Interviews Complete

After a long week with 2 interviews and biochemistry midterm, I can finally relax.

Both interviews, ASDOH and UIC, went well. Being my first interview, I learned a lot at the ASDOH that helped me at UIC. Not to say the ASDOH interview did not go well; it is just that the UIC interview went a lot better.

ASDOH is a really great school, but its greatest selling point is its Community Health Model for DDS students. The model has students doing a series of externships at community health centers all over the country - from Hawaii to Maine - during the late 3rd and 4th years. Its attractive for many reasons: one, you get the opportunity to travel, two, you get major clinical health experience, and three, you get the opportunity to run your own mini-practice.

Being a public school, UIC has a different approach. The majority of a DDS's clinical experience occurs in the confines of the dental school. As part of the Illinois Medical District, there are plenty of people and cases available to students on campus. Although I do find the idea of traveling to different health clinics attractive, UIC's strong reputation in dental research more than makes up for its clinical "shortcomings." There is little else that excites me more than being involved in a research project; it has been that way since college.

As for the biochemistry test, it went fine. The thing that most surprised me was how helpful I found the material when I was speaking with the PhD faculty at UIC. Terms like thrombosis, apatite, angiogenesis came up frequently, but I felt confident enough to ask the faculty questions.

For now, though, it is time to relax and kick back. Hopefully I will have one or two more interviews before this process were over. But if I do not, I would be happy getting an acceptance at either one of these schools.