July 11, 2005

Today was the big day. I took part 1 of the national dental board exam! (part 2 is after senior year... yep I getta do this all over again) This exam was an 8 hour long ordeal, with 400 questions covering biochem, anatomy, physiology, microbiology, immunology, histology, neurology, pathology, dental anatomy, occlusion, etc etc etc. It might surprise you, but dentist have to know a whole lot more about the human body than most people realize. After comparing what I was studying and what med students were studying for their part 1 boards, I'd say dental students have to know just about as much after our second year. Additionally, we have to master the anatomy and functionality of the oral cavity. No offense to the physicians, as they definately know all the body stuff better than we do, but I think people in the world need to realize that we dentists are expected to know alot more than "just" teeth, and we absolutely deserve the title "Dr." So, after weeks of ultra-intense 10 hour a day study sessions and copious amounts of stress and strife I am finally done! I am extremely happy and relieved to be finished with that horrible horrible exam. So now I have one day off and then on Wendsday I start in the clinic treating real live actual patients. Phew... ok, I'm gonna go relax.