Very Dental Student: Mohamed Starts D3!

[00:00:01] This is a production of The Very Dental Podcast Network It's time for a very dental podcast just for students and new dentists Welcome to The Very Dental Student Podcast and now here's your host Mohamed Aboubasha

[00:00:20] Hello everybody. Welcome to another episode of The Very Dental Student Podcast. I'm your host Mohamed Aboubasha today I am coming at you live by myself This is my first time coming at you guys Officially as a third year dental student, so I started in my semester about

[00:00:40] Two weeks ago. So yeah, we've had two full weeks now of the summer semester of my third year And it has been definitely a blast definitely a lot better than Second year for sure. So Yeah, so we're gonna do a little bit of a check-in

[00:00:57] I'll give you guys a little bit of an update as far as like what my summer looks like What my schedule looks like what I've been doing in the clinic and then I also have a few

[00:01:08] Q&A that have been coming into my mailbox or into my inbox on Messenger, so we're just gonna go through some of the Q&A that I've gotten from some of the listeners. So

[00:01:20] Starting off. We'll go ahead and give you guys just an update of what my summer semester looks like So what's really nice about my summer semester is we have five clinic sessions

[00:01:31] So that'll be I mean that'll be the case for all of my third year is that we'll have I'll have five clinic sessions So in second year, we had two clinic sessions

[00:01:42] But now as a third year, we have five clinic sessions. So basically half of the week. We're in clinic So there's a morning and an afternoon session. That's how it works at my school every day there's morning and afternoon and

[00:01:56] basically, so half of those possible time slots are occupied by clinic and then we have I believe six Didactic courses. Yeah, there's six of them. So But a lot of them are shorter like kind of like one credit or even half credit classes

[00:02:15] I think so it's not a whole lot and It's definitely the difficulty In terms of those classes is definitely way less than You know just compared to what we were doing during second year, they're still really good. I mean like there's still a

[00:02:32] Lot of thinking and a few of those classes and we'll kind of get into that So to start off we start off our week every Monday morning With perio, this is our second Perio class we had an adult pro fee class

[00:02:48] And then we had perio one and then this is perio two so that's a pretty standard class, you know we just really cover the chapters from the textbook and You know, it's just perio like that's that's really all you can you can say about it

[00:03:04] You just got to know the different processes the different diagnostic criteria Whatever for for whether it's you know, gingivitis or periodontitis and which stage which grade? What's the difference between chronic versus like for example a nug a nub those kind of things

[00:03:24] So that's that's kind of what we're going over in in perio and then on Monday, that's a one-hour course Monday morning And then we have two clinic sessions on Monday and then on Tuesday We have a treatment put treatment planning class

[00:03:41] Which I actually really enjoy the concepts of this class So it's basically More of a conversational course We don't take exams. We do have one kind of like Essay, I guess you could call it an essay. It's it's more of like a case report. So

[00:04:01] During one of our workups this summer That we're doing in the clinics You know any new patient that comes to us whether it's a transfer from a graduated senior or whether it's a brand new patient We're gonna take a series of photos with a DSLR camera and

[00:04:19] We're also gonna combine that with whatever other Diagnostic, you know things we've done whether it be x-rays pano all of our We're gonna include information from our perio chart things like that. And then we're gonna basically go over

[00:04:39] The whole everything that we found all the findings and we're supposed to present like an ideal treatment plan and Well, then we might choose to present a more realistic treatment plan if the ideal treatment plan is like for example Oh, we're gonna do lateral ridge augmentation

[00:04:59] And we're gonna do like seven implants and then we're gonna do like that could be the ideal But then we can also provide the more realistic treatment plan that we might actually do being like, okay a couple crowns

[00:05:12] Some SRP maybe a partial that kind of stuff. So that's a I really enjoy the concepts of that class It's taught by one of my favorite faculty at the school so he does a really good job of kind of cutting out all the BS and

[00:05:28] Making it very practical for us. So I've really enjoyed that course so far And then on Wednesdays Wednesdays we have class all day, so we have immediate dentures in the morning and I mean, that's exactly what it sounds like basically learn all the processes for

[00:05:47] For an immediate denture all the different appointments, you know it being like it being taught at a school It's definitely a very I would say Maybe a very There's a lot of work that goes into the immediate denture process at our school

[00:06:07] A lot of appointments. It's not just Alginate impressions send it to the lab. That's not what that's not what they're teaching us However, they did mention that that is a possible like that is one possible thing you could do with immediate dentures

[00:06:22] But that's just not they're teaching us kind of the more textbook Way that's supposedly supposed to give you a better fit for that immediate denture and then We're doing like kind of like a review of pharmacology. It's more of like a clinical pharmacology course

[00:06:37] So it's not so much memorizing drugs and Like being able to like list off, you know Whatever what class drug they are what it's not that's not what it is Okay If we give you this information about this patient and we tell you what they can't have

[00:06:57] Can you write a prescription for what they should be having something like that? Like that's one of one of our assignments that was actually do This morning was we just had to call in a

[00:07:08] Prescription on the phone and it was like a she basically gave us the parameters For like her prescription and then she gave us like a prescription for her And then she basically gave us the parameters for like what kind of prescription it would be

[00:07:23] And then you just had to use Lexi drug, which is an online Kind of it's like a search engine designed for clinicians to find the correct dosage and stuff So we just find the correct dosage find how we want to give it and then call in the prescription

[00:07:38] Like that's that's the kind of stuff that we're doing in that course, which Yeah, that course is definitely very practical I don't have too much against that class It does seem like the exams might be a little difficult

[00:07:53] But we should know most of it since we did take pharmacology back in the fall. So that's that's a That's also on Wednesdays and then our third class on Wednesdays is end. Oh, this is our second end. Oh course so it's end oh two and

[00:08:08] This we're not taking a lab portion with end. Oh, it's just lecture basically so So it's like we're just reviewing the diagnose the diagnostic process for end. Oh Reviewing some other aspects of things but we're we're completely done with the preclinical portion of end

[00:08:27] Oh, we've already taken our preclinical competency and stuff. This is just kind of You know just reviewing the theory and that kind of stuff and then on Thursday mornings we have We have a course called digital dentistry to Digital dentistry one. We just learned how to scan basically

[00:08:47] We scanned on each other. We scanned on type it on digital dentistry two is We're doing crown preps and then scanning them and they're also going to teach us I think how to do on lay preps during this course so

[00:09:02] So far we've had two weeks of that class Both times it's been we get 45 minutes to do a crown prep And then they scan it or we scan it actually then we go upstairs

[00:09:14] into a different room and scan it and then we blow it up on like, you know 20 X and then Basically, we just get to scrutinize our preps Definitely They are being very Particular on what constitutes a passing prep that's that's I can say that for sure

[00:09:36] so a lot of people have had to Redo or touch up their preps like basically in that course. It's a situation where not everybody's passing the first time On their preps which makes sense because up until now we've been given a lot more time

[00:09:52] To do prep it to do our preps and now we're doing them in 45 minutes And we're putting them up on a scanner and seeing them 20 X so it doesn't make sense that You know, it's a little bit of a learning curve

[00:10:05] But I think that's I don't know kind of have mixed feelings about that class because it's very stressful while we're there because of the time crunch and because of we know that the kind of

[00:10:16] The scrutiny that they're looking at our preps with like a very high level of scrutiny However, I do feel like it's probably the most practical course We've had in all of dental schools like okay prep the tooth prep it fast

[00:10:31] Make it look smooth smooth enough to where you can scan it and it will be easily scannable The finish line will be very easy to differentiate And we've we're drawing our own finish lines. We're using prime scans Which is awesome that our school has that available for us

[00:10:50] So, yeah, I've All in all I definitely enjoy the course for sure And I think that's probably gonna be the highlight of the summer and then of course we have clinic so in clinic we're doing We're still doing workups still doing hygiene

[00:11:08] And we're still doing fillings. Of course, though. We've been doing that for most of second year but then also Coming up pretty soon We'll be able to do endo We're also doing we're already doing removable on patients if you have patients that need removable and

[00:11:29] Fixed we'll be able to do a very soon Once we once we pass the clinical competency that is part of our digital dentistry course, then we'll be able to do fixed So yeah, it's been It's been awesome being in clinic, you know five times a week

[00:11:46] Seeing more than one or two patients a week has been really cool and you know, you finally feel like they've kind of They kind of expect us to know what's going on. So As a second year if you had a workup

[00:12:00] They would really hold your hand for the diagnosis and they obviously still make sure that we do everything correctly Because we are still doing everything under faculty license, of course, but now it's more like okay They kind of just let us

[00:12:15] Be the quarterback and we kind of just got to do all of the work and then they're just doing like a verification at the end Which is a little bit of a change of pace

[00:12:25] but I think it's been cool been able to exercise that that treatment planning muscle and Yeah, I just can't wait to So I mean so far. I haven't gotten the opportunity to Do any endo or fixed or removable or anything?

[00:12:42] Or any extractions, I mean we've only been in the summer for a couple years but or a couple weeks but I'm very excited to turn that corner and I'm probably most excited for

[00:12:55] Our first oral surgery rotation so that I can start pulling out some teeth. I've been watching a lot of videos on extractions There's one guy on YouTube. Dr. Balboos. I think I'm definitely butchered his name, but he's a Libyan oral surgeon practicing out of the United Kingdom and

[00:13:18] He is I've been watching a lot of his extraction videos and they're amazing also watching a lot of YouTube videos posted by like jazz bloody from protrusive dental and Just some other great clinicians that post stuff on YouTube on just extraction sectioning troughing

[00:13:38] Surgical extractions wisdom teeth all of that stuff. So I've definitely This is one area that I've had a lot of angst I've been really anxious to get in there and start doing it because you know my first job in

[00:13:55] The whenever in the dental fields kind of was when I was an undergrad and I was an oral surgery assistant so since then I've been itching to You know just start start doing it, you know, I got to watch a lot of really cool surgeries

[00:14:10] Assisting that oral surgeon and I'm very excited that I believe come this fall We should get started on on pulling some teeth and doing extractions and stuff So more of that definitely. I'll definitely do another update once I've gotten to do my first couple crown preps

[00:14:28] Hopefully my first endo coming up I Might have a patient that needs endo. So we'll see if that if that works out And if so, I would be very excited to get started doing endo

[00:14:43] Like it would be very lucky for me to start doing endo this early in third year A lot of people don't really get to even start and don't till fourth year. So we'll see how

[00:14:54] How everything plays out and I'll definitely give you guys updates as that kind of comes. So For the second part of this episode Like I mentioned there's been some questions that I've been getting On Facebook messenger, which is a great way to reach out to me

[00:15:10] If you guys ever have any questions or if you even want to be a guest on the pod Just reach out to me at Mohammed Abu Basha on Facebook or if you just wanna

[00:15:22] If you're just wondering about a guest that I've had on and you just want want me to maybe put you in touch with them Or something that's a great way to reach out for as well. So the first question I got is that

[00:15:36] They say you mentioned on your podcast that you had to reapply to get into dental school What did you do differently the second time? and they say I've been waitlisted and I'm wondering what to improve on So yeah, this is a great question so honestly

[00:15:56] It can feel sometimes that the dental school admission process can feel very arbitrary sometimes and I'll say it frankly like sometimes people get in that shouldn't get in and everybody knows somebody in their class or somebody who's maybe no longer in their class and

[00:16:20] Sometimes people slip through the cracks of the admissions process and I'm pretty confident that that happens at every school So it is inherently flawed any schools admissions processes And that's just something you kind of have to deal with

[00:16:35] You know, like I believe strongly that I should have gotten into the into dental school the first time I had a 4.0 GPA. I had 90th percentile score on the DAT There was really no reason for me not to get accepted

[00:16:53] But I didn't which is fine that happens sometimes For whatever reason, you know, you can't complain can't blame anybody You just gotta what you got to do though is make sure you show improvement Even if you should have gotten in the first time and you truly believe that

[00:17:09] You still have to do something to improve to show continued interest and continued dedication So what I did was I worked full-time as a dental assistant for a whole year and I also

[00:17:26] Went to a couple, you know, I went to a couple dental conferences. I went to the Voices of Dentistry that's where I met Alan and you know, I don't regret anything that happened during my gap year because

[00:17:40] Maybe if I got in I would have never gone to any of the conferences I would have never found out who Alan Mead was. I never would have started listening to podcasts I wouldn't be podcasting now, that's for sure. So

[00:17:54] Just use that gap year to get ahead. You know if you assist a very good Dentist if you find a very good clinical dentist to assist and you assist them full-time for a year I think you'll be Years ahead of your classmates

[00:18:14] Like your understanding of dentistry will be two to three years ahead of the average dental student And I think it's invaluable. So that's definitely the number one thing I would recommend Is try to find a full-time job as a dental assistant at a good office

[00:18:32] The second thing I would recommend is, you know, go to go to CE's go to conferences You know get out there meet people You never know who you'll meet maybe somebody

[00:18:44] Maybe somebody you'll meet somebody that can write you a letter of rec. Maybe you'll meet somebody who eventually you'll work for one day And you will also learn things and make very valuable connections doing that

[00:18:56] So that would be my advice for anybody who has to reapply and then obviously if there's something Academically that you're lacking fix that so if your DAT is bad Fix that retake it. That's I mean, I feel like that goes without saying

[00:19:13] So yeah, that's that's my answer for that The second question is what has been the hardest part of dental school so far? Well, that's an interesting question by hardest part I'm gonna answer this kind of two ways

[00:19:30] I'm gonna answer this kind of two ways. So the hardest part of dental school has definitely been like the constant frustration of Things being feeling like things are set up in a way That's maybe not the most Efficient maybe not the most Learning friendly environment

[00:19:53] That's been the the hardest part of dentistry or dental school is just like feeling like things are not set up for your success but for your success and Of course, you know the faculty and the administration in the school

[00:20:06] Wants to set things up for your success, but there's so many factors that go in that go into it that sometimes it really does feel like You know that you're you basically have to You pull you have to pull off a miracle in order to

[00:20:23] Kind of make it through whatever time you're going through especially during second year like during second year It did a couple times. You just felt like man everything Everything and everyone is just out to destroy us like that like that's that's really how it felt sometimes but

[00:20:42] But I don't know like most everybody makes it through and Do just fine So it's kind of an opportunity for you to to prove to yourself how resilient you are I would say so that's been the hardest part of dental school

[00:20:57] But if you were asking like a specific if what you meant to ask was like what was the hardest class? Or what was the hardest semester or something? My I would say the hardest class was oral pathology

[00:21:10] For us we did all of oral pathology in one semester. I don't know if that's The norm it probably is the norm Nationwide, but we did all of oral pathology in one semester. We met for four hours a week We had a quiz

[00:21:27] Every single session unless we had a test So and the quizzes would be over It would be half over what we just covered and half over what we're about to cover So we have to always constantly be reading ahead

[00:21:41] And there's just like a lot of material in oral pathology and that's like that class is like From what from my understanding that class basically is everything that's on boards. So like It's one class That you take in one semester and that just so happens to be like

[00:22:03] 80% of what you see on boards, so it's a big class. It's a very important class and I would say that that was definitely the hardest class that we've we've done in dental school and

[00:22:16] Making that the hardest semester of dental school as well. So for me that was spring spring of second year The hardest most tiring semester of dental school for sure. I was just I was tired like every day, you know

[00:22:31] So yeah, that's a that's my answer to that question What has been your favorite class? Okay favorite class Definitely operative one was up there just First time picking up a handpiece cutting some class one preparations on the bench top

[00:22:49] and then eventually eventually getting into doing class twos and threes and Getting in the simulator and stuff. That was a very fun class and Then also for me fixed and the digital class that we're taking right now those three would be

[00:23:08] Definitely my favorite classes so far in dental school, so, you know, there's a common theme there. It's all preclinical stuff honing our hand skills that has been by far the like the

[00:23:23] Those have been the best experiences and all of the classes in dental school is the preclinical hands-on stuff for sure Yep, and then another question is what has been your favorite memory that you've made in clinic? dental school So my favorite my favorite moment, I guess and

[00:23:46] That I have a couple so I'll go with my first one was I was seeing a patient. I had a personal relationship with this patient So they were a personal patient, right? So

[00:23:58] They were a friend of mine or maybe they were a family member. I don't want to disclose too much because of HIPAA but Anyway, so they came and see they came and saw me in the clinic and

[00:24:12] They told me at the end of the appointment that like I Had a really calming demeanor and in the dental like in the dental kind of setting like I had really good chairside manner, I guess and

[00:24:26] They told me what with them telling me that it was not something I expected them to say Because that's not how I typically behave around them So it was just like a reassuring thing that I guess

[00:24:37] Chairside manner kind of comes naturally to me. I guess is what they were trying to tell me and That I actually felt really good that day. I remember that being like, you know, just a good day. Like I felt good about that and then

[00:24:52] my favorite my other favorite moment in clinic Actually just happened like two days ago. I was doing some class twos adjacent class twos So it was number 19 MOB and Number 20 do so they were adjacent teeth And I was drunk. I did both preps

[00:25:14] so I started with one prep had to get that checked and then Started and then I did the other prep on the adjacent tooth Got that checked and then I got to basically practice something that I'd seen on

[00:25:29] YouTube which was not how we were taught to do things in the school. So we were we have Not necessarily been taught To do two adjacent class twos at the same time We've kind of been taught to do them one at a time at school

[00:25:49] So like you prep one restore it prep the other one restore it In an indirect way that's kind of how they taught us I would say but What was really cool about this was my faculty. I had worked with this faculty several times

[00:26:05] He wanted me to go ahead and prep it since we had direct access so I prepped both and then I put two sectional matrices in and separated them with a wedge and Then I kind of built up one proximal box and then I removed that sectional matrix

[00:26:25] So that I guess the separation wouldn't be too much so that the Teeth would kind of rebound a little bit and then I built up the opposite box And then we were I was able to get really good contacts really good contours on both teeth and

[00:26:41] that was just like I Mean obviously for anybody who's a practicing dentist that might sound like a really normal thing But for for me as a third-year dental student That felt like a big accomplishment because it was like it was finally me

[00:27:00] Kind of doing something that I had learned myself And really kind of you know putting it into practice and it worked out really well and even to begin with doing two class twos in the same appointment in dental school is not necessarily the

[00:27:18] Easiest thing to do like not a lot of people Not a lot of people are Have enough of a relationship enough of a mutual trust with their faculty That the faculty would even be comfortable with them doing that much in one appointment, which

[00:27:33] Yes, definitely sounds to anybody who's not a dental student. That sounds ridiculous like but I'm sure You guys as dental school experiences Those those veteran doctors out there their dental school experiences might have been a little bit different

[00:27:49] but for us now, it's very common for like, okay you do one filling and Maybe you do two if they're both like occlusals or if they're both like little tiny class threes or class fives

[00:28:02] But doing two class twos as a third year was really kind of like not something. That's That's typical So not only being able to get that done but also to be it being able to like kind of bring in the concepts that I learned on YouTube and

[00:28:21] Just being it and seeing that they actually work Building that muscle memory Yeah, that would that was probably my favorite day In clinic and it was just a couple days ago

[00:28:32] So I'm sure I'll have plenty more favorite days in clinic to come once we start doing other stuff But as of right now I'd say that was my favorite day in clinic And then this last question

[00:28:46] What would you say are the pros and cons of an AGD slash GPR? And do you plan on doing one? Okay, so we've kind of talked about this on the show I would recommend For you to look back and listen to some of the

[00:29:06] Episodes the interviews I've done I'll list you some of them. So one of them I did with Dr. Steven Beard He did his GPR at the foundry which is a very surgical heavy GPR Another interview I've done. I've done a couple interviews with dr. Curran Virk

[00:29:27] and he did an AGD at my university at OU and I've also talked to I've definitely talked to at least one other person about the question AGD GPR So, yeah that I've talked about it before on the show and it's a very common topic among dental students

[00:29:48] so I would say that the in short answer the biggest pros if You pick the right GPR slash AGD if you pick the right one Then you will be much more confident clinically

[00:30:02] You might get more experience in that one year than you would in two or three years Working at a DSO or as an associate in private practice You will most likely if you pick the right program

[00:30:17] Come out comfortable placing implants come out comfortable doing endo which are massive So those are massive skills to have As a general dentist it gives you so much more earning potential What are the downsides? The downsides are you lose in most cases

[00:30:37] You lose a year of salary a year of income in some cases you even pay for the AGD GPR that to me is Hard to justify unless you're going to a really really really really good AGD or GPR

[00:30:54] I'm talking like it has to be one of the best 10 the 10 best 8 programs in the country for it to really be worth it in my opinion Because if you lose one year of income

[00:31:06] That's like $200,000 of opportunity that you lost. So if you went and worked for a DSO DSOs you do kind of sell your soul a little bit. They're gonna work you pretty hard

[00:31:18] You're gonna work a little bit faster than you're you're gonna be working just outside of your comfort zone The entire time you're at a DSO, they're gonna keep pushing you to do more Which if that's not your personality

[00:31:29] Then that's fine. If you're okay with that and your personality is okay with constantly being pushed to do more and Then that might be a really good environment for you to work So you might get very good and

[00:31:44] Very fast at the basics working at a DSO and if you're out of DSO for a couple years most likely You will get the opportunity to learn how to do and know at least And they might also

[00:31:59] Depending on which DSO you go to they might train you how to do implants as well for free So you will make more money most DSOs will guarantee you At least a hundred fifty thousand dollars your first year some 200 some even more so You will make money

[00:32:18] you will get fast very fast faster than you wouldn't at an AGD or GPR and Most likely you will also get exposed to more advanced procedures Now whenever we talk about the top 10% of people that are going to be working with you

[00:32:34] When we talk about the top 10% or the top 10 AGD GPRs in the country That's when it gets a little blurry because that's where you might learn how to do full arch fixed

[00:32:44] And you might learn how to do full mouth rehabs and you might learn how to do hybrids You might learn how to do wisdom teeth extractions. You might learn how to do molar endo Build up and crown in like an hour and a half

[00:32:58] I know I know some Some AGDs do say that they try and get their residents to be able to do Molar root canal buildup and crown in an hour and a half if you can do that in an hour and a half then it's

[00:33:09] Definitely worth it. You know, that's definitely something that You won't be able to do coming out of Dental school and working for a DSO for a year or two like that is definitely Some a situation where I would argue that it is worth it

[00:33:25] So that's my personal opinion and Of course, I am NOT qualified to have an opinion about this because I'm not even done with dental school So there's really no reason you should listen to me. You should you should go ask people who have done it

[00:33:39] And that's how I form my opinion as I've asked a lot of people who have and haven't done it And that's kind of the conclusion that I've came to but you should you should also reach out to any AGD GPRs

[00:33:50] any residents that you can find at those programs and Talk to them about all the pros and cons and and really weigh against also your confidence if you're the type of person who's very Realistic and you're not an overconfident person and You're very aware of your limitations

[00:34:12] Then an AGD GPR might be very good for you If you're the type of person who has a tendency to be maybe a little bit more confident than they maybe should be then you might You might be just fine kind of pushing the limits on your own

[00:34:28] As long as you're doing it responsibly, of course, but some people are more likely to be like, you know what? I'm just gonna try to push the limits on my own or with my supervising dentist, you know, wherever that might be

[00:34:41] So that's kind of a long-winded answer and I'm not sure if there's really any meat in that answer I would definitely say don't listen to me do your own research talk to people who've actually done it and And that'll give you a better idea

[00:34:56] Yep, so that's all I've had for today's episode. I have a lot of guests kind of That I'm that I'm planning to interview very soon So be on the lookout for some good interviews coming out

[00:35:12] That's been you know, it's the beginning of summer people have been on vacations and stuff but I do I do have agreements To do some interviews that are that should be pretty good ones So I would be on the lookout here in the next few weeks

[00:35:27] to see some more releases Yeah, so expect them. Usually these come out on Mondays as you probably know if you've been listening And it's usually every other Monday sometimes every third Monday if I get really busy with school, but Yep, please be on the lookout

[00:35:45] Please reach out if you have any questions or if you want to be a guest on the podcast Again, just Facebook message me Or you can email me at Mo

[00:35:56] Dot Abu basha at gmail.com. That would be another way to reach out to me. But really Facebook messenger is the best and yeah, I would love to get some of you guys out on the podcast, so Thank you guys for listening it's been a pleasure

[00:36:10] I don't know. I don't know how you guys have managed to listen to me ramble for this long but it's a It's always a pleasure and I'm looking forward to speaking to you guys soon