Spring Semester: The Start of Something New

Been back for a little less than a week, and things are already in full swing. This semester's schedule is MUCH easier than last, since nothing can really compare to the workload of Gross. Here's a look at the start:

Integrated Dental Practice will be added Mondays and Fridays from 1-4PM on the 31st and a couple other changes will happen as well. For now things are totally manageable and it seems like there's a general sense of optimism in the class.  I'm personally a little bummed that we have absolutely no dental lab courses this semester after just starting waxing and using our handpieces last semester. I'm toying with the idea of bringing home my supplies and waxing on occasion since hand skills are vital. Nonetheless, classes are still interesting. 

Next week we have our first outreach trip for Practice, Profession and Community Dentistry. We'll be talking to middle school aged children about oral health and mentoring them later on. Buffalo was apparently the first to implement this type of program into their dental curriculum and since then a few schools have followed. Opportunities such as these are what made Buffalo so appealing. I really hope to take away new perspectives and a deeper comfort with people from this class.

Physiology is nothing spectacular, I'm thinking about it as just another biology class.  Surprisingly, much of the material we are covering in the first unit on action potentials, is material I spent hours on in Autonomous Agents, in my fourth year of Bioengineering.

Neuroanatomy, while another biology class, I find really interesting after the first lecture. The professor appears extremely knowledgable and teaches clearly and emphatically. High hopes for this one. Microbio, another bio class also is great thus far. Great professor, interesting material, also should be good. 

The much feared Occlusion class being one of the few actual dental classes we have this semester has gotten off to a good start. I can definitely see spending a ton of time memorizing definitions. Not sure how a class this important could end up getting only one credit hour. 

Oral Radiology, another important class also potentially could be somewhat time consuming, not only material wise but due to the interest level. I'm hoping we go into so much depth that we really are competent radiograph readers by the end of the semester.

I think the most anticipated class for me this semester will be Integrated dental practice, where we'll be assisting third year students in the clinic. This is another new implementation for Buffalo so hopefully all goes well and it sticks for the future.