Welcome to Pre-Dental Bootcamp!
Whether you're a first-year student exploring career options or a seasoned Aggie preparing to apply, this summer is the perfect opportunity to strengthen your path to dental school!
Join Health Professions Advising Monday - Friday, August 3rd - 20th, from 3pm - 4:30pm via Zoom for an engaging virtual series featuring HPA advisors and dental professionals who will share insider tips on becoming a competitive applicant, navigating the admissions process, and building a successful career in dentistry. Come ready to learn, ask questions, and connect with professionals in the field.
2026 Pre-Dental Bootcamp Registration
Attendance for every session is not mandatory, join when you can! We highly encourage our attendees to have their camera on and unmute/type in chat when they have questions. This helps the speakers gauge the audience and connect with students. Additionally during each session, an HPA advisor will be there to answer any questions on how HPA's services can help you get into dental school!
Note: HPA workshops are free and open to all UC Davis admitted students, current students, & alumni. For 2026 there will be a limited number of free registration spots for non-UCD college students.
*In-person sessions have additional registration required.
2026 Pre-Dental Bootcamp Calendar
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| August 3rd Pre-Dental 101 From pre-reqs to competencies, learn all the important details for preparing as a pre-dental student at UC Davis. | August 4th Pre-Dental Timelines: Gap Year(s) vs Straight Through An interactive demo and discussion on timelines, including when to take the DAT and apply. | August 5th Gaining Meaningful Pre-Dental Experiences Trivia Explore different ways you can get involved on- and off-campus such as shadowing, student run clinics, and more! | August 6th Overcoming GPA Challenges We know adjusting to science classes can be challenging. We'll discuss safe vs competitive GPA, upward trend, tools, and options (post-bac vs SMP) to build your metrics. | August 7th Coming Soon |
| August 10th Breaking Down the DAT Our test prep specialist will review registration, breakdown of the day, popular study resources, and how to begin preparation. | August 11th Accepted Med Student Panel The pre-med path is challenging, but very possible. UC Davis alumni will share their different journeys and where they are matriculating this fall. | August 12th Coming Soon | August 13th Gaining Meaningful Experiences Kahoot Learn more about gaining clinical and non-clinical experiences, including shadowing, EMT, Phlebotomy, and more. | August 14th Coming Soon |
| August 17th Coming Soon | August 18th Coming Soon | August 19th Coming Soon | August 20th Coming Soon |
- Certificate of Completion
- If you attend at least 45 minutes of 10 or more sessions you will be eligible to receive a certificate of completion. A google form will be available at the end of the bootcamp programming to apply for the certificate. (When logging in with Zoom please use the same name and email when possible to help with attendance tracking.)
The Certificate of Completion can be added to your application to dental school and you can have space to share how it demonstrates your passion for dentistry, what you learned, and how it impacted your journey. - Hybrid Sessions
Zoom links and locations will be sent to those who register. HPA staff will be available in the chat to answer questions and provide additional information throughout bootcamp!
Each session will begin at approximately 3:10 pm. Please note a waiting room will be enabled and you will need to login to your zoom account to join the meeting. We encourage joining early in order to ensure you are able to login. Sessions will be hosted live and not recorded.
In-person sessions will require an additional registration as space is limited. Registration will be available closer to the event date.