>> Well I think that from an undergraduate standpoint, students should probably seek
out a prominent practice in the area where they are living or going
to school, and do some shadowing.
Go in and observe and see if this is what you really like.
And after shadowing for a little bit if they -- if the --
you develop a burning interest in the dental profession,
then perhaps try to do some research in those areas.
There are many organizations and offices and institutions that will allow students to come
in and, you know, with no tuition being paid, just come in and learn how to do some research
and become more familiar with the terminology.
You know one of the biggest -- one of the biggest hurdles that young professionals have
to overcome in any profession, but particularly so in medicine and dentistry, is terminology.
You are going to learn -- they are going to learn an entirely new language.
You know the terms of the teeth and the positions and you know
and all of the craniofacial anatomy that has to be learned.
And that is something that they can start doing in the undergraduate curriculum.
They should matriculate on anatomy courses and be heavy on sciences
and particularly material sciences; biomaterials is important.
If they are thinking that they would like to do something between college and,
and professional school, an area like biomedical engineering would be helpful.
An area like maybe getting a Master's in Biochemistry would be helpful.
But, there is a lot of opportunities for undergraduates
to advance themselves before they get to the point of their first year in dental school.