What Is Dental School Like?

Q: my older brother wants to go to dental school. he already has a M.S. in another subject and most of the pre-reqs done with an A average. however he is of the opinion that the first 2 years of dental school are about 25 hours a week of class, and about 20 hours a week of studying. it was my understanding that it was closer to 40 hours of school and 40 of studying per week on average, the same workload as medical school. Is he right or am i right or what?

A:The school time is closer to 40 hours a week...split between classes and lab work. The studying part depends on your own needs. When I was in school there were some people who spent every night in the library...while others spent little time studying. I worked a lot, especially my first two years, to pay the bills, so I didn't have time for 40 hours studying. If your brother was the type who studied a ton in his prior education, dental school will be the same. Things may have changed a bit since I finished, but probably not too much. Dental health-related material is provided for information purposes only and does not necessarily represent endorsement by or an official position of the SciMedDentistry gang or any other official agency either actual or fictitious or Steve Mancuso. Advice on the treatment or care of an individual patient should be obtained through consultation with a dentist who has examined that patient or is familiar with that patient's dental history. I have class from 9-4:30 most days, with an hour for lunch. Some people then go straight to the library and stay until it closes at 11 while others go home and do nothing for the rest of the day. I find that studying 2-5 hours/day after school works well, but I never really studied all that much in undergrad--all in all, I'd say the amount of time spent studying depends on your brothers studying style.

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