How to Manage Stress During Finals

It’s that time of the semester again! As finals are only a week away, it is important to find healthy and positive ways to manage the stress that at this time of the year can become quite inevitable. An extreme amount of stress can have an affect on your health so here are certain tips to help your ability to cope!

Exercise! Research shows that exercise can help benefit your mind and body. That is, take a relaxing walk, run or swim to help relieve any stress that you may be feeling. Go for a bike ride or try going to the gym. After exercising, you may feel relaxed and energized and this sort of effect can last you for several hours. Furthermore, any physical activity will strengthen your body and help you to be more resistant to stress. Also, attempt to more eat fresh foods and less caffeine and junk food. This will help you to think more clearly!

Sleep! Although it seems impossible, regarding the fact that you have so much studying to get done, be sure to get a good 6-8 hours of sleep every night. Sleeping 3-4 hours will do you no good and have you anxious and emotional instead. 

Find support. You are not alone! Sharing your feelings with another person helps alleviate some of the stress you may be sensing. Call a friend, text a friend. Share your concerns to someone you trust and will not put more stress on you. Talking about it and letting your feelings out is one way to manage the stress.

Be positive. A few days to study a semester’s worth of learning may seem overwhelming. However, having the right mindset with you will leave you with more positive results. Tell yourself you can do it, be confident and know that there is a light at the end of every tunnel. Try organizing a to-do list or planner and reward yourself after accomplishing anything on that list. This will keep you going!

Meditate. Relaxing and focusing on you can be quite beneficial. This type of exercise will allow you to take a lot of deep breaths, which will help calm you. Meditation is simply one out of many ways to help keep the mind and body relaxed and focused. While meditating, you will release emotions that have been causing the body even more stress.

And lastly,

Have fun. Do not forget to smile and laugh! Staying up ‘till four at the PCL does not have to be the end of the world. Try listening to your favorite artist while you study and lift your mood. Take breaks once in a while and go down to the drag for a study break and/or simply do something that will you keep your mind off your studying at least for a while. Sometimes all it takes is watching a funny You-Tube clip to have you laughing. These are always great, healthy ways to de-stress.

With these said, toughen up future dentists! Find ways to manage your stress and do not forget all your hard work will pay off in the end. Good luck and study hard!

Bianca Chavez

SMDEP: A Summer to Remember

Hello fellow teeth lovers! My name is Megan Chavana and I am a third year Biology major and I’d love to share one of the most memorable summers with you!

Friends. Fun. Experience.

Those are the three words that can accurately describe my summer of 2013 at the Summer Medical and Dental Education Program at the Houston Dental School. This is a program focused on helping minorities in healthcare fields and to gain insight into classes in medical or dental school, shadowing experience, lab experience, and networking opportunities. We were able to work on personal statements, the application process, and help understand the financial responsibilities and advice from experts.

My favorite academic experiences would have to be working in the simulation lab and the anatomy lab. We were able to perform class 1 cavity preps and were taught how to properly use the hand pieces. We got to keep the teeth which was really awesome! The anatomy lab was so surreal. I remember being super anxious over seeing a cadaver; it was a great way to appreciate how far doctors and dentists have come based on gaining knowledge from those who have kindly donated their bodies to further the future generations of health providers.

In addition to the rigorous 8-5 schedule, we made time to have some fun on the weekends by going to the mall, movies, and the zoo. There was plenty of time for social activities which was great! We played sand volleyball and tennis frequently and had access to the gym.

My favorite part of the experience was the friendships that I made. I was overwhelmed at how close we all got to each other. Initially I was nervous and anxious since I knew of no one attending the trip; however, that changed quickly once I instantly connected with so many new people. It still amazes me to think how close we are still to this day regardless of the distance. I can safely say that I have met some of the most fun and genuine people throughout this experience.

Overall, I am so blessed to have met many dental students and friends that are always a phone call or text away. By going to this program, it has solidified my decision in pursuing my dream of becoming a dentist. Something that I have realized is that there are people out there that want you to succeed and are willing to help you, but they aren’t going to do anything if you don’t ask. Asking is the key to going further and you never know where it may lead you.

Valentine's Day with the Elderly

I really enjoyed going to the valentines for the elderly community service event! It reminded me of how funny and down to earth older people can be J. In high school, I participated in an event called “Cupcakes and Candles” where my peers and I would sing (even though I didn’t have the voice for it) to the elderly after school the last Tuesday of every month. After singing, we would distribute cupcakes to the elderly! The joy on their faces was enough motivation to make me attend the event each month. It was such a cute community service project and when I went to the valentines for the elderly community service event, I saw happiness in the faces of the elder people (it resembled the joy on the faces of the elderly people during Cupcakes and Candles). Many people would rather work with young children as opposed to the elderly because they feel that the elderly might be boring or grouchy. However, they are quite comical and entertaining! An elderly woman in particular confirms this. According to “Babe” she was quite conservative when she was younger and now that she is older she wishes she could have “had more fun” with all her “boyfriends.” I was baffled to hear such words coming out of this woman’s mouth! Not all old people are the same. They are, however, all wise and give you advice as it pertains to the regrets they have had in their past.

Randa Kabbani

Freshman

Chemistry major

Shadowing Dr. Johnson

I shadow with Dr Johnson, a pediatric dentist in Austin, about once every two weeks and it is a great experience to learn more about the field and the ins and outs of starting up a new practice. Central Park Pediatric Dentistry, Dr Johnson’s practice, was newly founded less than a year ago. There are not too many patients that come in every day, but it is steadily increasing with many people referring friends and family.

He works with each patient and takes the time to explain everything that he will be doing to the parent, guiding them through age specific information for their child, and answering any questions the parent may have. Dr. Johnson also makes sure the child is comfortable and familiar with all the tools he is using before he starts work on them, and also turns on the tv up on the ceiling to keep the kid distracted and entertained. All the kids I have seen come through Central Pediatric all find their visit to be fun and in no way scary!

I would like to take this same mindset in friendly patient care if I am able to start up my own practice. So many people are recommending Dr Johnson to their friends for how well he treats his patient and how much the kids like it there!

Shadowing is a great way to learn more about different specialties or to get a feel for dentistry itself. It is definitely a must before making a decision on whether dentistry is right for you or not. TPS has a great system to set you up with a shadowing experience, or you can do what I did and just email the dentist and see how they feel about you shadowing. I mean the worst they can say is no right?

-Phu Vuong

Baylor Dental Tour on 4/11/14

Visiting Baylor Dental was a great experience and I would encourage everyone to come out to the Dental School Trips if you can. It was my first dental school trip so I am definitely going to try to make it down to the other two schools next time we go.

What I have to say I liked most about Baylor was the friendly and noncompetitive environment. Talking with the people there, everyone had a lot of fun and though it was a lot of work, all the students supported each other. It was also nice to see some old faces from the TPS alumni as well!

The building itself seemed smaller than I expected it to be and older as well. That would probably be the biggest con I saw from going there, but it is cheaper than the other two Texas Dental schools so that about evens each other out.

I think everyone should go out and check the schools out for themselves. It is a great way to make connections and to have questions answered by students who have gone through what we are going through and succeeded and also talk to the faculty who could possibly be interviewing you!

- Phu Vuong