Studying for NBDE Part I and USMLE Step I at the same time

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Would you encourage someone to study for NBDE Part 1 and USMLE Step I (for OMFS residency) prior to entering dental school in order to get ahead of everyone else? Would it even be possible to cover both in three months?

For example, I was thinking of studying from First Aid and Dental Decks for NBDE Part I and from First Aid USMLE Step I for Step I.

Absolutely not.

Originally Posted by Michael Scarn

Absolutely not.

May I ask why though?

the tests cover different material, and they present it differently.

why are you studying for both. I could understand possibly studying for the MCAT or DAT together, but at this point your in one of the schools.

I don't think it would help, but hey every little bit counts right?

I'll see how it goes and let you all know in about a year from now.

Waste of time. You're not going to remember anything you studied by the time the end of D2 year rolls around.

You haven't even started dental school yet and you're already set on OMFS?

1) You haven't even taken a single dental course to see how you stack up against your classmates
2) You're probably not as smart as you think you are (relative to your future peers)
3) You're set on a specialty when you haven't learned how to perform one procedure
4) You're going to waste countless hours studying material that you will simply forget or not be prepared to study, when you could be living life like a normal pre-dent


Highly naive and imprudent, my friend.

I'll meet you half way. You seem like the type that can't let those 3 months go by without making progress on your OMS goals. That is fine. I was that type too, however, even I thought pre-studying was ridiculous.

Find yourself some OMS to shadow. If you've done plenty of that, try and get some university based exposure. It takes some calling around because you're not even a dental student yet and there are issues with liability there. If that hits a wall, find out which private practice OMS in your community are doing the hospital procedures. Seek out your own future dental school too.

Or, just hang out because it's a 10 year haul from where you're at now.

if and only if, you wanna study the last break you have, study DAO, anatomy, or anything that helps you in dental school. Doing well in d-school, becoming a good dentist comes first, then go for OMFS; in a sense its like planing for college before going thru high-school ...

im in complete agreement with the other posters.

Dental school is hard. The people who are OMFS are some of the hardest working people I know. Notice I didn't say smartest. Dental school is a grind. It sounds like you up for the challenge, but honestly the type of people who go on to be an OMFS have 25 DAT, 4.0 GPAs, rock the NDBE, and have a great dental school gpa. They also tend to rock clinical. It is very competitive. I would focus on the DAT.

The NDBE part 1 is basically the DAT on roids. I doubt you would have the knowledge to cover most of the material with just a b.s. You would likely need an M.S. in biology to have grasp on everything.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Wow this is one of the most absurd posts I have seen. I can't believe this is an actual question. Go have fun with your friends, get a girlfriend or something else, anything. Don't study for something that you aren't even close to doing.