School is over... oh wait

So I finished my finals on Friday. It was five finals in five days plus three more the week before. I enjoyed being done and have spent the last few days cleaning up and taking care of normal life stuff that gets put off for months at a time. Now I feel ready to relax and rejuvenate before the next semester, small problem though - school starts tomorrow at 7:30am. At first I thought two days off would be enough, currently I'm still feeling fried. On the bright side I'm hoping this semester will be less intensive. What I mean is that hopefully when I leave school I will be done for the day. Classes go from 7:30am until 5pm most days; however, they are mostly clinical so I'm hoping there won't be as much late night bookwork. If nothing else, it's only seven weeks.

It's been so long since I posted I'm not sure what I filled people in on last. In January a fellow classmate and I accepted the challenge to train for a triathlon. I have sent in my check and should be participating in the "New Bri Tri" on June 6th. It will involve a 1/2 mile swim in a lake, 13 mile bike ride and 3 mile run. I've been swimming about 3 times a week since January, the weather just got better so I've been biking to school which is about 13 miles a day. The running has been more challenging to improve in. Jason has been biking while I run to encourage me and I invested in a nike + ipod sensor which tracks my pace, runs and distance. I can at least run the distance I need to, we'll see if I can after swimming and biking too. If nothing else, I should be well prepared for my physical tests for the National Guard when I go for Officer Basic Camp in August.

This past semester has been an interesting one. While my social life and Jason's have pretty much died, we have still managed to accomplish much. My friend and classmate Priya taught me how to make some awesome indian food which has been fun. Let me just say that chili powder from the indian store is much stronger than anything you normally get at the grocery store. I have survived school for another semester and have done a few other enjoyable things. I won't put all of the details here but I learned a lot more than I expected to about making dental crowns. They are much more complicated than you can imagine. We had a simulated patient we have been working on all semester and will get to see what my lab results will be when the next semester begins.

I've spent far too much time at a desk and in front of a computer this semester. Hence, I would love to tell you more but I can't stare at this screen anymore.

Teeth and Stuff

It's hard to believe that it's been several weeks since my last post. The weeks are just flying by. Dental school is going well. I am currently dealing with a few adjustments. In the last two weeks I've had 13 credits added to my schedule. That currently brings me to 22 credits with a total of 24 to be completed by the end of the semester. The time consuming classes right now are histology, gross anatomy and biochemistry. I know you are all jealous and wish you could be in class eight hours a day with lots of studying afterward. I'm sure you will get by. My favorite class is oral anatomy. We learn about all of the tiny details of each tooth and then in lab, work on creating them from wax to internalize the information.







I've also started using the new dental simulation clinic at the school. The University of Minnesota has one of the only simulation clinics this advanced. It uses GPS technology to teach students proper ergonomics and appropriate tooth preparations for restorations. The GPS detects where the handpiece is placed and what plastic tooth material has been removed. The preparation is then simulated into a 3-D image on a computer screen which can be compared to an ideal preparation. It also offers objective grading. The experience has been pretty good. I find the computer feedback to be helpful - I just wish the handpiece wasn't so heavy.

Here is a link to a video to see what I'm talking about:

http://www.dentistry.umn.edu/news/tvspot/home.html

We started gross anatomy this past week. Yes, we do work with cadavers. We are very fortunate to have people who have been kind enough to donate their bodies to allow us to learn. It's tough work though and there is a lot of preparation involved and ridiculous amount of information learn. I'm also practicing with a choir that will perform for the memorial surface to honor the families of those who donated their bodies.

In other news I have found a wonderful opportunity for school. I will most likely be joining the National Guard later this month. It's a very family friendly and flexible option to fund school and serve the country. I will be working specifically in dentistry and the tuition benefits are good. There are a lot of details; but the basic idea is that I will be drilling once a month for the next eight years. (Four before graduation and four as a licensed dentist.) Following graduation I will continue drilling but have the option (or need) to be deployed as a dentist with the Army. If that were the case it would only be for 90 days and I can't be deployed for 18 months after that. I've put a lot of thought into it and Jason and I feel this is the best option for us. I look at it this way: I will owe my soul to somebody in order to pay for school. It's either the military for eight or the bank for much, much longer.

Jason and I had a wonderful anniversary. Autumn this year has been amazing. It is an unusally warm fall and the leaves are changing colors at a reasonable rate. (Some years they start and drop leaves within three weeks.) Life is good, albeit busy.