Wednesday, August 3, 2005

It's nearly midnight here in California, and I just got done eating dinner. It was a long day at school. I got to school early again, and I worked on my class I preps of #19, #31, and #3. I think I finally got a couple of examples to show my row instructor tomorrow that she'll pass off.

Our a.m. class was restorative. We had a lecture on how to prep tooth #8 for a PFM crown. For you anxious pre-dents, that is a porcelain fused to metal crown on the right central maxillary incisor. It is unbelieveably tough. I can't even begin to explain how challenging it was for me to cut the prep. There were so many unfamiliar steps to follow that I wasn't even sure how to begin. I just sat there and stared at the typodont tooth, occasionally glancing at the model of the finished product. We had to get familiar using 6 new and different types of burs. So, for the 2 hours I spent attempting to cut the prep, I fumbled around trying to figure out which bur I needed, and which surface I was supposed to cut, and how deep to cut, and on, and on, and on.

Basically, it came down to me just grabbing the handpiece and starting to cut. By the time I was done, 30 minutes later, I had cut the ugliest thing I'd ever seen. I was too ashamed to show it to my row instructor. I was sure that he would fall on the ground and cry after he saw it. Anyway, I wasn't too detered. I pulled out another tooth, and tried again. The second attempt was a lot better than the first.

Biochem was biochem. I think the professor is kin to Bob Ross, the painter on PBS. I used to flick through the channels and I'd stumble into Bob and his happy little paintings. I remember I'd sit there and watch the entire show, even though it was as dry and boring as shows come. It's like I was in a trance and I couldn't do anything about it. Our biochem teacher is exactly the same. You sit there and stare at the power point slides and listen to him drone on about hemoglobin for 60 minutes, and at the end, you can't explain why.

We finished the day with an anatomy lecture on the skin. Just the typical lecture. We have a big quiz in that class on Monday. There goes another weekend.

I stayed after school and cut some more class I preps and a crown prep. The lab was packed with about 60% of the students all trying to get some projects finished up.

For anyone that wonders how Pacific does it in 3 calendar years instead of 4, all you need to do is spend 2 weeks with us and we'll show you.