Future Plans

Since I already finished my required hours of 24 (26 total) this semester, I will discuss my future plans after completing this program. My original plan was to do this program to boost my GPA and improve my resume, then apply to dental school this next cycle. I will still be doing that, but I have added on some further tasks that I plan to complete before the start of this upcoming application cycle (which opens up in the summer). This last month of the semester I have scheduled myself to shadow a local dentist in the New Orleans area to increase my shadowing hours and show dental schools that I am still very interested in the art of dentistry. I will be shadowing Dr. Moffat, who is my current classmate's father (Thanks Trey!) Secondly, I have accepted an invitation to complete a 4 semester Master's in Oral Health Sciences program at Boston University's School of Dental Medicine. The track record of students getting into dental school after completion of this program is impeccable, and this gives me the chance to sit side by side with current first year dental students as I will be taking their first year Biochemistry and Physiology classes with them, along with other dental related courses. I was recommended to this program by the dentist I shadowed recently. He said that it was one of the main reasons that he was successful in getting into school after he did not receive admission on his first try. Lastly, I have decided that I am going to study and retake the DAT over the 3 month period that I have off over the summer. My DAT score was not a weakness in my application by any means, but I felt as if I would have been wasting my summer away if I wasn't being productive and trying to further improve my chances for admission into dental school. I am actually very excited to start studying for the DAT this time around because I'm interested to see how my study skills and knowledge that I learned during this master's program will help me increase my score.

Total this semester: 26 hours

February

Since I already completed the required hours, I will be talking about how this program has helped me improve my resume and my study skills. First of all, I really enjoy how Dr. Clarkson has put together the course. The information is easily accessible and is organized very well on the pharm wiki website. I wish every course I have ever taken had that much work and detail put into the presentation of information.

This course has helped me realize my full potential and I am very grateful for that. Before this program, I had some pretty poor study skills. I was very unorganized and I would try different things for different tests without actually figuring out which one worked best for me. This course has taught me that the most important thing about studying is to start earlier than you think so that you can feel prepared. I can’t tell you how many times I would get up to the day of a test and wish that I had just one more day to master the material. After the first couple tests last semester, I realized that I was going to have to adapt and change my study skills or I was not going to succeed. I ended up doing just that and I’m proud of the results.

Total for this semester: 26 hours