the past week

I hear through the grapevine that my blog is growing to have quite a following and that several people are disappointed that I am unable to post every day. I really wish I could, but school keeps me busy, as you very well know by now. The weird thing is that I am unable to predict when I won't have enough time to post. This past week didn't seem to overwhelming, but then I log on to find out I haven't posted in over a week! I almost feel like I was teasing everyone with the almost daily posts in April...then May comes and BAM...back to my inconsistent posting. I will try to make it up to you today with a long (although probably not that exciting) post about what I have been up to the past week.

Last Tuesday: Took my last neuroscience test. I think I am one of the only people in the class that is sad about moving on to the next module. I think neuroscience is so interesting. After the test, I went to the gym with my roommate and friend Allie. While there, I was recruited to play on a raquetball team with one of my classmates. I've never played racquetball before, but it sounds so fun and looks easy. Seriously, you get in a room and whack a ball off of the walls, ceiling, and floor. How hard can it be? Truth is, it can be slightly difficult. Once I got a hang of the rules, it was a matter of trying to hit the ball straight and avoid running into the other 3 players in the small room. I really enjoyed myself though and definitely plan on playing again.

Thursday?: The Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) came for a site visit to determine the status of accreditation for our dental program. They were here for a few days and interviewed the administration, practically every faculty member, student council, and the entire student body. They went into every building to inspect the facilities. They tore the program apart with a fine tooth comb to make sure that we are learning all the right things needed to be dentists. It was a pretty big deal and the school had been preparing for months. (Accreditation is a huge deal. If the school doesn't pass, it pretty much means that the degree I will earn means nothing and that I won't be able to become a dentist. That might be a tiny bit of an elaboration, since the process is mysterious and complicated, but it is pretty serious.) The news is in though...we passed with flying colors. Here is a quote from an email that the dean sent to the student body: "Although it is still unofficial, and will be until the commission meets later this year, we will be recommended for full approval of accreditation by our site visit team. Having no recommendations for the second time in two years with only two small suggestions is outstanding. I do not know if this is a first, but I can guarantee you that it is rare." You could tell by the rest of the email that he was super excited and pleased. After all, they have worked pretty hard to get this program off the ground.

Friday: Presentation of a case study on the pregnant dental patient. Knocked it out of the park, despite having to change the manner in which I normally put together my presentations to appease a particular group member and a persnickety faculty grader. Then that night, we took a party limo to Scottsdale to celebrate the birthdays of some classmates. For me, it actually turned out to be a bust of an evening. The music at the club was terrible (so dancing was difficult) and then the group of students split up, leading to chaos. I ended up catching a ride home early with some friends. The good part was that I got to wear a new dress I bought a few months ago and that there were some cute pictures from the evening.

Saturday: I volunteered with TOPS (Teams of Physicians for Students) at a local high school. It is a pretty big event in the area, where lots of doctors and medical students provide free sports physicals for the local student population. Kids are bussed in from all over the valley for screenings. I would estimate that there were about 200 volunteers and about 600 students in the 4 hour shift I was there. This year, there was a station for dental students where we gave oral screenings for the kids, looking for cavities and oral cancer. I really had a good time with it. High school kids are really funny, especially when they think that you are a real dentist. I was definitely called "ma'am" several times, despite introducing myself simply as "Dana". There were several that had some problems, but we were only able to recommend that they go see a dentist and hand out the number to our dental clinic. Hopefully some of them will listen to our advice. Overall, it was a good opportunity...not only because I helped some kids, but because I got free snacks, a free t-shirt, and a chance to shmooze with some of our faculty. :)

Sunday: Panic mode and frantic studying for Tuesday's test.

Monday: Spent the day in the sim clinic. The end of the quarter is pretty fun because we do operative dentistry and work on Dexter like he is a real patient. We have been "drilling and filling" these past few weeks. I now have successfully given Dex 3 composite (white) fillings and an amalgam (silver) filling. We also took a group picture of our lab bench for a new website my classmate is putting together. (I will post the link once it is finished.)

Today: Test at 7 AM. Nap. Class from 10AM-noon. Lunch. Class from 1-3PM. Nap. Gym. Glee. Clean. Shower. And here we are. That is actually a pretty simplified version of my day. Yes, I did take 2 naps today, but only because I got about 3 hours of sleep last night. I needed to stay up and cram for today's test. As the end of the quarter is nearing, I am having a harder and harder time motivating myself to stay on top of my work. (Not to mention, last week's case study presentation took up WAY too much of my normal study time, putting me way behind this weekend). Lunch was pretty good through...about 12 classmates and I went out to lunch at In-N-Out burger. Apparently this place is a huge deal on the west coast and it has a huge cult following. It's strange though, because the menu is super simple, with like 6 items on it. It was one tasty burger (ordered off the secret menu!), and it was even better to sit outside and enjoy lunch in the hot sun with friends. And one of my favorite parts of Tuesdays is watching Glee, and tonight was no different. Seriously people, if you haven't watched it yet, you should. (Get yourself to Hulu and watch some episodes...I recommend the Madonna episode or the one that aired tonight. Or rent it on DVD and watch from the beginning of the season.) It is ridiculously funny because it is so tongue-in-cheek and the music is really good. I love this show so much that I bought tickets to the national tour that opens in Phoenix in less than 2 weeks. The tickets sold out instantly, but a friend of mine was able to get her hands on some for a somewhat reasonable price. I am very excited to go next weekend...it will definitely be a good show and a great end of the quarter treat. Oh! And I registered for the boards...yikes. I'll update more on that later.

Anyway, I just realized that I am way past my bedtime. Hope this post can hold you over for a bit, although I promise I will try and update a bit more. There are some interesting things going on in the news right now (especially in AZ...more crazy laws being passed) that I wouldn't mind commenting on. Hopefully my post on immigration didn't offend anyone, but you can't say that I didn't warn you! I promise, this won't turn into a political blog, but if I am to accurately report on the daily comings and goings here, it will inevitably include some talk of political things. Such is life in the backwards state. (And here is a random picture that I found from last month's Odontoblast "prom". They finally released the pictures we took on the "red carpet" and I thought it was worthy of sharing, despite being from how long ago. We are some pretty hot babes, right?)