Big Decisions

One down, a hundred to go!

We've decided to accept the position in the IDEP. That means we'll spend the first year in Pocatello, ID and the following 3 years in Omaha, NE. We have longed for 3 years to have the opportunity to make that decision and all the others that go along with it, and looking at it now, that was probably the least difficult decision we will face.

The next step.... I don't really know. There isn't a handbook or reference guide to tell me. No one has made a PowerPoint or put together a mini lecture or course explaining where I go from here. I know that many people enter professional schools, often with spouses and sometimes with children. And I can only assume that they've been faced with all the questions I have and eventually figured it all out an forged their own path.

It wont be pleasant if I have to do it that way too. I don't know if my poor brain can handle it. It feels pretty trashed right now, and I KNOW it won't get any better after #3 arrives in a couple months.

I have a goal to have everything organized for the next year before she comes, but somehow I'm sure I'll not reach it. Not for lack of my trying to accomplish it, but because of the need for others to help me, and their help probably wont be on MY timeline.

My high expectations probably add more stress to my life than necessary.

But the lack of guidance on how to navigate the ocean of decisions I feel surrounded by is the greatest stress of all. I have no advisor to tell me what to do next, to help me stay on the right track to finish on time. Doing things out of order or not having the prerequisite knowledge will only frustrate things.

There are many people I could speak with that have either been though these same waters, or something similar. But they have all done it differently and sometimes have conflicting advice.

I want to follow the most successful plan of attack for these decisions I'm facing. I want to learn NOW what it would take years of research for someone to compile.

It's unreasonable to expect. I know... I know.

No one laid out for me what to study in school. It wasn't laid out for me who to date or marry. There has certainly been no specific path to follow as I raise my children. And I know it's unreasonable to expect that there is an organized sequence for me to follow as I make adult decisions in my future.

But I so badly want it to be!

Dental School here we come!

We have finally gotten into dental school...again! This time around I have gotten into Case Western School of Dental Medicine in Cleveland OH, Midwestern College of Dental Medicine in Glendale AZ, and the Idaho Dental Education Program which would put me in Pocatello, ID at Idaho State University for my first year and then I would go to Creighton University in Omaha, NE for my last three years of school. Each program is a very attractive, but each have their draw backs.

The IDEP/Creighton will cost me between $100,000 and $150,000 less than Case and Midwestern because I am on a scholarship from the state of Idaho. Case will cost me approximately $85,000/year while Midwestern is approximately $95,000/year.

Each school has a great clinical experience, although I would put the IDEP/Creighton above the rest. Here's why: Creighton is a well established program in a large city and the school does not have any specialty residencies at the school which means you get to see every case that walks through the door. This will allow me to see cases that I would be able to see at any of the others and will increase my competency coming out of dental school. Case Western gets you into patients' mouth by the end of your first semester which is sooner than any other program in the nation. They also have a state-of-the-art simulation clinic that allows you to work on manikins while being tracked by sensors that will give you a 3D simulation of the work you have performed, thus helping you to develop your skills using the hand piece before you even look in a patient's mouth. Despite this, I would say the overall clinical experience is not quite as good as Creighton due to many factors include the fact that Case has specialty programs that take patients away from the dental students. While talking to students at Case, each expressed a frustration with obtaining the right type of patients to fulfill their requirements; you basically have to be "buddy buddy" with the scheduling coordinator so that she will give you what you need. Midwestern waits until the beginning of your third year to get you into the clinic, but they have the best simulation clinic of the three. They push you incredibly hard in your pre-clinical simulations so that you can be ahead of the game by the time you get to you clinicals. Another thing that makes me a little worried about Midwestern's clinical experience is that it is a brand new school; their inaugural class is in their Junior year. Due to this, Midwestern still has not built community relationships and their patient base is the smallest of them all. I'm a little worried that I won't be able to see as many patients as I would be able to at the other schools.

Case Western and Midwestern have very innovative curriculums while the IDEP/Creighton has more of a traditional approach. The more innovative curriculums attract me a little more than the traditional because I think they fit my learning style a little more. Despite that, the IDEP will put me at ISU with seven other students. There are five faculty members who teach the eight of us. I have been told by the students who have gone through this program and they each say they are way ahead of their counterparts when they finish up at ISU and go over to Creighton.

As far as the living areas go, we all know Pocatello, ID is not the most desirable place to live, but it is only for a year. Omaha is nice, but it is very humid during the summer and cold during the winter. Cleveland has a very nice summer, but the winters are the worst. Cleveland is right on Lake Erie and the cold wind blowing from the lake in the winter is down right nasty! Arizona is obviously beautiful, but the summer can be unbearable with temperatures daily above 100 degrees F.! Both Kierstin and I have family in the Phoenix area which would make it nice. My parents now live in Lincoln, NE which is about 50 minutes away from Omaha. In Cleveland, we are quite far away from family. Cleveland has church history all around like Kirtland as well as a lot of US historical sites within a day's drive.

What do you all think? What school should we choose?