What are the best things about attending University of Minnesota School of Dentistry?

First and foremost, my favorite thing about the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry (UMN SOD) is our sense of comradery. Every class generally works together as a team with limited feelings of competition. We are willing to help each other out and it is easy for us to interact with other classes. You feel like part of a team from the beginning of your journey in dental school, as the school appoints you a D2 mentor when you are accepted as a D1. These mentors are a great resource as you embark on your first couple of weeks in school and they can potentially become lifelong friends.

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What are the worst things about attending University of Minnesota School of Dentistry?

We do not use the latest technology in preclinic or clinic, which is really frustrating. For example, we have very limited access to intraoral cameras, cone-beam CT scans, digital intraoral scanners, and digital dentistry in general. Our emphasis is more on the analogue way of performing dentistry, which will be irrelevant when we get into a real dental practice. This is hard because it seems primitive and tedious, and it is easy to become frustrated with faculty members who seem to be “set in their ways” of performing dentistry. A lot of techniques that we take a long time learning in pre-clinic and practicing in clinic will never be used again, which doesn’t seem like a good use of time or money.

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What do students need to know/what do you wish you knew before attending University of Minnesota School of Dentistry?

I wish I knew how outdated everything was before coming into the program. If I were to choose a new dental school, I would have liked a school that was more cutting-edge but still research-based, because it seems like we are practicing dentistry in an old building with old technology and old techniques. The building is very outdated and there are basically no windows. Some days we sit in dark lectures and a windowless preclinic and never see the sun for the entire day. We are also unable to do a lot of cases and procedures because they are given to the school's residents; we have so many specialties in the school. This is nice because if you are looking into a specialty, there are a lot of resources to use at the school (advice, shadowing, etc.), but it is hard to get exposure to certain procedures as a student because the residencies take most of those cases.

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