UC Berkeley Pre-Dental Society
The Pre-Dent Press Volume 8, Issue 6 September 11th, 2013
May 4th, 2013: PDS members (Sean Sunyoto, Emily P. Yang, Steph Joung) helping to restore habitat at Lake Merrit!
May 3rd, 2013: PDS members (Ivy Vuong, Han Tran, Sean Sunyoto) volunteering at Berkeley Food and Housing Project
May 8th, 2013: New PDS Officer Board takes a group picture the endof-year Active Members’ Banquet
May 8th, 2013: Former PDS Officer Board takes a group photograph at the end-of-year Active Members’ Banquet
Dear Pre-Dental Society, As I sit in a crowd of black gowns and caps at my Integrative Biology Graduation ceremony, it is finally hitting me: I’m done with college! Yes, I’m writing to you all in the middle of my grad. No, it is not because it’s boring! In this moment, I just cannot help but think of my fellow pre-dents whom have been with me through all 4 years here at Cal. Whether you know it or not, each of you have made a significant impact on my time here. Thank you for making Pre-Dental Society such a welcoming space and for being a great community to me. Each of you have a passion for dentistry that is so inspirational and I cannot wait to be a part of the dental field with all of you. Good luck to you all, cherish these college years, never doubt yourself, always do what you love, and remember to brush, floss, and smile often. Goodbye!
Emily Yang President 2012-2013
Membership Requirements For active Cal PDS membership status, members must complete five events, including two community service events and one social event. Active members may miss no more than two general meetings regardless of the excuse. Any further missed meetings should be made up by participating in additional events. Membership fees are currently $20.00 for the entire semester. New members must submit a membership appplication along with the fee.
Contribute to the Pre-Dent Press The Pre-Dent Press is accepting article submissions for the next issue. Articles may be on anything dental-related, including information on dental schools, community outreach and PDS events. Please submit materials to Amanda and Stephanie at cal.pds.publicity@gmail.com. Articles should be approximately one page, double-spaced, 12 pt font. An article submission counts as 1 credit towards active membership.
Donate DAT Materials PDS is also currently accepting donations of new and used DAT preparation material. If you would like to make a donation, please email calpredentalsociety@gmail.com. These materials will be made available for members to rent.
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The Pre-Dent Press Cal Pre-Dental Society University of California, Berkeley c/o ASUC Office of Student Affairs 400 Eshelman Hall, MC 4500 Berkeley, CA 94720-4500 Contact us at calpredentalsociety@gmail.com, or visit us online at http://pds.berkeley.edu. Publicity Committee members: Corissa Chang, Amy Zhao, Mina Arbabaraghi, Sameera Arbabaraghi, Kenneth Chan, Arjun Gupta, Tanya Varimezova The Pre-Dent Press is an ASUC sponsored publication. Cal Pre-Dental Society general meetings are ASUC sponsored and wheelchair accessible. For information on publications, please contact Amanda and Stephanie at cal.pds.publicity@gmail.com. For information on advertising through Cal PDS, please contact Sheila and Alina at cal.pds.finance@gmail.com.
In this Issue...
Letter from former President - Emily Yang Letter from the Editors Dental School Spolight - University of Colorado Denver DEOP Corner Active Members’ Banquet Collage 2013-2014 Cal Pre-Dental Society Officer Board Interview with former External Affairs Officer - Eric Lin Member of the Issue - Eric Pierce
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Letter from the Editors Hello Pre-Dents! The new 2013-2014 school year has just begun. We would like to extend a warm welcome to freshmen, junior transfers, and new and returning members. We hope that you all are transitioning smoothly from summer vacation to your new schedule! In this issue, in addition to our regular columns, we have included a recap of last semester’s final PDS events, a spread introducing our new officer board, as well as an interview with former PDS External Affairs Officer - Eric Lin - who is now a first year dental student at the University of Pennsylvania. Last but not least, we have officially passed the baton to our new Publicity Coordinators - Stephanie Shimizu and Amanda Israel. We would like to congratulate them on their new position as well as reintroduce ourselves as PDS’ new secretary (Amy Zhao) and DEOP coordinator (Corissa Chang). It was a great pleasure serving you all as last year’s Publicity Coordinators! If you would like to submit an article or have any suggestions about the Pre-Dent Press, please do not hesitate to e-mail cal. pds.publicity@gmail.com or speak to Stephanie and Amanda in person.
Sincerely, Corissa Chang and Amy Zhao Pre-Dent Press Editors
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Dental School Spotlight: University of Colorado Denver
REQUIREMENTS
ADMISSION Biology Requirement 8 semester hours with lab
Chemistry Requirements 8 semester hours general chemistry with lab 8 semester hours organic chemistry with lab English Requirement 3 semester hours Additional Required Courses 3 semester hours biochemistry 3 semester hours microbiology
Recommended Classes Anatomy, cell biology, histology, immunology, physiology, business management/finance, psychology, and communications
DENTAL EDUCATION OUTREACH PROGRAM
by Mina Arbabaraghi in Denver, are accountable for all the University of Colorado their dental needs. For School of Dental Medicine the remaining semesters, has been providing dental the students proceed with education since 1973. The caring for patients and University of Colorado rotating through the Oral provides its students Surgery, Emergency, and with several hours of Pediatric Clinics. The dental school at clinical experience. For the University of Colorado the first three years, prides itself in its Advanced students take part in the six semester clinical Clinical Training Service curriculum. From the very program. This program beginning of the DDS is designed for students program, lowerclassmen to connect the material are provided with the they have been taught in opportunity to watch dental school to the real and aid upperclassmen in world. It includes courses patient treatment. Second such as public health, management, year dental students practice are given the chance to and ethics and decision begin treating patients. making. The last semester They conduct mainly of dental school is referred oral diagnosis as well as to as immersion-ACTS. periodontal and operative Students work full-time dental techniques. in relations with four Students must build up a community clinics for a “family� of patients and period of 75 days prior to
Located
Zena Jandali and Chloe Tsang are teaching a local elementary student how to properly brush teeth by doing demonstrations on mouth models and using toothbrush props.
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graduation in May. With a large focus on research, the University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine is a great school for students interested in both dentistry and research. The research conducted by the school concentrates on basic science as well as applied fields of research dealing with problems regarding oral health and disease, bioengineering, cancer research, and craniofacial biology. The School of Dental Medicine has research being conducted in areas such as the developmental biology of the craniofacial area, oral pathology, and the generation of polymer dental materials among several other areas of research.
CORNER
Average Class Stats Number of Applicants: 1,490 Number of Seats: 80 DAT AA: 19.0 Overall GPA: 3.70
of DENTAL MEDICINE
Top: Chloe Tsang, Corissa Chang, and Stephanie Shimizu pose with stuffed animals and props after a DEOP event. Below: Lawrence Vo and Alvin Jogasuria are presenting the MyPlate activity to a classroom of local elementary school students.
Active Members’ end-of-the-year
Spring Banquet
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2013-2014 Cal Pre-Dental
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Name: Michelle Khouri Position: President Year: Senior Major: Molecular and Cell Biology (MCB) This year in PDS, I look forward to: “...watching PDS grow as a club, both professionally and socially, and interacting with all the members, both new and old!” Name: Raymond Lee Position: Vice President Year: Senior Major: Integrative Biology (IB) and Psychology This year in PDS, I look forward to: “...seeing and participating in many changes that will bring PDS to new heights.” Name: Steven Ryoo Position: External Affairs Year: Junior Major: IB This year in PDS, I look forward to: “... networking with local dentists and dental schools to help the club excel in the dental field as well as making new friends!” Name: Han Tran Position: Internal Affairs Year: Junior Major: IB This year in PDS, I look forward to: “...seeing new friendships form and this community grow closer as a whole.” Name: Amy Zhao Position: Secretary Year: Junior Major: IB; Minor: French This year in PDS, I look forward to: “...making an effort to make PDS feel more like a family!”
Society Officer Board Stephanie Shimizu
Amanda Israel
Sheila Aryana
Alina Miller
Katherine Leung
Ivy Vuong
Chloe Tsang
Corissa Chang
Position: Publicity Coordinators Year: Sophomore/Sophomore Major: IB/IB This year in PDS, I look forward to: S.S: “...working with Amanda and our committee to promote PDS and spread dental health awareness.” A.I: “... making sure we get great publicity on campus so that everyone knows who we are and why dental health is important.” Position: Finance Coordinators Year: Junior/Junior Major: IB/Molecular Toxicology This year in PDS, I look forward to: S.A: “...bringing in bank for PD$.” A.M: “...working with a great team and making PDS better than ever!” Position: Community Service Year: Senior/Senior Major: IB/MCB This year in PDS, I look forward to: K.L: “...developing new friendships with everyone, and organize more fun communinity service events!” I.V: “...organizing dental and non-dental related community service events that members will find engaging and enriching.” Position: DEOP Coordinators Year: Junior/Senior Major: Molecular Environmental Biology/IB This year in PDS, I look forward to: C.T: “... getting to know all officers and members on a more personal level.” 7 C.C: “... meeting new people who are interested dentistry!”
An Interview with former External Affairs Officer - Eric Lin by: Tanya Varimezova
When you first decided you wanted to study dentistry, what activities did you get involved in either at UC Berkeley or the Berkeley community to explore the field more? When I first started thinking about dentistry, it was in the summer before my third year at Cal. Because I started the process late, I wanted
to create a plan or guideline for the next two years. I began exploring shadowing options and creating a guideline about what kinds of dentists I would like to shadow. I joined the Pre-Dental Society at Cal and started to learn about requirements for dental school, as well as getting advice about the process and material that will help me. I applied to volunteer at Berkeley Free Clinic and Tang Center, but it was extremely competitive. I did volunteer work for Berkeley Project and shadowed at some private clinics in my hometown.
As an officer in the Pre-Dental Society, what are your responsibilities to the club and how do you view the club has further solidified your decision to study dentistry? I am the External Affairs officer of PDS and my main responsibilities are networking and coordinating with other schools and dentists around the Berkeley area. I coordinate talks given by not only dentists, but speakers from ethics and business as well, that come and visit PDS. Dentistry encompasses so many fields and I hope to help expose pre-dents to the entrepreneurship aspect of dentistry. I help organize alumni socials during which pre-dental students can meet dentists who were members of PDS. It helps students gain different perspectives on the field and learn from the vast experiences these dentists. As we near summer, many students are beginning to think about preparing for the DAT. What was your strategy for preparing for the Dental Admissions Test?
My summers were usually booked up with shadowing and work, and so I decided to study for the DAT during the month-long winter break. I took the Kaplan Online Prep Course and scheduled the exam when school began again. Because the experience was very tiring, I would advise against it. I would suggest studying during the summer when there’s more time. As for study materials, I found the Kaplan DAT Destroyer to be of help. The Kaplan Online Classroom course, which was everyday during the winter, may not be as necessary if there is the whole summer to prepare for the exam. It is a daunting task for many students when they have to start compiling letters of recommendations for dental schools. How did you go about in approaching your mentors for such a letter? It’s important to realize that professors know already that we need letters of recommendation for future schooling and so that already takes some pressure off. Usually, I would focus on two professors during the semester and build chemistry with one of them. I would go to office hours with questions about the material, and have discussions with the professor. I would introduce myself and let the professor know I’m pre-dental. Of course, it’s also very important to try to do well in the class, as many professors look at the final grade as well. Upper division class professors are usually better to ask for letters of recommendations from, since they are more recent. Also, a common misconception is that any professor is eligible to ask, but it has to be someone with whom you have taken a class. If you have worked in a lab and done research with a professor, it’s still great to ask for a letter, but it will not count towards your professor letters. You recently accepted the offer from UPenn School of Dental Medicine (Congratulations!). How did you decide this was the right school for you? What do you expect your experience will be like during your first year? I was very drawn to the curriculum at UPenn. This school offers a more medical-based curriculum, rather than a more practice-oriented curriculum, which I liked. Professors treat their students with respect, which provides for a positive environment for learning and growth. The school has a great record for students who go on to specialize. I believe the first year will be very intense academically, but it really will drive home the point of time-management and dedication to the field.
MEMBER of the ISSUE☆ ERIC E C R E I P Year:lJaurn&ioCrell Biology
Why are you interested in Dentistry?
I want to become a dentist because of my love for the biological sciences and health professions. Dental health is an often underrated facet of personal wellness (I skipped my fair share of dentist appointments in the past) that, if not maintained, could lead to serious problems. I hope to help people improve their oral health, as Why do y ou like P well as show how beneficial D I like PDS S? and painless a trip to the b e it provide cause dentist can be. dents wit s Cal sturesource h numerous into dent s to help us g S D ? r P a e t f i r o o a e s v l t t a s the only o n F chool, and e v e r g i that acti anization t is y favoritweas volas a carevely promotesodn campus M how actievr. Beyond thatentistry DS evenatt our booth P Communei PDS is in loca, I love nteerinegr. I found it very u free dentties, aiding in l t Eggstto teach young a wardingabout brushing clean-upal clinics and e r operation en h and teethr d l i h c s. their tedelyt foods during frien vent. 9 the e lecu o M : r o j Ma