Hello, my name is Charles Spalding and I am a student at Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health.
Tribe: Aleut- Shoonaq' Tribe of Kodiak
Born:
Hometown:
Graduated
top 10% of HS class (2001)
Undergrad: Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois
2001-2005
B.A. in Biology with minors in Chemistry and
Biochemistry
Published in Journal of Magnetic Resonance Chemistry " Tautomerism and 1H and 13C NMR
assignment of methyl derivatives of 9-hydroxyphenalenone"
Magn. Reson. Chem.
2005; 43: 1053–1056.
I have always wanted to become a dentist, and now I would like to help you on your journey toward dental school. Getting into dental school is a VERY competitive process and you will need every edge you can get. Dental schools accept roughly 2% of the applicants they see. With the right tools and information you can earn your way into dental school.
Dentistry is a special part of the medical field that can give a great deal of satisfaction and community support. To become a dentist you must first graduate high school and then attend college. I would recommend taking many science courses during high school and finding a college with a good pre-dental program. Taking science courses, especially human sciences, is very important because the tests required to get into dental school are heavily weighted in science. Dental school itself is also very science intensive (again human sciences).
There are a minimum number of required pre-requisite classes to qualify for dental school, and this varies by school.
Here is an outline of the science courses I took while in college:
Biology: Vertebrate zoology, cell biology, parasitilogy, evolutionary biology, entomology, human anatomy, neuroanatomy, human physiology, botany, histology, cadaver dissection, and genetics.
These courses not only taught me a great deal about the workings of the human body, which is essential to become a good doctor; but they helped get me into dental school.
Human anatomy, neuroanatomy, physiology, cell biology, and cadaver dissection have all proved invaluable during my time in dental school and I would highly recommend that all students take these classes. I would also recommend microbiology (which I did not take).
Chemistry: general chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, advanced inorganic chemistry, NMR technique, organic chemistry research, and quantitative analysis
Understanding chemistry is very important for the dental admissions test (DAT). This is the test that you will be taking before applying to dental school and is one the major criteria that will determine your acceptance.
Biochemistry is extremely useful in dental school, much more so than organic. Organic and general chem. are both required for admission and helpful for the DAT, but are not greatly used in dental school.
Physics/math: basic physics, NMR microscopy, calculus 1 and 2
These are required courses to apply to dental school and give you a good general understanding of basic physics and how the forces governing everyday life.
Social sciences: basic psychology, basic sociology, American government, medical ethics
Becoming a dentist you must understand how to work with people; to become a people person. The social skills that you develop will greatly benefit you when it comes to patient skills when you are a dentist. Having good social skills is also very important when it comes to the application process. Being able to read people and communicate eloquently makes you a much better choice in the interviewer.
Another key to getting into dental school is to make sure you want to go to dental school. Meet a local dentist and ‘job shadow’ him or her; go into the office and watch what a dentist does on a day to day basis. This not only gives you an idea of what a dentist does each day and assures you that dentistry is the right profession for you. Job shadowing will also be a great addition to your resume’ and give you an edge when it comes to applying to dental school.