Hey guys!!
So today is the first day of the mid-semester break! Having a week long break at this time of the year sounds pretty good and I'll use it as an opportunity to relax a bit, get to know my sweet sweet housemate better (we'll pretty much be the only ones staying on campus since everyone else will go home) and do some revision on the important lectures.
First and foremost, all the subjects are pretty interesting and at the moment they are not too hard to digest and absorb. Pre-readings and revision is highly beneficial, if not mandatory for me to understand what is going on in class, so if that's done weekly the content seems manageable. I am going to go into detail about each of the four subjects in First Year Sem 1.
Introduction to Oral Science Wait maybe the name is Introduction to Oral Health Science? Introduction to Oral Structures?? Anyway this subject is about various structures and mechanisms surrounding the face and mouth. There is quite a bit to memorise, but otherwise it's alright especially considering the exam will only be worth 10%.
Dental Science AThis is a very content heavy subject where there is a lot to understand and memorise. It consists of anatomy and physiology. I find resemblance to Year 12 Bio, with more focus on head and mouth. We have two lecturers for this, and one is very inspirational, engaging and motivating (who has high expectations from everyone lol) and another who isn't so engaging. Everyone finds difficulty focusing in his class, and a bit hard because the component he teaches is something I don't grasp so easily. Anyway, there's heaps of resources to understand anatomy and physiology on the internet so I will utilise them during this break to have a better understanding of the parts we've covered.
Pre-clinical Oral Health This subject is about pracs in the simulation labs and simulation clinics, which is fuuuuuun
We use manikins with fake gums, teeth, cheeks and use our instruments to learn some of the basic techniques and procedures in dentistry. It's so cool that we get to do real stuff from this early on, each of us with manikin and complete dental setting, like the suction, dental tray, etc. (If I get a good pic I might upload it to show you guys how it looks like!) My favorite so far is a technique for finding any irregularities on the teeth surfaces, using a sharp instrument. I guess my manual dexterity is alright because I get compliments about it almost every lesson, which is a nice reassurance. Especially for this subject though, pre-work is really necessary and I got told off for not completing the online tasks, so should put more effort into that from now on.
Public Health Practice This is a combined subject where we learn with students from other areas too, like Pharmacy and Paramedicine and it's quite chilled. We do not get any exams for this, although I think it would be super easy to prepare for if there was any, and all we need to do each week is complete a short online task that's pretty straight forward and attend 2 hour workshop. Everyone got quite slack in this subject and two weeks ago there were only 8 of us who attended the workshop, out of 25ish students
Having a laid back subject like this can be a nice break
On non-academic side of things, I joined the running club which I'm really enjoying! I've never been a long distance runner, but surprisingly your body adapts to it pretty quickly. It feels so good to start the day (once a week) with other group members, and now I am part of the run club committee so I'm responsible for organising some events too. We have a movie run coming up, where we will run to the cinema nearby and watch a movie together, so hope that goes well!
Alsooo, I'm really loving living on campus with other people my age. As the only child with a small family, I was unsure how to take it at first but we've gotten closer over the weeks and we get along pretty well. I can't believe how much freedom we have and it's nice to be able to go out if we want to even late at night. The support really helps when all your family and relatives are overseas
I'll keep you guys updated!!