 106 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:53,040 but you won't often do procedures as much as you would as a dentist. 107 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:56,800 So I always loved working with my hands. 108 00:06:56,800 --> 00:07:00,720 As you mentioned at the beginning of the podcast, I have a studio art minor, so I was very involved 109 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:06,760 in painting and drawing and the ability to use my hands to do dental procedures almost 110 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:10,880 every time I have a patient is something that I really look forward to. 111 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:17,600 Yeah, I think personally, I'm still like building my way up to where you are right now, but something 112 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:21,680 that really stood out to me about dentistry is like every single appointment or every single 113 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:25,640 patient you see, you're going to be working with your hands and you're going to be active. 114 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:29,560 And it's not just like what you know, it's kind of more like hand-eye coordination and 115 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:35,040 how to apply what you know to like dexterity and like your own, your hand skills, which 116 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:38,280 is really unique about dentistry, I thought. 117 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:45,920 Yeah, so did you have any experiences in undergrad that you kind of, that led you to this distinction 118 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:51,800 that like dentistry is working with your hands and really just kind of showed you that side 119 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:54,360 of it, like maybe shadowing or something like that? 120 00:07:54,360 --> 00:08:01,200 Yeah, I shadowed and worked with a few different dentists, one of which is Dr. Herron, which 121 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:03,840 I believe you currently work with. 122 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:10,400 She especially was such an inspiration and such a hardworking dentist that clearly had 123 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:17,040 a great rapport with patients that clearly loved what they were doing and was very invested 124 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:18,320 in her career. 125 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:23,080 And that's something that I really, well, it really resonated with me. 126 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:29,360 And I would say a lot of the different events that we had as a pre-dental society there, 127 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:34,880 especially the ones involved with Stony Brook Dental were really eye-opening, including 128 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:38,160 the summer Stony Brook Dental Scholars Program. 129 00:08:38,160 --> 00:08:45,400 That was something where essentially I applied and I was accepted to do a week's worth of 130 00:08:45,400 --> 00:08:49,600 dental related events and activities at the dental school. 131 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:55,280 And I did that in the summer of my freshman year and already like summer freshman year, 132 00:08:55,280 --> 00:09:00,440 that cemented like, wow, this is really something that I can explore different aspects of. 133 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:06,720 There's a lot of different procedures that require different skills that I may like this 134 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:11,760 side of dentistry more than this side, but it showed me the width and breadth of what 135 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:13,400 dentistry is. 136 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:15,960 No, for sure. 137 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:18,320 And you mentioned that that happened kind of freshman year. 138 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:22,560 So you kind of got a taste of what you wanted to do very early on, which is like something 139 00:09:22,560 --> 00:09:27,320 that many people may switch into dentistry like in junior year and sophomore year. 140 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:30,400 So they feel like they have to rush through the process, but it feels like you had your 141 00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:33,720 foundation ready like freshman year, you're kind of new, what you wanted to do. 142 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:37,520 So how did you go from knowing you wanted to go dentistry freshman year? 143 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:42,480 How did you order your experiences and how did you order your things you participated 144 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:47,800 in for the rest of undergrad to make sure that you were set up to go into the field? 145 00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:50,120 That's a great question. 146 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:54,680 I would say I asked a lot of upperclassmen for advice a lot of times, especially when 147 00:09:54,680 --> 00:10:01,040 making my schedule and working around different club events and meetings. 148 00:10:01,040 --> 00:10:05,640 From the get go at the end of freshman year, I applied to be a member of the dental eboard 149 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:07,040 at our pre dental club. 150 00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:12,120 So that was something that I really wanted to shoot my shot for and see if it went through 151 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:14,280 and luckily it did. 152 00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:20,000 And from then on, I was involved with the eboard every year, which was really awesome, 153 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:21,720 a great experience. 154 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:27,080 And I was also involved with C-Step Club and C-Step as a whole, which is if you don't know 155 00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:34,040 what it is, it's the collegiate science technology entry program, which is basically a program 156 00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:39,880 in New York state that aims to help minority students find opportunities that are already 157 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:45,400 out there and also new opportunities in STEM related fields. 158 00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:48,640 So that was something I was really involved in. 159 00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:54,040 And then as the years went by and I went into my junior year, I kind of had to say, okay, 160 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:59,120 I really got to cure myself to what I want to do and how to get into dental school and 161 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:01,840 how to be the best applicant I can be. 162 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:06,200 So I was no longer heavily involved with C-Step and C-Step Club. 163 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:11,000 And I really focused on pre-dental society and what I can contribute to the student body 164 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:12,360 there. 165 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:14,320 So that's kind of what I did. 166 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:20,680 And I really dedicated myself to studying for the DAT over that summer, which I believe 167 00:11:20,680 --> 00:11:27,840 was the summer before my junior year, so that I can perform my best and apply the following 168 00:11:27,840 --> 00:11:28,840 year. 169 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:36,560 So I applied the summer before my senior year and did not take any gaping. 170 00:11:36,560 --> 00:11:42,960 Yeah, so I kind of want to rewind a little bit. 171 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:44,480 So I know you did some research, right? 172 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:47,320 And I know that's a really big part of many people's applications. 173 00:11:47,320 --> 00:11:49,920 Like they're really, it's very emphasized. 174 00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:54,240 It's not like it's optional, but it's not, in a sense, it's like not because people, 175 00:11:54,240 --> 00:11:57,680 you know, now everyone's doing research and like you kind of need it to just put yourself 176 00:11:57,680 --> 00:11:58,800 a little bit ahead. 177 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:02,920 So can you talk a little bit about your research experience and like how it played a role in 178 00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:03,920 your application? 179 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:06,640 Yeah, I can definitely do that. 180 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:11,640 So I was lucky enough to do research at Stony Brook Dental School. 181 00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:16,880 And I was involved with some clinical trials, mainly in the PERIO department. 182 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:21,640 And I think I became involved with that in my junior year and stayed involved for about 183 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:25,080 a year, maybe a little more than a year. 184 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:30,280 And it's definitely something that I would say it's not for everyone, research in general, 185 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:35,200 but it was something that I, like you said, a lot of people wanted for their CV or wanted 186 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:37,000 to bolster their application. 187 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:40,720 And I was interested and I did do it because I was interested as well. 188 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:45,560 But I'm glad I did it because it actually helped me connect a lot with students who 189 00:12:45,560 --> 00:12:50,480 were there in the building that I was working in and also with faculty members who became 190 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:54,920 very close to me, like mentors in my life, which I'm very lucky to have. 191 00:12:54,920 --> 00:13:01,600 So I think research in general, it's not for everyone, but it is something that if you're 192 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:06,120 doing it in the field especially can really help you get to where you want to be. 193 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:08,240 And I'm actually doing research this summer. 194 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:12,560 So summer of my D1 year in a completely different type of study. 195 00:13:12,560 --> 00:13:16,080 It's my own study and it's based in a wet lab. 196 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:20,680 So I wanted something different from the clinical experience and it's pretty different. 197 00:13:20,680 --> 00:13:21,680 It's night and day. 198 00:13:21,680 --> 00:13:25,920 I would say research, yeah, you can do it if you want to. 199 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:29,720 I know there is a lot of pressure like you mentioned to do it. 200 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:35,200 I don't think you have to do it to get into school, but it definitely doesn't hurt. 201 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:39,600 So how can like pre-dentals get involved in research and how instead of getting involved, 202 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:44,520 like what is your best, what is your advice to approach research and to choose the best 203 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:46,600 one for them, for themselves? 204 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:47,720 Yeah. 205 00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:50,640 So research can be hard to get into. 206 00:13:50,640 --> 00:13:54,400 It's hard to find an opportunity sometimes that you know is good. 207 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:58,240 One of the things that I tried was I would reach out to upperclassmen that I knew who 208 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:03,160 might be involved in research and see if they knew of any availability in their own labs. 209 00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:07,960 And I think that's a good way of assessing what might be doable and reasonable for you 210 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:12,520 to do is if you have an upperclassman friend who is involved and you know that they've 211 00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:18,160 gone through it and they've done it and that it's doable because some research, PIs, they 212 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:20,920 might ask more of you or less of you. 213 00:14:20,920 --> 00:14:25,480 So it's good to have kind of an already vetted opportunity that you know might be a good 214 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:26,680 one. 215 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:27,680 That's what I did. 216 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:31,920 And I would also reach out to any professors in a specific department you're interested 217 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:32,920 in. 218 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:39,520 Maybe if you email dental faculty and you look up what they're doing in research, that might 219 00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:40,600 be a good way of doing it. 220 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:42,840 I know a lot of people did that my year. 221 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:43,840 Great. 222 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:47,600 And I don't know if there's, we had Zaid on for the first, I don't know if you remember 223 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:48,600 it. 224 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:49,600 We had him on for the first episode. 225 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:52,040 I kind of asked him, is there a second formula to it? 226 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:54,880 He's like, no, there's many ways you can get involved. 227 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:58,760 You can do like a variety of things and everyone can end up in research in different ways, 228 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:01,480 which is pretty interesting to me. 229 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:06,120 So now that you're in dental school and you said you're doing some research this summer, 230 00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:13,320 how much of a role do you think doing research in undergrad played in how easy it is for you 231 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:15,400 to do research now? 232 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:21,920 What skills have you got that you get from undergrad that you can apply now? 233 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:23,440 Yeah. 234 00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:28,240 So like I said, the research I'm doing now, it's very loosely related to like clinical 235 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:29,240 research. 236 00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:30,240 So I'm in a wet lab. 237 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:35,120 I'm doing a lot of pipetting and working with different solutions and formulas. 238 00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:37,640 And it's very different. 239 00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:43,200 But I did, when I reached out to my current research mentor, I did list my previous experiences 240 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:48,280 in research and how I might be able to contribute to the project. 241 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:52,240 And I'm sure that helped, but I have a lot of friends in my class who did not do research 242 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:54,880 in undergrad and they still are doing some research. 243 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:57,200 So it's definitely not a requirement. 244 00:15:57,200 --> 00:16:03,120 As a first year faculty here, they know that you may not have experience or even if you 245 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:06,600 do, you might not in the same type of research that they're doing. 246 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:09,440 So I think everyone is very welcoming and accepting. 247 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:13,640 If you're interested, there will likely be a project that you can find. 248 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:14,640 Awesome. 249 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:17,040 Yeah, it's great advice, definitely. 250 00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:21,080 So yeah, I wanted to go back now to the one thing all pre-dentalists should really be 251 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:24,200 aware of is the dental school application. 252 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:27,480 So can you just walk us through your application and some things that pre-dentalists should 253 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:31,920 consider when they start doing the application and kind of prepare for mentally, even as 254 00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:33,440 a freshman? 255 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:34,680 Definitely. 256 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:37,720 So I would say it's never too late to be interested in dentistry. 257 00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:43,240 I have a lot of close friends, a lot of classmates who became interested, like you mentioned earlier, 258 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:47,480 in their later years, maybe junior year, maybe end of junior year even. 259 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:48,720 And that's great. 260 00:16:48,720 --> 00:16:54,880 If you're interested in dentistry, I say do some shadowing, look into it, and if you're 261 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:57,400 really passionate about it, go for it. 262 00:16:57,400 --> 00:17:05,080 So I would say a piece of advice I have would be to take opportunities as they come. 263 00:17:05,080 --> 00:17:09,280 As I mentioned before, I did that summer program the summer of my freshman year, and that was 264 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:10,880 something I was even uneasy about. 265 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:13,080 I was like, oh, should I even go for it? 266 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:14,320 I'm a freshman. 267 00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:18,200 Maybe it's not really something that would be that applicable to me yet, just taking 268 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:19,880 general classes. 269 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:24,200 But it was an awesome experience, and it was something that, like I mentioned, cemented 270 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:26,640 my want to go into dental school. 271 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:30,640 So if you see an opportunity and it looks good and it fits in your schedule, I say go 272 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:31,640 for it. 273 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:35,600 And that's what I did when it came to applying for different eboard positions. 274 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:40,720 And even getting into dental school, I try not to limit myself. 275 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:47,040 I was looking at a lot of different dental schools, and I ended up going to one Yukon, 276 00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:48,640 which is an amazing place. 277 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:53,120 I'm really happy that I'm here, but it wasn't even the one I was considering the most when 278 00:17:53,120 --> 00:17:55,680 I was originally applying. 279 00:17:55,680 --> 00:18:00,360 So I think it's good to keep an open mind and to not limit yourself, to go for whatever 280 00:18:00,360 --> 00:18:03,960 you want to go for. 281 00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:08,920 So can you touch a little bit upon, like the DAT, the personal statement, stuff like that, 282 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:14,640 things that people start considering before they pile up on them? 283 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:15,640 Definitely. 284 00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:20,920 So for my personal statement, I talked a lot about my background and that first summer 285 00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:24,320 trip that I mentioned where I went on an outreach trip. 286 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:26,600 And I just tried to be real on it. 287 00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:31,960 And I think that's what they're looking for in general when you're writing one of these. 288 00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:37,120 They want to see that you're a real person and that you have real experiences and that 289 00:18:37,120 --> 00:18:40,520 even maybe that you're not afraid to be vulnerable. 290 00:18:40,520 --> 00:18:42,360 So I was very real on my application. 291 00:18:42,360 --> 00:18:47,480 I talked about emotions that I felt and people that I connected with on this trip. 292 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:49,240 And I think that was very valuable. 293 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:54,840 I think that's what made my final draft of my personal statement special as compared 294 00:18:54,840 --> 00:19:00,360 to my first draft where I just wrote everything that I could think of about dentistry. 295 00:19:00,360 --> 00:19:04,800 They're not looking for you to say a special keyword and then boom, you're in. 296 00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:09,960 They want to see that you're a person and that you're really passionate about what 297 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:11,800 you're going into. 298 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:16,720 And as far as my DAT went, like I said, I blocked out a lot of time for that. 299 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:19,760 I studied a lot that summer. 300 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:23,480 I tried not to let anything really prevent me from studying. 301 00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:25,480 That included I didn't work a lot. 302 00:19:25,480 --> 00:19:30,720 I shadowed a little bit, but like I said, I really prioritized my exam. 303 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:35,320 And I think that really helped because I felt confident in my first score. 304 00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:39,760 I didn't feel like I had to take it again and it went well for me. 305 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:44,720 And I did use DAT Bootcamp, which I know a lot of people use these days. 306 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:52,000 And I didn't use any other paid sources, but I would say that alone was enough to get me 307 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:53,600 prepared. 308 00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:55,280 No, definitely. 309 00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:59,640 I think in going back to the personal statement, I feel like many people are trying to find 310 00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:06,320 this perfect letter that kind of encompasses everything they've done in their life and 311 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:09,280 trying to convince them that they did this. 312 00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:13,280 But as you said, I feel like focusing on one thing and really just being real in it so 313 00:20:13,280 --> 00:20:16,440 that when it comes time, if you're lucky enough to get the interview, you're the same person 314 00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:18,880 they thought you were during the letter. 315 00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:21,840 And I think that's really important. 316 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:25,480 And for the DAT, yeah, definitely taking time out of a couple of friends going through 317 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:29,360 the process right now, taking all summer to study for it. 318 00:20:29,360 --> 00:20:34,400 Definitely, we just want to get one time if you can, just get it over with. 319 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:40,080 There's no reason to let it dwell on you throughout the whole year. 320 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:46,880 So yeah, so now you've finished the DAT, you've done the personal statement. 321 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:49,680 How did you narrow down the schools you wanted to choose? 322 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:54,520 Did you do some good research on them or did you kind of just word of mouth or you're just 323 00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:58,080 kind of like, yeah, so what did you do? 324 00:20:58,080 --> 00:20:59,800 That's another good question. 325 00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:05,640 I didn't apply to as many schools as a lot of people do, mainly because it is expensive 326 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:10,920 and I didn't really want to waste the time and effort and resources on a school that 327 00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:13,360 I really wasn't interested in going to. 328 00:21:13,360 --> 00:21:22,640 So I kept most of my schools on the list to close northeastern area schools, a lot of 329 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:26,200 district one and district two schools, mainly. 330 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:32,360 And I did rely a lot on word of mouth on where previous students have gone and maybe I reached 331 00:21:32,360 --> 00:21:33,360 out to a lot of people. 332 00:21:33,360 --> 00:21:37,840 I reached out to former eboard members from our club and asked them what their experiences 333 00:21:37,840 --> 00:21:41,080 were and that helped me narrow it down somewhat. 334 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:48,080 And I also definitely took into account price and I really didn't even add the very expensive 335 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:52,600 schools to my list because I wanted to be practical and I told myself, if I can get 336 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:58,040 the same degree at a school that's maybe only two thirds of the cost, why would I go all 337 00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:00,840 the way with the really expensive schools? 338 00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:04,320 So there was a few different parameters that helped me narrow it down. 339 00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:09,520 And eventually I came to a list that was under 10 and I applied to those. 340 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:15,480 I sent out letters of interest to a lot of them when the time came and just waited for 341 00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:18,160 responses, mainly. 342 00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:21,320 So letters of interest, do you mean like after you've already applied to the school, you 343 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:23,600 kind of show them that you really want to go there? 344 00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:26,480 Yeah, that's essentially what I did. 345 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:34,240 You can find a lot of information about that on pre-dental sites and forums on when you 346 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:38,240 should send a letter of interest and to what schools they might welcome it or maybe not 347 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:39,880 welcome it. 348 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:45,680 But it's basically just saying that, and these letters I usually sent out after I had an 349 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:51,560 interview and I sent basically my reasons for wanting to go to the school and things 350 00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:59,120 that I really appreciated about the schools on interview day and just asking that I be 351 00:22:59,120 --> 00:23:03,480 considered and it worked out in a few cases. 352 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:09,040 Right, so when you got those interview emails, did you begin preparing immediately or did 353 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:13,360 you kind of just let it sit for a little bit? 354 00:23:13,360 --> 00:23:17,560 Yeah, so a lot of schools will tell you weeks and weeks in advance. 355 00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:19,240 Some will tell you maybe a week in advance. 356 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:21,800 It depends on what school. 357 00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:28,240 Whenever I got an email about interview season, I would basically do just like a preliminary 358 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:33,960 research on the school because I was interested because I just received an email, but then 359 00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:38,720 when the time came to interview, maybe in the two days before, I would try to search 360 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:45,680 more information on the school and also talk to other applicants and other people who might 361 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:48,000 go there already that I knew. 362 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:55,760 I know there's a few other podcasts and different resources out there for pre-dentals to listen 363 00:23:55,760 --> 00:23:59,360 to what different interview experiences are at different schools, so I did that as well 364 00:23:59,360 --> 00:24:03,880 on YouTube. 365 00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:05,560 How many interviews did you get? 366 00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:07,480 Did you go to each one? 367 00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:09,200 How was the whole process like? 368 00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:14,720 Yeah, so I interviewed at almost every school that I applied to, which I was very fortunate 369 00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:17,520 of. 370 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:21,720 During my interview season, most schools were still doing only Zoom interviews. 371 00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:26,280 I'm not sure exactly what the percentages are now, but out of the ones that I interviewed 372 00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:30,560 at, only one of them offered me in-person interview. 373 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:35,080 I interviewed at every school that offered it because I wanted to see what they could 374 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:40,840 bring to the table and what I might be interested in. 375 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:46,040 I basically just showed up ready to interview as ready as you can be. 376 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:50,280 I know that first one was very nerve-wracking because you don't know what to expect, but 377 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:54,200 once you start, usually you can develop a good rapport and you can see that they're 378 00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:55,200 not your enemy. 379 00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:56,200 They're not trying to grill you. 380 00:24:56,200 --> 00:25:01,120 At least I never had an experience like that. 381 00:25:01,120 --> 00:25:04,720 It becomes kind of comfortable and fun going to these different schools and talking about 382 00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:10,520 yourself and hearing what they pride their schools on. 383 00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:11,600 What exactly is it like? 384 00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:15,200 Do they just show you around the school? 385 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:20,960 Do they just tell you how it's going to be like, how it's going to be like, how it's 386 00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:22,800 experiences, stuff like that? 387 00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:28,240 Yes, so my only in-person interview was Toro and I loved the experience. 388 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:35,320 It was actually my first interview, which was exciting for me to go in person. 389 00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:36,880 They did a little bit of everything. 390 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:42,880 They had us interview with faculty in about the middle of the day, but initially they 391 00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:48,600 gave different talks about how excited they were for us to be there, different facts about 392 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:53,800 their school, different rates of success that they've had, really trying to sell you on 393 00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:54,800 the school. 394 00:25:54,800 --> 00:26:01,160 I know that they gave us free breakfast there and we also had a tour of the school, which 395 00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:03,240 was fun too because they had very new facilities. 396 00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:06,640 They're one of the newest in the country. 397 00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:15,640 I think later that day we had a Zoom conference call with uppered classmen where they just 398 00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:20,920 told us what the school was like and what to expect as a student there. 399 00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:25,000 The same was basically true of every school that I interviewed with, except a lot of 400 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:31,920 them were online and had pre-recorded tours of their facilities or pictures. 401 00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:37,880 How did you go from interviewing almost every school you applied to to narrowing it down 402 00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:39,160 to just a few? 403 00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:40,160 Where was that process at? 404 00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:45,560 I know you ended up at UConn, so if you want to elaborate on exactly how that worked out. 405 00:26:45,560 --> 00:26:47,880 Definitely. 406 00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:52,160 I guess my process was about the same as narrowing down the schools on my list. 407 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:54,280 I basically was looking at price. 408 00:26:54,280 --> 00:27:00,720 I was looking at distance from family, how often I might be able to visit. 409 00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:05,480 I was looking at their programs and what students were saying about their programs and how the 410 00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:07,920 programs compared to each other. 411 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:13,400 For me, it really came down to Stony Brook University Dental and the University of Connecticut 412 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:14,640 Dental. 413 00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:22,560 I went with UConn for a few reasons, but one of them is that it's a pass bail school and 414 00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:24,280 that it's non-ranked. 415 00:27:24,280 --> 00:27:30,000 I think both of those things were really big when it came to talking to uppered classmen 416 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:33,240 about what their day-to-day life was. 417 00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:39,800 They really, a lot of the uppered classmen I talked to at UConn loved those aspects of 418 00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:45,640 the curriculum because it creates a really tight knit community and a good community 419 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:50,480 where they basically foster teamwork throughout their curriculum. 420 00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:54,840 I've really seen that firsthand in my first year. 421 00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:59,480 Just in general, the UConn students that I talked to were very enthusiastic about their 422 00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:02,120 school and their program. 423 00:28:02,120 --> 00:28:03,120 I love that. 424 00:28:03,120 --> 00:28:08,840 I know Stony Brook and UConn are very similar in a lot of respects, including class size, 425 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:13,360 including integration with some medical students and medical classes. 426 00:28:13,360 --> 00:28:21,680 I think UConn's pass bail curriculum and the non-ranked aspect were two big things. 427 00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:25,480 What's the class size for your class? 428 00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:27,480 My class is 50. 429 00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:31,560 You mentioned the pass-fail thing. 430 00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:33,040 How have you seen that? 431 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:36,240 I don't know if you have any friends at any other day-to-day schools, but how have you 432 00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:40,240 seen that alleviate some of the stress that comes with the information coming in at you 433 00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:42,440 to high rates and stuff like that? 434 00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:43,440 Yes. 435 00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:47,680 I guess there's a couple aspects of the curriculum that I can appreciate. 436 00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:53,280 Number one is that our medical curriculum, which we're still in the midst of, but we're 437 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:59,080 almost done with, is broken up into blocks, which essentially function as semesters in 438 00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:01,720 which we have a big final exam. 439 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:09,280 Throughout the block, we don't have a lot of exams or quizzes in between. 440 00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:13,320 That means that the first half of each block is usually pretty low stress. 441 00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:17,280 You're trying to get through the material, but you're also taking time for yourself, 442 00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:18,960 taking time for social events. 443 00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:26,760 Then the later weeks in the block, you really start to hunker down and study over the weekends 444 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:29,280 and start studying more often. 445 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:33,800 I would say I like that about the curriculum because it gives us a lot of free time comparatively 446 00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:35,400 in the first half of each block. 447 00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:41,560 I know a lot of schools have staggered curriculum where you'll have one class that ends maybe 448 00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:45,200 the first week of the month, but then you have another class that drags on. 449 00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:47,640 You might have finals throughout the month. 450 00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:49,640 That's not how it is at UConn. 451 00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:53,000 That's something that I like about UConn a lot. 452 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:59,360 In general, the pass-fail aspect, I think it's a good amount of the stress because you're 453 00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:06,200 not staying late knowing that if you don't get maybe 100 on this next exam, that you 454 00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:10,040 won't be top of the class anymore or that you won't be as competitive or something 455 00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:11,680 like that. 456 00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:16,640 It's all about knowing as much as you can, but learning to take care of yourself at the 457 00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:18,240 same time in the process. 458 00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:19,240 Right. 459 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:21,800 How did you feel going into your D1 year? 460 00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:24,560 I know this was a year back, but what were those feelings? 461 00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:25,560 Were you anxious a little bit? 462 00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:26,560 Were you excited? 463 00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:28,560 Was it a mix of everything? 464 00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:33,920 It was a year ago and it's been a pretty long year given dental school and all of the classes 465 00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:38,720 we've had, but it's not hard for me to put myself in those shoes again because I've been 466 00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:42,400 a little involved in the orientation process here. 467 00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:45,360 It's exciting seeing your D1s in the building. 468 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:54,920 I would say that I was very excited, also a little bit anxious, but in hindsight, I didn't 469 00:30:54,920 --> 00:30:57,200 really know what was going to hit me. 470 00:30:57,200 --> 00:31:02,760 I did pretty well throughout undergrad, but the sheer volume of information that we have 471 00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:07,720 to cover in dental school is a lot and you'll get that probably at any dental school in 472 00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:13,320 the country, but it was something that took some time to adapt to and I guess I wasn't 473 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:18,240 fully ready for, but I don't think anyone really is ready for it when they go in. 474 00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:23,720 It's just something about learning how to function and how to study given the amount 475 00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:25,880 of stuff that you're doing. 476 00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:30,200 So how did you learn to manage your time when you got to dental school? 477 00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:35,160 I know undergrad, even right now, I have classes, but I still have a lot of free time to do 478 00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:36,400 things. 479 00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:40,480 So I guess time management isn't as crucial undergrad as it seems to be in dental school, 480 00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:43,200 so what are some tips that you have for there? 481 00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:48,920 Yeah, so time management was difficult to get a hold of in the beginning of my year. 482 00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:53,440 I guess I tried a lot of different study techniques and a lot of students do when they go into 483 00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:55,720 dental or medical school. 484 00:31:55,720 --> 00:31:58,920 I tried different techniques to see what worked best for me. 485 00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:05,080 So for some classes, I do use Anki cards and Anki decks on my laptop and for other classes, 486 00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:09,160 maybe I'll look at a study guide made by an upperclassman and still for other classes, 487 00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:11,040 maybe I'll watch the prerecorded lecture. 488 00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:15,840 So it really depends on what kind of information I'm looking at and in terms of when I'm going 489 00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:20,640 through a lot of information in a short amount of time, such as when I'm reviewing for my 490 00:32:20,640 --> 00:32:26,240 finals, I personally find that it works really well for me to stay with a group of friends 491 00:32:26,240 --> 00:32:33,600 and talk through different objectives and ideas in a short amount of time. 492 00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:37,960 It's something that keeps me on track personally and also something that makes it more bearable 493 00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:41,560 for me as opposed to just sitting down and reading a textbook. 494 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:46,720 I like the face-to-face interaction of teaching someone else something and having them teach 495 00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:48,320 you it back. 496 00:32:48,320 --> 00:32:52,240 And I think that helps me cement a lot of the ideas in my head. 497 00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:53,240 Right. 498 00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:54,240 No, definitely. 499 00:32:54,240 --> 00:32:57,800 I think even as an undergrad, I guess you can use a TA position as an example. 500 00:32:57,800 --> 00:33:02,440 You've gone through the entire course, now you get to teach to somebody else and learn 501 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:03,440 it better. 502 00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:07,440 So I guess that kind of skill would transcend dental school where you're talking with your 503 00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:11,920 classmates about a certain subject and you can bounce off each other and kind of just 504 00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:13,880 learn that way. 505 00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:18,560 So can you just tap into a little bit of how the daily schedule was as D1? 506 00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:19,720 How was the curriculum like? 507 00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:23,160 Was it kind of like oriented towards medicine a little bit? 508 00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:26,040 Because I know some dental scores don't like that where their first year is integrated with 509 00:33:26,040 --> 00:33:27,040 the med school. 510 00:33:27,040 --> 00:33:30,280 So if you want to elaborate a little bit, how was? 511 00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:32,520 Yeah, definitely. 512 00:33:32,520 --> 00:33:37,520 So that also leads me into something that makes UConn really unique amongst a lot of 513 00:33:37,520 --> 00:33:43,200 medical and dental schools is that we have a heavy focus on team-based learning and flipped 514 00:33:43,200 --> 00:33:50,200 classroom style learning, which essentially means most of our classes were given a syllabus 515 00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:55,640 beforehand that has links to different lecture videos and different resources that we have 516 00:33:55,640 --> 00:34:02,480 access to that have the bulk of the information we need in the course for each time we need. 517 00:34:02,480 --> 00:34:08,960 And then in class, most classes test us on our knowledge and ability to take that information 518 00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:14,360 we already reviewed alone or with friends and put it into practice. 519 00:34:14,360 --> 00:34:19,600 So it's very different from a lot of dental schools, at least for the first year and a 520 00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:20,600 half. 521 00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:26,160 Because for the first year and the second year up until Thanksgiving, we're very integrated 522 00:34:26,160 --> 00:34:31,440 with the med school and we have medical students in most of our classes. 523 00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:40,600 So a typical day, I guess, in the life of a D1 is maybe one or two classes for between 524 00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:43,200 an hour and a half and two hours at a time. 525 00:34:43,200 --> 00:34:47,800 And then you go home and prepare for the next class for most of the rest of the workday, 526 00:34:47,800 --> 00:34:49,600 I would say. 527 00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:54,920 So a lot of my time was spent in classrooms with just my peers, with other friends talking 528 00:34:54,920 --> 00:35:00,200 through what we're going to do tomorrow in class or just watching videos and doing on 529 00:35:00,200 --> 00:35:01,360 computer. 530 00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:09,760 So it's very different, but I would say the curriculum does help you cement a lot of things 531 00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:13,680 in your head, maybe better than if you were just sitting there being lectured to most 532 00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:14,680 of the day. 533 00:35:14,680 --> 00:35:16,640 Yeah, so you talked about the flipped classroom setting. 534 00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:18,720 I'm actually one of those classes now. 535 00:35:18,720 --> 00:35:23,920 I've actually never had one of those classes and I think it's a really good way to kind 536 00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:28,040 of get to know your classmates and also just you kind of learn the material better just 537 00:35:28,040 --> 00:35:34,240 because you're the one that's the formula, the thought process and actually speaking 538 00:35:34,240 --> 00:35:36,480 about it, which is really important. 539 00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:43,840 So it seems like most of D1 year is kind of just learning and things like that. 540 00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:47,200 Do you know when you guys are going to just hand pieces and just kind of get to the more 541 00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:48,600 clinical side of it? 542 00:35:48,600 --> 00:35:54,640 Yeah, so we started in free clinic in the spring of our first year where we started 543 00:35:54,640 --> 00:35:59,880 with dental morphology and making wax up some teeth and then we end up drilling and filling 544 00:35:59,880 --> 00:36:02,120 on typhoidonts. 545 00:36:02,120 --> 00:36:06,360 And then spring of our second year is when we start having our own patients in clinic 546 00:36:06,360 --> 00:36:09,320 and doing cleanings and all of that fun stuff. 547 00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:15,400 So we do start preclinical in the second half of our first year and as do a lot of other 548 00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:19,560 dental schools who have a similar integration with medical schools. 549 00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:24,520 And that may be a little late for other dental schools, but it's what works for our school. 550 00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:25,520 Nice. 551 00:36:25,520 --> 00:36:30,520 So what are you, I know your semester must have just started, right? 552 00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:32,480 So we're actually back next week. 553 00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:33,480 Next week? 554 00:36:33,480 --> 00:36:34,480 Okay. 555 00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:38,120 So like what are your goals and what are you guys like planning on doing this year if you 556 00:36:38,120 --> 00:36:39,120 guys know? 557 00:36:39,120 --> 00:36:45,800 Yeah, so we are finishing with the medical curriculum almost entirely by Thanksgiving. 558 00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:51,400 And at the same time, we have a couple dental classes throughout the fall, including our 559 00:36:51,400 --> 00:36:56,520 second restorative dentistry class, where we'll be doing other types of drillings and 560 00:36:56,520 --> 00:36:57,520 fillings. 561 00:36:57,520 --> 00:37:04,000 And after that, we're mostly in dental classes every day. 562 00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:06,520 And for those, a lot of them are not flip classrooms. 563 00:37:06,520 --> 00:37:11,880 So there'll be a little more traditional style classroom settings where we come in from like 564 00:37:11,880 --> 00:37:16,320 eight to 12 and we have a lecture. 565 00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:20,080 And then after that, as I mentioned, in the spring, we get to start working on patients, 566 00:37:20,080 --> 00:37:22,200 which is right around the corner. 567 00:37:22,200 --> 00:37:23,200 Right. 568 00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:27,640 Are you a little nervous towards working on a patient in terms, in a, as opposed to like 569 00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:29,280 a mannequin or something like that? 570 00:37:29,280 --> 00:37:31,440 I would say I'm really excited. 571 00:37:31,440 --> 00:37:36,000 One of my favorite aspects of dentistry is human interaction. 572 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:40,760 So I really liked meeting and talking to patients when I was shadowing and working in a dental 573 00:37:40,760 --> 00:37:42,000 office. 574 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:46,800 And I'm really looking forward to doing that again and trying to hone in my hand skills 575 00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:49,040 before that. 576 00:37:49,040 --> 00:37:53,680 I think like one thing you might experience is like how, you know, I think Dr. Diana Kim 577 00:37:53,680 --> 00:37:57,080 from Sonia Burke, she's in residency right now at Sonia Burke University at the dental 578 00:37:57,080 --> 00:37:58,080 school. 579 00:37:58,080 --> 00:38:04,320 And she, one thing she said was like a restoration on a mannequin. 580 00:38:04,320 --> 00:38:07,080 They teach you how to do it one way, but then like when you actually get into like a patient's 581 00:38:07,080 --> 00:38:09,840 mouth, it's not going to be the same. 582 00:38:09,840 --> 00:38:13,680 And she was like, the way to learn is through failing. 583 00:38:13,680 --> 00:38:16,560 And like the more you fail, the better you'll be. 584 00:38:16,560 --> 00:38:20,720 And she said that in some instances she hasn't, she felt like she hadn't failed enough in 585 00:38:20,720 --> 00:38:21,960 dental school. 586 00:38:21,960 --> 00:38:26,320 So that when she actually got to, you know, actual patients, she needs to rely on other 587 00:38:26,320 --> 00:38:30,880 coworkers and kind of collaborate and try to figure out how to get around these obstacles. 588 00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:34,440 So I don't know, that might be something you might have to face in the future. 589 00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:39,080 So I guess fail as much as you can while you're in dental school right now. 590 00:38:39,080 --> 00:38:44,200 Yeah, I definitely feel like that's already true in the preclinical stuff in general, 591 00:38:44,200 --> 00:38:48,120 but that's something I look forward to. 592 00:38:48,120 --> 00:38:49,760 So I kind of want to go back a little bit again. 593 00:38:49,760 --> 00:38:54,360 So what was your biggest obstacle during undergrad and what kind of mindset do you feel like 594 00:38:54,360 --> 00:38:59,640 pre-dental should start developing as they go through this whole process? 595 00:38:59,640 --> 00:39:07,480 I would say one obstacle that I faced in undergrad was feeling like I wasn't doing enough. 596 00:39:07,480 --> 00:39:11,320 It can be pretty intimidating when you see other applicants around you or even just 597 00:39:11,320 --> 00:39:16,200 friends who are really into different clubs and different publications and maybe they're 598 00:39:16,200 --> 00:39:18,080 already working in a lab. 599 00:39:18,080 --> 00:39:20,640 I think that can be scary. 600 00:39:20,640 --> 00:39:25,760 And that is something that I would advise people not to worry about too much. 601 00:39:25,760 --> 00:39:29,840 And instead, definitely take opportunities when they're available to you and when you 602 00:39:29,840 --> 00:39:34,560 can handle them and make sure it's something that you can invest your time in. 603 00:39:34,560 --> 00:39:38,400 And if it's something that just maybe you're not getting out of it, what you think you 604 00:39:38,400 --> 00:39:42,680 could, move on to something else and see if that's something that you're passionate about. 605 00:39:42,680 --> 00:39:47,880 So I would say, yeah, just don't get bogged down in the details. 606 00:39:47,880 --> 00:39:52,360 Just keep an open mind and do your best in the things that you like. 607 00:39:52,360 --> 00:39:53,360 Right. 608 00:39:53,360 --> 00:39:55,640 And I think a lot of times even personally, I feel like if I'm just sitting around or 609 00:39:55,640 --> 00:40:00,200 something and just relaxing, I feel like I'm not doing anything in that moment to get me 610 00:40:00,200 --> 00:40:04,720 closer to applying to dental school, which can be like a bad thing to think to have in 611 00:40:04,720 --> 00:40:09,640 your mind because you need that time to relax and just kind of be yourself and do things 612 00:40:09,640 --> 00:40:10,640 you enjoy to do. 613 00:40:10,640 --> 00:40:14,600 So what kind of things do you like to do besides that industry? 614 00:40:14,600 --> 00:40:15,600 Yeah. 615 00:40:15,600 --> 00:40:22,160 So I would say, like I mentioned, I have a steer art minor, so I really like artwork 616 00:40:22,160 --> 00:40:25,880 and making artwork and appreciating artwork. 617 00:40:25,880 --> 00:40:29,320 So that's one thing that I like. 618 00:40:29,320 --> 00:40:32,760 I also in general am very much a people person. 619 00:40:32,760 --> 00:40:39,280 I really like going to social events and get togethers and parties and being involved 620 00:40:39,280 --> 00:40:42,200 in outreach things and volunteer events. 621 00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:46,160 So I try to keep myself busy in that way and that's because that's how I recharge. 622 00:40:46,160 --> 00:40:49,640 And that might not be how you recharge or someone else does and that's fine. 623 00:40:49,640 --> 00:40:51,680 You got to do whatever keeps you afloat. 624 00:40:51,680 --> 00:40:52,680 Right. 625 00:40:52,680 --> 00:40:53,680 So I like doing that. 626 00:40:53,680 --> 00:40:55,240 I like artworks a lot. 627 00:40:55,240 --> 00:40:57,200 I like movies and TV shows. 628 00:40:57,200 --> 00:40:59,200 I'm a really big film buff. 629 00:40:59,200 --> 00:41:05,440 So I can probably name a lot of random useless facts about movies. 630 00:41:05,440 --> 00:41:08,880 And I also just like to play video games and whatnot. 631 00:41:08,880 --> 00:41:10,680 So there's a lot. 632 00:41:10,680 --> 00:41:12,120 So one last question about you, Con. 633 00:41:12,120 --> 00:41:15,280 How was the environment over there? 634 00:41:15,280 --> 00:41:16,360 How are people like? 635 00:41:16,360 --> 00:41:18,080 How is living there? 636 00:41:18,080 --> 00:41:20,560 How is the entire experience of moving to Connecticut? 637 00:41:20,560 --> 00:41:21,560 Yeah. 638 00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:26,600 So it was a big change for me because I lived on Long Island all my life and I commuted to 639 00:41:26,600 --> 00:41:27,800 Stony Brook. 640 00:41:27,800 --> 00:41:29,360 So it was really different. 641 00:41:29,360 --> 00:41:34,960 And at first I would say I was definitely nervous about being in a new environment and not knowing 642 00:41:34,960 --> 00:41:39,200 anyone and starting this new rigorous program. 643 00:41:39,200 --> 00:41:42,080 But I would say everyone was super welcoming. 644 00:41:42,080 --> 00:41:43,480 Everyone was so nice. 645 00:41:43,480 --> 00:41:46,840 My classmates are all amazing. 646 00:41:46,840 --> 00:41:50,280 I think that's one of the strongest things about our school is the applicants that they 647 00:41:50,280 --> 00:41:51,280 pick. 648 00:41:51,280 --> 00:41:54,080 A lot of them are now some of my best friends. 649 00:41:54,080 --> 00:41:58,720 And that's something that I really cherish and I feel like I'm lucky to be a part of 650 00:41:58,720 --> 00:42:00,120 here at UConn. 651 00:42:00,120 --> 00:42:01,640 So I'm happy to be here. 652 00:42:01,640 --> 00:42:07,720 A lot of my dental faculty in particular are wonderful and will take the time to explain 653 00:42:07,720 --> 00:42:12,400 things to you and are very approachable in their off hours. 654 00:42:12,400 --> 00:42:16,840 So I would say my experience has been great. 655 00:42:16,840 --> 00:42:19,320 So what are your future goals now from here? 656 00:42:19,320 --> 00:42:21,280 What do you think you're going to be in a couple of years? 657 00:42:21,280 --> 00:42:27,520 In terms of specialization or like, you know, where do you see yourself going from here? 658 00:42:27,520 --> 00:42:28,520 Yeah. 659 00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:33,320 So in second year, I'm hoping to do a lot more shadowing of different specialties because 660 00:42:33,320 --> 00:42:37,840 that's something I really want to be exposed to before I start gearing towards one specific 661 00:42:37,840 --> 00:42:38,840 specialty. 662 00:42:38,840 --> 00:42:40,680 So I'm keeping an open mind. 663 00:42:40,680 --> 00:42:43,360 I'm really interested in general dentistry. 664 00:42:43,360 --> 00:42:48,400 And that may be because I was around a couple of general dentists when I was shadowing. 665 00:42:48,400 --> 00:42:56,280 So I'm interested in that, but I'm also interested in perio and endo and pediatric just because 666 00:42:56,280 --> 00:42:57,960 I think that would be really fun. 667 00:42:57,960 --> 00:43:02,880 So I'm keeping an open mind and I'm going to try to find out what I like most. 668 00:43:02,880 --> 00:43:03,880 Sounds good. 669 00:43:03,880 --> 00:43:06,320 It's good to hear that even someone who's already in dental school still has things to 670 00:43:06,320 --> 00:43:09,880 do and just kind of working towards the other part of your life. 671 00:43:09,880 --> 00:43:10,880 That's really exciting. 672 00:43:10,880 --> 00:43:11,880 I'm happy for you. 673 00:43:11,880 --> 00:43:15,720 So wrapping up here, how can pre-templates reach out to you for any further advice or 674 00:43:15,720 --> 00:43:18,000 questions? 675 00:43:18,000 --> 00:43:23,280 So you can feel free to reach out to me at my email, which is just my name, David Cruz 676 00:43:23,280 --> 00:43:27,440 Adi at gmail.com. 677 00:43:27,440 --> 00:43:29,600 And I'm available on Facebook. 678 00:43:29,600 --> 00:43:35,200 I'm on Instagram, which is also just my name with a period in the middle. 679 00:43:35,200 --> 00:43:39,000 And I'm always open to giving advice or talking to people. 680 00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:40,000 All right. 681 00:43:40,000 --> 00:43:41,320 So that sounds good. 682 00:43:41,320 --> 00:43:43,720 So that concludes our episode of the Delsa Dental Podcast. 683 00:43:43,720 --> 00:43:46,800 Thank you, David, for joining me and sharing your experiences with D1. 684 00:43:46,800 --> 00:43:49,520 Your insight was definitely very valuable, and I hope our pre-dental listeners will feel 685 00:43:49,520 --> 00:43:50,520 the same. 686 00:43:50,520 --> 00:43:53,080 Everyone, please feel free to reach out to David at his socials if you have any further 687 00:43:53,080 --> 00:43:54,080 questions. 688 00:43:54,080 --> 00:43:55,080 And lastly, I thank everyone for listening. 689 00:43:55,080 --> 00:43:58,080 And if you enjoyed today's episode, please be sure to follow us on Instagram and Spotify. 690 00:43:58,080 --> 00:44:21,680 In all platforms, we will see you next time for another Delsa Dental.