Do your best, forget the rest

Aaah! Gees Louise! every time I promise you guys I'll write more here I slack off. Dental School has me down under. I literally have no time for anything but school and a little sleep (sometimes). It's pretty bad, considering I'm only taking 4 classes. What am I going to do when I have to take 8 classes next semester? and 12 the next? ay caramba!

Anyhoo, I turned my tv on for the first time in months last night. It felt soo good. I had a chance to catch up with my fav. shows (well, the only ones I watch really) House and Lie to Me. If only everyday was like yesterday...not to mention the full 8 hrs sleep I got, heavenly!

In more serious news, it's the week of midterms. I had a super stressful weekend studying for Anatomy, which I got through in one piece on Monday, phew!  But hold your horses, this only means I have a stressful week ahead since I have to also get through the rest, sigh.

It's week 9 and I have seen, heard and learned many things. One of which is that...I need a life! Seriously, it's my next big goal (besides doing well and passing all my classes of course). I cannot continue at the rate in which I'm going if I ever want to make it through first year without being burnt out, or if I want to make it out of Dental School being a normal human being. I must make time for other things, find a balance.

That's my spill for now. I'm off to study now, and remember; do your best - forget the rest!

Wish me luck!

Interview Season

My! how time flies. It seems like just yesterday since I had my interviews for Dental School. A whole year has passed and I am now seeing people from the 2011 cycle come in for their Interviews at my school.

I still remember the day I interviewed at my school. I was nervous, terrified and the fact that it was during winter made the matter that much worse. However, I got through my interviews by following some very simple guidelines.


Going back to previous posts, here are some guidelines/ground rules to pay attention to when getting ready for your interview(s):
1. Look the part, dress for success! 
2. Be ready for the Questions. Do your research on each of the schools and answer your questions intelligently.
3. Last but not least, relax - breathe - be calm.

Good luck!

PS  Any business students in the house? I've been given some GMAT prep. books that may be beneficial to you. If interested Contact me.

Carving teeth: Initiation

I carved my first tooth out of wax last week, I like to refer to it as my initiation into Dental School /Dentistry. As Dental Students we have to know the details of each tooth in the mouth, which believe it or not is a tedious task. This is what we do in Occlusion class, we learn about the intricacies and details of the different teeth and how the maxillary (upper) and the mandibulary (lower) teeth align with each other in the mouth...fun!
In studying the anterior (front) teeth we got a chance to carve, with all the correct dimensions, the right maxillary central incisor - this was pretty fun but time consuming.

Here's what I did:
I first had to get my tools together: wax, boley gauge, carving knife and a sheet of paper to reduce the mess. I then had to use the boley gauge to mark my dimensions on the wax, after which I drew an outline of the tooth.
 Dimensions:

Maxillary Central Incisor	Length Crown	Length Root	Mesiodistal Crown	Mesiodistal Cervix	Bucco-lingial Diameter	Bucco-lingual  Cervix	Mesial cervix/Distal cervix
(mm)	10.5	13.0	8.5	7.0	7.0	6.0	3.5/2.5

from left: boley gauge, block of wax with dimensions and outline of tooth drawn, carving knife.

  After that was done it was time to get to carving! The wax was pretty hard, I had to use the carving knife to shave down to the outline that was drawn on the wax.

wax shaved down towards the outline drawn

The aim of this part was to get as close as possible to the outline made, so I had to carve some more.

Proximal/side view: wax carved to the outline drawn

Facial/front view: wax carved to the outline drawn

After the carving to the outline was done it was time to put everything learned in Occlusion class to work! Generally speaking, the mesial surface should be angled acutely, the distal surface more round, cervical line at mesial surface should be lower than on the distal surface,the root should taper distally (how's that for mumbo-jumbo??)
So after carefully carving and measuring and carving and measuring some more I finally had what looked like the right maxillary central incisor with the correct dimensions.

Facial/front view: finished product (not yet polished)

Lingual/back view: finished product (not yet polished)

Carving the tooth was a fun exercise though time consuming. The images above are far from perfect but was my first of two trials. The second was a little better but I took no pictures of those.
Go ahead and add your critique!

Got my own...

**Winner of the Digital Camera Giveaway posted within**

A couple weeks ago after coming to the realization that Starbucks coffee was costing me way too much money, I decided, why not make my own darn coffee? See, I have coffee twice per day - one in the morning to take me through my 9 hr school day and another at night to take me through my countless hours of studying thereafter. If coffee costs on average $1.85 it means it'll cost me $3.70 per day which is $25.90 per week, $103.60 per month and a whopping $1243.20 per year! RI-DI-CU-LOUS!

So being the poor student I am, I took a trip to my local grocery store and picked up a bottle of Maxwell House breakfast blend (medium) roast coffee, mmm! After that it was time to search for a portable coffee cup, so I made my way to Target and after about 30 mins of picking and choosing I finally settled on an aladdin brand cup. I was all set and ready to start my new make-my-own-coffee regimen. The next morning came and I was excited to make my coffee. I put  one tbsp. of coffee in my cup, added sugar, a little milk and water. I was almost ready to go and beaming about the $3.70 I would be saving that day when I realized that I had been mixing for a while but my coffee wouldn't dissolve. Hmm, what is up with this coffee? Figuring I must have made it wrong I poured that away and started to make my coffee again from scratch. 1 tbsp coffee, sugar, milk, water -- mix. Coffee still won't dissolve. I finally decided to check the label on the coffee to see if it was expired...it wasn't. What I did realize however that with my inexperienced coffee buying self I had actually bought brewed coffee instead of instant coffee. Crap! I don't own a coffee maker. So feeling defeated I left the house and went on my way to school, stopping by the local starbucks to spend yet another $3.70. 

I did however go back to the grocery store in the evening and made certain to get Instant coffee - man was I happy. So the next day up until today I've been having my Maxwell House Breakfast blend (medium) roast Instant coffee everyday. I have plenty of servings left (90 servings/bottle) and it only cost me $6.11.

Maxwell House Instant Coffee and my aladdin coffee cup

So in summary:
Price of Starbucks per year = $1243.20
Price of Instant Coffee per year =  $24.44
Feeling you get when you realize you just saved  $1218.76 = Priceless!
for everything else there's....common sense?

And now, the moment we've all been waiting for, the winner of the Red Digital Camera courtesy of the sharper Image is.....

Camille Knox!!

When contacted and told she was the winner of this giveaway, Camille had this to say:

" Oh my god! thank you soo much! I've never won anything before, I still can't believe it. Thank you so much and your blogs really help in preparing me for Dental school. I've been following you privately for a while and I like how you make it so fun to read. I've applied for next year and I have you to thank for providing information on how to go about applying. Thank you again! I love your blog even more now :)..."

Congratulations Camille! and you're very welcome. Thank you as well for visiting my blog and for your kind words.. I'm very happy that I was able to help you through the process. Good luck with your applications.

Gross!

Warning: You may see the word "Gross" far too many times than necessary throughout this post.

Why is Formaldehyde the first thing I smell in the morning when I walk into the medical school to get to my classes in the Dental School? Gross! Why do I have to smell Formaldehyde every time I walk into the locker room? Gross! Why after I complete the lab the smell of formaldehyde is still in my nostrils that even an hour after the lab I still smell it? Gross! and what's the point of washing my hair anymore? It's like an exercise in futility because the minute I do the minute it's smelling  like Formaldehyde again, Gross! But then again if I don't wash it and it starts to make my pillow and sheets smell, wouldn't that be even more gross? Yeah, grossss!

In other gross news, it's week 6 of school and Anatomy is taking me on the ride of my life! So.much. stuff. to remember. We started out with back muscles which were not bad at all but then came upper limbs - arm, forearm, wrist and hand, the axilla, embryolgy, neuroembryolgy, thoracic wall, lungs, heart, mediastinum, autonomics, the head, neck, face etc etc. -  innervations, blood  supply, insertions, origins, actions, palsies, intricate details and a world of clinical application. It's hard to fathom that this is only the beginning. I'm already suffering from sleep deprivation and my over consumption of coffee (i think) has recently started giving me tachycardia (no joke).

Gross labs are fun but can be frustrating because it sometimes take hours to find and separate the nerves and blood vessels you want. However, I'm grateful that I am able to learn the subject matter both ways - by reading and seeing pictures and illustrations and by seeing and dissecting a real human body. It brings the subject together beautifully and really helps in knowing and remembering the different structures. I'm also really grateful to the person who donated her body for the advancement of my education. I named her Ashley by the way. So Ashley let me say this, I have great respect for you. Sometimes if you feel a pinch of some sort it's because I sometimes can't find what I'm looking for and I get frustrated. So, if you find me a little rough around the edges some days, don't worry, but rest assured I have nothing but the utmost respect  for you, ok? Now help me out and make the zygomatic branch of your facial nerve appear because I swear it's not where it's supposed to be. Just smile and make my day.

PS Wash your hair, your scrubs and lab coats people! It's just too gross if you don't.

Flossing Improves Memory, Who Knew?

I came across an interesting article online which correlates flossing to improved memory, who knew? According to WABC-TV researchers found that to prevent memory loss as you age, you must floss. The bacteria left behind in the mouth as a result of not flossing are the bacteria that contributes highly to gum disease. Gum disease triggers inflammation in the body which then causes stiffening of blood vessels. Stiffening of the blood vessels is what eventually leads to memory problems. Find article here.



See, dentists not only care for your teeth but your overall well-being. Next time your dentist says "don't forget to floss" take him/her seriously, he might just be trying to preserve your memory as well :)

100 Things Every College Student Should Know

A couple months ago I had the privilege of reviewing a book from The Skinny On... series called The Skinny On Sucess written by Jim Randall. If you know anything about The Skinny On... books you will know that it gives you the real and raw (the skinny) facts on whatever topics covered, nothing is sugar coated. You may see my review on the book here.
Jim Randall is at it again and has recently compiled a list of 100 things that every college student should know. Consistent with his books, nothing is sugar coated. The list consists of things we all should know to get through college successfully and at the same time incorporates lessons that will transcend into the real world thereafter. The list is lengthy but I suggest you run through it, it may be really beneficial (may take several visits).

Preview:

No. 88 - The Most Critical Beats

As a young person, I wanted to become a magician. So I read books on card tricks and practiced them on everyone I could.

More important than learning the mechanics, however, was learning how people think. As a magician, you need to be conscious of how people react to your actions. You might have to change your presentation to mesh with what they're thinking.

This led to my understanding a technique that has been critical to my business successes:

Learn to add a 2-3 second beat between when you think something and when you actually say it.

So many people just talk and talk. They have a point to make and want to get it out as quickly as possible.

In some cases, that approach works. But in many situations, by listening to yourself for just two to three seconds before you let your comments free, you maintain flexibility. You're able to change direction as necessary.

Not all approaches work for all people. The key to successfully persuade someone to your point of view is to tailor your approach as much as possible to that person's needs, desires, emotions, mood and energy. Pay close attention to the other person and think through the impact of your statements before you actually make them.

Just a two-second beat between thought and speech can be the difference between success and failure!

"Never forget to put your brain in gear before you put your mouth in motion." - Anonymous

Visit The Skinny On blog here for 100 Things Every College Student Should Know

**Enter the giveaway for a red digital camera here. Ends 09/30/10**