What to do if you want to specialize?

[tayloreve]

Hey everyone.

I have been accepted to dental school and will start this summer. I know its a little early for wanting to specialize and I will be very pleased with just being a general dentist. However, I would like to further my education and I do have aspirations in specializing. I'm wondering what you should do if you want to stand out when you apply to whatever specialty. I understand the basics, like having a good GPA and passing your boards, but what else besides the obvious? Is dental research recommended? I know I will be very busy once in dental school so I don't really know how much extracurricular activities I will have time for except maybe on the weekends. Any insight or advice from anyone who also plans on specializing would be very appreciated.

Thank you very much SDN!!

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[#kalel]

There is literally a thread above yours about this same exact question........

 

[Contach]

Grades/class rank are your #1 priority - even the ones you don't think matter.

The second thing you need to try to do is figure out what specialty you want to do, EARLY!! Shadow different specialties, and multiple people within the same specialty. See the private practice and academic side of what they do. If your school has different specialty clinics: that is a place to start. Tell them you are a first year dental student and most will be happy to have you hang around. Get to know the residents - they'll give you some good insight.

Once you figure that out, the rest can fall into place easily: spend time with your school's specialty of your choosing, take call with them, get to know the faculty, etc. And the rest is history.

If you're indecisive, like me, it'll make your life harder. If you can set your eyes on one specialty, and never look back - you'll have a higher chance of matching, but in my opinion you would have never explored your options and may regret it down the road. I ended up choosing late into my 3rd year of dental school. It was hard to find attendings that I had spent a lot of time with in that particular specialty. At interviews many asked who in the department could vouch for me - sometimes hard questions to answer.

Oh.. and finally: don't piss off anyone (classmates, attendings, upper-year students, support staff, residents). You never know where you'll end up or whose help you'll need later on.