Matthew Lepowsky
Major: Biological Sciences - Pre-Dental Student
Honors Program - Combined Program in Dental Medicine
University of Connecticut College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
During the school year, I take many science courses, as well as humanities and social sciences. I've almost completed my first semester of the course which every pre-medical, pre-dental, pre-pharmacy, and pre-veterinary student fears the most: organic chemistry. Some people say that organic chemistry is all about memorization – do not belief them! Yes, you have to do a lot of memorization, but what's more important is practicing to really understand the concepts. So, organic chemistry takes up a large part of my daily routine.
Obviously I take biology courses, like genetics and physiology. It is really important to balance out your schedule – I try to take one or two social science or humanities courses, such as anthropology and psychology, each semester to balance out the workload of science courses. Outside of classes, work and studying, I participate in extracurricular activities such as my university’s predental society.
Over my breaks, I divide my time between shadowing, volunteering, and research. I really like shadowing local dentists because it allows me to get the feel for the dental profession; I try to divide my time between general dentists and specialists to see the wide variety of dental careers. I also do volunteer work and community service. I enjoy volunteering at the local hospital and dental school clinics. I also participate in community service work, such as working with individuals with special needs at the Special Olympics.
Finally, I participate in research. Most science students think that research is only working in a laboratory, but that's just one type of research. I work at my university’s health center doing data management and analysis for many large-scale research projects funded by the National Institute for Health, which is really exciting! And, I can’t forget, this summer, I'm starting my preparation for the DATs! Just a little bit about my life as a predental student.
Thanks for reading, and good luck on your pathway to dentistry!