I’m about to finish my first year of dental school (I go to UoP, so only 2 more years), and I didn’t do as well as I had expected. Didactics I mainly got As and Bs, got one C in an intro Endo course (it was brutal — 60+ pages of reading a week for one stinking credit). Sim lab, I got a B in indirect operatory and a D in direct (had a couple bad practicals).

I ended up remediating direct, and definitely have a really good hand on preps and fills now.

I know clinic is different, but I always felt my preclinical preps and restorations were uglier than some of my classmates.

I am trying the best I can, and for now I’m focused on just making clinically acceptable work that will slowly become excellent as I develop more skill/practice more.

My grades probably put me in the bottom quarter of my class, which is kinda disheartening as I was at the top of my class in college (finished summa cum laude with a biochem degree).

I’ve also been devoting time to a lot of outside activities (clubs and research). My independent Dental research is actually taking off (got a couple companies/programs interested in investing).

Anyway, for those of you who were average to even below average grade-wise in dental school, did you find that this impacted you? Are my chances for potentially specializing down the road ruined?

I’d say I’m most interested in perio and pathology (both connect with my research/product development).

Thank you!