Guest tottihead Posted November 1, 2003 Report Share Posted November 1, 2003 Now that the exam is over, we all can finally get back to our normal lives of studying for midterms. I thought the exam wasnt too bad, I now finally understand what you people meant by the "fluted" shape. A little late, but oh well. I thought the PAT and RCT and chem were pretty decent. I didnt have any clue on a few of the bio's. Im just happy its finally over!:rollin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest coolguy3650 Posted November 1, 2003 Report Share Posted November 1, 2003 I would have to agree with most of your points. I had completely the wrong idea of what fluted was, but atleast I'll know for next time (hopefilly there won't be a next time). RCT and chem I thought were pretty easy. Bio did have some wierd questions, it seemed like they were taking questions from all over the biological sciences (cell biology, genetics, botany, zoology, biochemistry, physiology, anatomy). When will you ever need to know about plant reproduction when you're a dentist? PAT was alright, but time was an issue for me. Does anyone know when we'll get the score? I'm hoping by mid december, but that's probably a long shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest elaineli315 Posted November 1, 2003 Report Share Posted November 1, 2003 Hi, I am relieved that it is over, but at the same time a little anxious on how it will turn out. I agree with you guys on the PAT, RCN and Bio parts. My hands were shaking so badly during the carving tho. I wish it wasn't the first test part I had to do. So from what I heard from the test writers I talked to so far, seems like everyone have a good deal of confidence. Just wonder what if most people, if not all, do more or less equally well, would they just just let the curve be skewed or what. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guyver03 Posted November 2, 2003 Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 I'm glad that the whole DAT thing is over now. Like elaine, my hands were shaking for the first 15 min during the carving, even though I've practiced lots of carving, I was scare that I'd chip the soap. Good thing the carving wasn't that hard. Bio part was decent, as well as the Chem part, althought I was thrown off a little bit by some of the questions. Now the PAT was a bit harder than I imagined, I only have maybe 5min left after I finished everything. Did anyone noticed that on one of the angle question, two of the answers are the same? I hope they give marks to both choices. As for the RCT, I think it was easy, esp the last two passages, I guess I was interested in the subject and it was easier to retain the info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest toothy jr Posted November 2, 2003 Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 I think it's a bit annoying that a thousand people pay to write this, and they would still not be able to pick out something as obvious as 2 identical answers. Apparently they pull the stuff right out of the american DAT, because one year when I wrote it they forgot to get rid of the organic questions! There's been some empirical studies done to see if high carving scores correlate with good practical skills... If I remember correctly excellent carvers tend to do a bit better in the start, but the gap shrinks as the year progresses. In any case don't fret if you had a horrendous score, once you get in you will catch up if you spend enough hours practicing in the lab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest elaineli315 Posted November 2, 2003 Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 Don't know if you guys in BC have the same test as we do. I didn't spot any identical answers in the angle (perhaps I missed it), but there was one in the keyhole section, number 9 it was. For us, the chem is quite ok, but some bio questions were something I have not encountered at all in my reasonably thorough review using the Kaplan book. Can anyone tell me how they mark the carving? I think I did well with the saddle and the end "triangle", but I did chip off part of the flute due to hand shaking (felt terrible after that). Would they give marks to each part individually? Heard that it would be like around 10 dentists looking at each test, sounds scary to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest toothy jr Posted November 2, 2003 Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 Not having written in 3 years I'm using old info, but the carving section back then was marked on a curve, with people getting discrete scores like 30,27,24,...3 etc. The idea is that your carving is compared to the others' using the various criteria such as angles, length and sharpness of cuts. In any case the mark was completely dependent on the skills of the cohort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest coolguy3650 Posted November 2, 2003 Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 how did everyone prepare for the dat? There seems to be a real lack of quality resources. Like you said, Kplan did not adequately cover biology, and kaplan has by far the best bio section. It's also highly difficult to study for PAT and soap carving, very few resources for those two. And how the heck do you carve the fluted end? I realize that's a tough question to answer on a forum, but I'm completely lost on that one. Hopefully I did alright today and it won't matter, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tottihead Posted November 2, 2003 Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 yeah, i was pretty bad at the fluted end as well. I have to agree about the whole kaplan bio section, i dont know if its just the way that the american dat is different from the canadian one or what, but they had a lot of questions that was not covered in any of the resources that i had, in fact if it werent for my 300-level courses that im taking i wouldve done absolutely terrible. I asked some of my friends and they told me that they did well, because a lot of questions came from their anatomy classes and other advanced bio-sci classes. Overall, i was pretty angry about the bio section, even though it wasnt that bad, i just had no way to study for all the material without the resources. >: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bigheadbebe Posted November 3, 2003 Report Share Posted November 3, 2003 Hey, Coolguy, carving is simple as it was very very similar as the one I practice with the DAT tutor... Are you in UBC? Perhaps you should try them or visit Vancouver in Christmas if you do need to write the test again. They also have good practice RCT section with similar level of difficulty... Biology section is actually a little bit easier than the one in the mock test, so I am quite confident...8o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guyver03 Posted November 3, 2003 Report Share Posted November 3, 2003 Yeah I agree with Bigheadbebe, I took the carving course with the DAT tutor, it helps me a lot cause they taught use some useful ways to cut fluted ends, like cutting the edge sideway. I wonder why some ppl thought the biology section was that hard, are you guys not majoring in biology? I guess because I majored in molecular biology, I know some of the stuffs quite well. When I first looked at the soap and its colour, I thought I'm in lots of trouble, because the colour is the same as the powdery soap that I got when I registered DAT, turns out when I cutted it, it was the waxy one, what a relieve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pearlywhitesBC Posted November 3, 2003 Report Share Posted November 3, 2003 I agree that it is hard to practice for the carving without any resources (the book that the CDA gives you isn't a whole lot of help). I'm a working girl so it was almost impossible for me to make it out to UBC to see a tutor. Instead I used a carving guide by IQ publications. I'm not sure how much it costs (a friend gave it to me) but I would definitely recommend it to anyone who doesn't want to be surprised by the real carving test. The manual takes you through some really effective methods for marking/carving your soap - I found most of these really helpful in developing an approach that worked for me. There is also 10 carving figures to practice with - I'm positive that anyone who takes the time to practice all of these would see a huge improvement in their timing and accuracy (I certainly did). And I think the book covers pretty much anything that you would ever encounter in the real DAT - so you will have tried everything at least once before the exam (even fluted ends ) That said, I still had a really hard time keeping my hands still! I never thought I would be so nervous - it's so different from doing it at home! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest coolguy3650 Posted November 3, 2003 Report Share Posted November 3, 2003 I live in edmonton, but maybe I'll see if I can go down to vancouver next time. That IQ publications book sounds great, I wish I had gotten it. Thanks for the tips guys, hopefully it won't be necessary, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rez32 Posted November 4, 2003 Report Share Posted November 4, 2003 Is this DAT tutor only at UBC? Or is this more like a Kaplan course? I'd love to be able to get a DAT tutor without having to pay for the $1000 Kaplan in-class... too bad I'm in Toronto. |I And how would I get my hands on that IQ Pubs carving guide? I'm taking the DAT in a year's time so I'm collecting any DAT resources available! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kicoati Posted November 4, 2003 Report Share Posted November 4, 2003 Hi rez32, U of T bookstore has 2-3 IQ publication practice PAT, and so does the Dental Library (not sure if you know where it is, 124 Edward Street 2nd floor). On the last page of each practice booklet, there are order forms that you can use to order some more of their stuff, including the carving guide/video. I think the bookstore may have run out of stock for now, but you can reserve them at the dental library and just photocopy the order forms. Regarding DAT tutors, you may want to check with the pre-dental society at UofT (assuming you are UofT student? I apologize if I am wrong about it), they may have more information. Good Luck with your study, you are ahead of the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest toothy jr Posted November 4, 2003 Report Share Posted November 4, 2003 exactly what kind of expertise do these DAT tutors have? I don't see how they will be more effective at making critiques of soap carving, unless they were at some point doing the marking! Perhaps there is some subjectivity involved as well... I think it would be more productive to practice carving with a bunch of friends some afternoon and brainstorm strategies to improve speed and accuracy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LestatZinnie Posted November 4, 2003 Report Share Posted November 4, 2003 i was involved with dat tutor and all their tutors were dental students who achieved a very high score on the carving section. they know what the examiners look for and will specifically tell you so. i used to think my carving was pretty good until i went to one of their sessions and found out i was doing most things wrong. it is pretty useless to do it among friends imo. it's worth it to have it looked at and be taught effective techniques by people 'who have been there'. of course if you have friends who get 25+ in their carving then i would trust their judgements too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest coolguy3650 Posted November 4, 2003 Report Share Posted November 4, 2003 For rez, and anyone else who wants to know, I've found IQ publications site, where you can order their materials: www.intltestprep.com/dat.htm. I haven't used the stuff myself so I can't attest to it's quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tottihead Posted November 6, 2003 Report Share Posted November 6, 2003 Dont bother actually ordering the soap or chalk from them, well you could try. When i was preparing for the DAT i ordered a whole @#%$ load of stuff(in august, yes im a keener) and didnt get anything. I called them (in late september) and they said they only have the practice exams for sciences and pat and rtc and a couple of the kits for wax, i think. So i said forget the soaps and just get the practice tests, boy was that a big mistake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bigheadbebe Posted November 7, 2003 Report Share Posted November 7, 2003 For Rez: 1000 bucks for Kaplan in Toronto is a lot, you can use the money to buy a cheap return ticket to Vancouver with a DAT Tutor course! :rollin Actually, I heard my instructor say that the course has been offered in Toronto in the past, and they are thinking of doing it if there is sufficient request from UT student (as UT doesn't care carving, so most student don't want to learn), perhaps you can try to contact your pre-dental society to see if they can group enough student together so that they can fly over to Toronto in one weekend to repeat the course sometimes in Sept/Oct next year. I am sure it will be much cheaper than each of you pay $1000 to Kaplan...8o For those who like to come to Vancouver for a visit this Christmas or Jan, they have a session preparing for Feb DAT as I just saw their posters today... You can use them as private tutor or take the course or even practice final exam in the last week. The nice thing is their price is not like Kaplan... IQ books are reap off. $25 + Tax for just one PAT exam! And they make it 3 different forms... Oh, for those in UBC, one of the book is in Woodward reserve, so don't need to pay!! The science is not that relevant anyway...You can buy another reference with 1 full length exam plus review with $45... There are 10 figures in the carving book, but did anyone of you notice that 5 of the figures are totally irrelevant and won't be tested like that...:eek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rez32 Posted November 7, 2003 Report Share Posted November 7, 2003 Hey everyone, Thanks for all the info, I really appreciate it. I actually don't go to UofT, but I'm going to try to get someone to borrow those IQ Pubs PAT booklets for me. They seem kind of outdated though, 1996 and 1997 -- are there more recent versions out there? And I wonder if I can join UT's Pre-dental Society even though I'm not a student there... I'll at least email them to see if they have DAT tutors like UBC does. Do any of you know how I might be able to contact the DAT tutors at UBC to get more info on their tutoring sessions? It'd be great if they were holding sessions next summer so that I'd be able to make it down there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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