Top 10: Reasons to Attend BU Dental

We all love our own universities, but we often wonder about other dental schools and how they operate. Here is why Boston University Goldman School of Dental Medicine is a great school to attend.

Top 10 Reasons to Attend Boston University (BU) Dental

1. Caring faculty
Yes, the professors actually do care for their students here! They try to help you as much as possible, and some of them love to socialize with the students. Comments from our network of students and insiders claim that most dental schools have a cordial environment, however, our reader comments give us a different picture. Rest assured however, that BU Dental has a generally supportive environment! Although it is worth noting that in clinic, a handful of professors are still known to be troublesome.

2. Great exam scheduling
Exams for the basic science years are set up so that one exam is given per week (usually). There are weeks that go by that have no exams, and some weeks that have two exams, but the weeks with two exams are quite rare. This is great for the students as they can focus on each upcoming exam without having to go through cram sessions or having to study for two different subjects at once.

3. It's in Boston
Boston is a great city to live in, especially as a student. See one of our posts on why Boston is great to live in!

4. APEX
Applied professional experience in the first and second years is a rotation in which private practicing dentists have a chance to mentor students. How often do dental students get to learn directly in private dental offices? Not often would be my guess! It provides a completely different experience for the dental student. Our insiders tell us that APEX rotation #2 serves also as a study period for the NBDE Part I. This works great as homework is almost non-existant during APEX, allowing ample study time (approx 2 months) to absorb tiny details for this major examination.

5. Online booking for clinic chairs
It used to be recently that students would have to line up to get chairs early in the morning to treat their patients. Now, the school has taken a great initiative and introduced online booking which allows students to secure operatories from the comfort of their own laptops. The system is fairly new to the school, but is working out extremely well.

6. 10-week externship in the final year
This is an opportunity to leave the school atmosphere and learn in a new environment. Those who know what externships are all about will appreciate how awesome this really is. Opportunities exist to externship both in Boston and in other states and surrounding areas. The best part as of recently is that a lot of the work that dental students accomplish in the externship is now eligible to count towards graduation requirements.

7. Great location, decent facilities
The Simulation Learning Center (SLC) provides a good learning area for the pre-clinical students. BU Dental is located throughout the BU Medical Campus and as such is nicely integrated with Boston Medical Center. Although the facilities aren't perfect, they are decent. Our sources tell us that the facilities are good but that they are beginning to show signs of strain, as students are wearing away on what is available. This is expected (of course) of any school though.

8. Curriculum/structure reorganization
BU Dental historically has had an issue with students not graduating on time. Recent changes such as including the procedures performed during externship towards graduation requirements is beginning to ease that stressful issue. BU in the past has included a mandatory laptop within the tuition, however now, BU Dental allows the new dental student to purchase whatever laptop they feel suits them. Further, BU no longer forces the dental student to purchase all new textbooks, it now allows the dental student to find their own textbooks which can result in great savings for the dental student. These are very recent changes (as of 2008) which sets a good trend in the way the school is approaching students in an effort to reduce their debt loads and correct issues that exist. Keep in mind that BU Dental offers VitalSource Digital textbooks, and that we recommend that dental students never buy this product. Why you may ask? Well, we have a whole post on that.

9. Great fellow students
Most BU Dental (and BU Medical) students are very chillin' people. This goes hand-in-hand with the national reputation that BU has as a laid-back school.

10. B.U. Endodontic Method
With the infamous Dr. Schilder originally chairing the Department of Endodontics, pre-doctoral dentistry students at BU Dental have an edge in learning from the masters of Endodontics. The warm vertical method was improved upon here, and remains a staple in Endodontic education at BU.