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[Thefourthmolar]

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[D1Bound]

Avoid UAB Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at All Costs – A Resident’s Honest Review

I’m writing this anonymously, not out of fear, but because I know that anyone who speaks out against this program risks retaliation — even long after they’ve left. I hope that for anyone reading this who’s considering UAB OMFS, you take this as a serious and honest caution. There are many excellent training programs in oral surgery. UAB is not one of them.

Toxic Culture, Zero Support

At UAB, the resident experience is defined by isolation, gaslighting, and being overworked with minimal to no guidance. There is no mentorship culture. There is no feedback loop. You learn not by being taught, but by being thrown into the fire, and when you inevitably get burned, you are blamed — not supported.

The culture is deeply malignant. Residents are expected to function under constant scrutiny, fear-based leadership, and inconsistent expectations. If you ask questions, advocate for yourself, or fall out of favor politically, you are blacklisted. You are not viewed as a future colleague or surgeon-in-training — you are viewed as a liability.

You Will Hardly Operate. You Will Write Notes.

The surgical training is poor, plain and simple. You will spend far more time buried in clinic note-writing, coordinating disorganized care plans, and doing clerical busywork than you will in the OR. The OR time you do get is often dictated by favoritism, not by educational structure. The fellows take over the majority of procedures anyways.

Some residents graduate undertrained. Others leave. Others are pushed out under the guise of “academic remediation” when what they needed was mentorship, not punishment.

Dysfunctional Leadership and Faculty Politics

The attending doctors are not unified, nor are they consistent in their expectations. There is open division among faculty, and residents often get caught in the crossfire. Some faculty posture as approachable but disappear when it comes time to advocate for their residents. Others use their authority to target residents they don’t like.

Accountability does not exist unless you’re a resident — in which case you’re accountable for everything, including failures that are systemic, not personal.

Mental Health? You’re On Your Own.

Burnout is rampant. Morale is dismal. Requests for help are either ignored or used against you. There is no wellness infrastructure. You suffer in silence, or you leave. Many do. There is no humility from leadership. No self-reflection. Just a desire to protect the institution’s reputation — even if that means sacrificing residents along the way.

Final Thoughts

UAB’s OMFS program may have strong case numbers on paper and some well-known names on faculty, but none of that matters if you are constantly being undermined, neglected, or emotionally abused.

If you value your surgical education, your mental health, and your dignity — apply elsewhere. There are programs out there that will teach you, support you, and treat you like a person. UAB is not one of them.

Ask the hard questions on interview day. Talk to former residents. Trust the red flags.

How exactly could you face retaliation after you have graduated? Why don’t you state specific examples?

 

[deleted1203555]

Avoid UAB Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at All Costs – A Resident’s Honest Review

I’m writing this anonymously, not out of fear, but because I know that anyone who speaks out against this program risks retaliation — even long after they’ve left. I hope that for anyone reading this who’s considering UAB OMFS, you take this as a serious and honest caution. There are many excellent training programs in oral surgery. UAB is not one of them.

Toxic Culture, Zero Support

At UAB, the resident experience is defined by isolation, gaslighting, and being overworked with minimal to no guidance. There is no mentorship culture. There is no feedback loop. You learn not by being taught, but by being thrown into the fire, and when you inevitably get burned, you are blamed — not supported.

The culture is deeply malignant. Residents are expected to function under constant scrutiny, fear-based leadership, and inconsistent expectations. If you ask questions, advocate for yourself, or fall out of favor politically, you are blacklisted. You are not viewed as a future colleague or surgeon-in-training — you are viewed as a liability.

You Will Hardly Operate. You Will Write Notes.

The surgical training is poor, plain and simple. You will spend far more time buried in clinic note-writing, coordinating disorganized care plans, and doing clerical busywork than you will in the OR. The OR time you do get is often dictated by favoritism, not by educational structure. The fellows take over the majority of procedures anyways.

Some residents graduate undertrained. Others leave. Others are pushed out under the guise of “academic remediation” when what they needed was mentorship, not punishment.

Dysfunctional Leadership and Faculty Politics

The attending doctors are not unified, nor are they consistent in their expectations. There is open division among faculty, and residents often get caught in the crossfire. Some faculty posture as approachable but disappear when it comes time to advocate for their residents. Others use their authority to target residents they don’t like.

Accountability does not exist unless you’re a resident — in which case you’re accountable for everything, including failures that are systemic, not personal.

Mental Health? You’re On Your Own.

Burnout is rampant. Morale is dismal. Requests for help are either ignored or used against you. There is no wellness infrastructure. You suffer in silence, or you leave. Many do. There is no humility from leadership. No self-reflection. Just a desire to protect the institution’s reputation — even if that means sacrificing residents along the way.

Final Thoughts

UAB’s OMFS program may have strong case numbers on paper and some well-known names on faculty, but none of that matters if you are constantly being undermined, neglected, or emotionally abused.

If you value your surgical education, your mental health, and your dignity — apply elsewhere. There are programs out there that will teach you, support you, and treat you like a person. UAB is not one of them.

Ask the hard questions on interview day. Talk to former residents. Trust the red flags.

Thanks for your post.

How many fellows do they have here ?
What are the fellowships for (cancer, tmj, cosmetics, general fellowship)?

 

[Thefourthmolar]

Thanks for your post.

How many fellows do they have here ?
What are the fellowships for (cancer, tmj, cosmetics, general fellowship)?

two fellows for head and neck
a single fellow for ortho and TMJ surgery

 

[Thefourthmolar]

How exactly could you face retaliation after you have graduated? Why don’t you state specific examples?

Many individuals—residents and attendings alike—remain in the same professional community, especially in small town Alabama. Oral surgery is a small world, and reputations carry. If someone in a position of influence doesn’t like you, that sentiment often gets passed along informally to current residents, other programs, or even future employers.

Retaliation doesn’t always come in the form of overt actions. It can look like subtle but damaging word-of-mouth, being excluded from opportunities, or having your name unfairly associated with controversy. This can persist long after graduation and continue to affect one’s ability to move forward in their career.

 

[gorilla3]

A little off topic but can you comment on Alabama Endo program? Research heavy? Hoping OP gets over these hurdles and graduates without incident. I've been to cook county omfs and it didn't seem as bad as Alabama.

 

[HockeyDocOMFS]

You learn not by being taught, but by being thrown into the fire, and when you inevitably get burned, you are blamed

Welcome to residency bro… if you wanted more hand holding, you should have considered an entirely different specialty. OMFS residency is 99% self-taught through reading and googling things on the fly. Every program, especially the southern programs, throw you into the fire. They’re not for the weak of heart

 

[yappy]

Welcome to residency bro… if you wanted more hand holding, you should have considered an entirely different specialty. OMFS residency is 99% self-taught through reading and googling things on the fly. Every program, especially the southern programs, throw you into the fire. They’re not for the weak of heart

Terrifying as a patient. Hopefully other fields of dentistry and medicine are more professional than this.

 

[D1Bound]

Many individuals—residents and attendings alike—remain in the same professional community, especially in small town Alabama. Oral surgery is a small world, and reputations carry. If someone in a position of influence doesn’t like you, that sentiment often gets passed along informally to current residents, other programs, or even future employers.

Retaliation doesn’t always come in the form of overt actions. It can look like subtle but damaging word-of-mouth, being excluded from opportunities, or having your name unfairly associated with controversy. This can persist long after graduation and continue to affect one’s ability to move forward in their career.

It’s a small community, but I think this gets exaggerated a bit. Your everyday oral surgeon or dentist in another state probably isn’t going to hear about some academic egg head bad mouthing a past resident. What does that say about that faculty? It goes both ways. I personally think we should stop cowing down so much in this profession. I’d like to think that one day when I have fully “made it” I won’t tolerate someone treating another human being indecent. Some people do need to be told off. One can dream I suppose.

 

[deleted1203555]

two fellows for head and neck
a single fellow for ortho and TMJ surgery

how are the orthognathic cases distributed between the fellows and chief residents ?

Intraoperatively when both are in the same room in the same case (chief and fellow) - describe how the case is shared.

How many orthognathic cases does the program have in general ?

What portions of the case do the attendings operate vs the chief/fellow?

 

[HockeyDocOMFS]

Terrifying as a patient. Hopefully other fields of dentistry and medicine are more professional than this.

This is in all of medicine and not just OMFS. Intern year in all specialties is running around with your head cut off a bit until you slowly understand everything, especially how the hospital works. Not only do you have to learn OMFS, but you also need to learn how Epic works, how to communicate with other hospital staff, how to properly close the loop, etc. There is nothing you can do to learn this other than trial and error. There is no way around it. You have to lean on your upper levels from time to time, but a lot of the time they are also extremely busy. So you have to figure it out on your own. Welcome to the understaffed, underpaid life of a hospital resident!

 

[Thefourthmolar]

A little off topic but can you comment on Alabama Endo program? Research heavy? Hoping OP gets over these hurdles and graduates without incident. I've been to cook county omfs and it didn't seem as bad as Alabama.

I don’t know them to be research heavy. They have an excellent case load, seeing as so few endo providers take Medicaid in Alabama. Nice people and easy to work with as far as my experience goes. The PD is very kind.

 

[Thefourthmolar]

This is in all of medicine and not just OMFS. Intern year in all specialties is running around with your head cut off a bit until you slowly understand everything, especially how the hospital works. Not only do you have to learn OMFS, but you also need to learn how Epic works, how to communicate with other hospital staff, how to properly close the loop, etc. There is nothing you can do to learn this other than trial and error. There is no way around it. You have to lean on your upper levels from time to time, but a lot of the time they are also extremely busy. So you have to figure it out on your own. Welcome to the understaffed, underpaid life of a hospital resident!

This is true and I agree.

It’s a small community, but I think this gets exaggerated a bit. Your everyday oral surgeon or dentist in another state probably isn’t going to hear about some academic egg head bad mouthing a past resident. What does that say about that faculty? It goes both ways. I personally think we should stop cowing down so much in this profession. I’d like to think that one day when I have fully “made it” I won’t tolerate someone treating another human being indecent. Some people do need to be told off. One can dream I suppose.

i agree with you completely

 

[Thefourthmolar]

how are the orthognathic cases distributed between the fellows and chief residents ?

Intraoperatively when both are in the same room in the same case (chief and fellow) - describe how the case is shared.

How many orthognathic cases does the program have in general ?

What portions of the case do the attendings operate vs the chief/fellow?

1) you never really know. It depends on the attendings mood that day. Some days the fellow and attending just do it all. Other days you might get to cut your side.
2) the chief will be at the head while fellow and attending cut the case. If attending feels like including you, you will switch to operative side as upper level.
3) there are plenty but it is based on the time of year, summer and Christmas with higher ortho case load
4) some attendings do the entire thing themselves, others split the case with you, it all depends on their mood. fellow can show up to anything they want and take over.

 

[deleted1203555]

1) you never really know. It depends on the attendings mood that day. Some days the fellow and attending just do it all. Other days you might get to cut your side.
2) the chief will be at the head while fellow and attending cut the case. If attending feels like including you, you will switch to operative side as upper level.
3) there are plenty but it is based on the time of year, summer and Christmas with higher ortho case load
4) some attendings do the entire thing themselves, others split the case with you, it all depends on their mood. fellow can show up to anything they want and take over.

this is not ideal.

Let me share with you how things are supposed to be done:

Attending at head of the table retracting and verbally guiding the entire case.
Two chief residents operating the entire case, one on each side.
Occasionally (not always), attending at the head, chief resident on one side, lower level on opposite site, chief cuts the whole case.

It’s a waste of time to go to any program where chiefs don’t cut a minimum of 50 percent of an orthognathic case. Every case should be done this way.

Orthognathic is not some fancy special, sexy procedure that only attendings and fellows do. In fact there shouldn’t even be a fellowship for Orthognathic surgery.
Residents should leave a program and feel like they can do a orthognathic case blindfolded.

Ask me how I know.

I wouldn’t even interview or waste my time at a program like this.

 

[teeth!]

this is not ideal.

Let me share with you how things are supposed to be done:

Attending at head of the table retracting and verbally guiding the entire case.
Two chief residents operating the entire case, one on each side.
Occasionally (not always), attending at the head, chief resident on one side, lower level on opposite site, chief cuts the whole case.

It’s a waste of time to go to any program where chiefs don’t cut a minimum of 50 percent of an orthognathic case. Every case should be done this way.

Orthognathic is not some fancy special, sexy procedure that only attendings and fellows do. In fact there shouldn’t even be a fellowship for Orthognathic surgery.
Residents should leave a program and feel like they can do a orthognathic case blindfolded.

Ask me how I know.

I wouldn’t even interview or waste my time at a program like this.

Not exactly where this conversation is going but as someone interviewing this cycle - is this something you can ask? “In a typical case, how is the room set up? Where are you as an attending / resident?”

 

[HockeyDocOMFS]

Not exactly where this conversation is going but as someone interviewing this cycle - is this something you can ask? “In a typical case, how is the room set up? Where are you as an attending / resident?”

No. Externing and word of mouth is the only way to find this out. From my experience when on externships, southern programs usually have less hands on attendings, so I am shocked to hear this about UAB (if true).

 

[deleted1203555]

Not exactly where this conversation is going but as someone interviewing this cycle - is this something you can ask? “In a typical case, how is the room set up? Where are you as an attending / resident?”

4) some attendings do the entire thing themselves, others split the case with you, it all depends on their mood. fellow can show up to anything they want and take over.

You can’t really ask that question lol.
Usually on the trail there would be someone who knows the program well and shares this info with everyone.

Personally I’d avoid programs with fellows. They are there not to enrich your education, but to hijack your cases, and make you round on their patients.

I feel very strongly about this. So much that I didn’t apply to any programs with a fellow. I have zero regrets. I matched at a 4 year program with no expanded scope and couldn’t be happier.

Reading threads like this just reaffirms my decision. How many threads do you read every now and then about someone who is unhappy with their program and looking to transfer out ? It’s usually someone in a dual degree program with a fellow. In fact I haven’t found a single thread from a resident in a single degree program who is making such claims or looking to transfer out.
I’m in no way saying single degree programs are not malignant. The lesser the years the more tolerable.

 

[somefuturedoc]

Terrifying as a patient. Hopefully other fields of dentistry and medicine are more professional than this.

Welcome to how academic hospitals work

 

[yappy]

This is in all of medicine and not just OMFS. Intern year in all specialties is running around with your head cut off a bit until you slowly understand everything, especially how the hospital works. Not only do you have to learn OMFS, but you also need to learn how Epic works, how to communicate with other hospital staff, how to properly close the loop, etc. There is nothing you can do to learn this other than trial and error. There is no way around it. You have to lean on your upper levels from time to time, but a lot of the time they are also extremely busy. So you have to figure it out on your own. Welcome to the understaffed, underpaid life of a hospital resident!

I guess we have to agree to disagree. I have never heard a physician describe their training that way.

 

[sukbetta]

I’m pretty sure this is the resident who got kicked out of the UAB OMFS program. So let’s get the facts straight before we pass judgement on the whole program, starting with:
He let a D1 drill on a sedated patient because he was trying to bang her. Lying about rounding on patients.
Spent most of his 5 month anesthesia rotation going on vacation but then forged documentations to make it look like he was there.
He never read up on anything before his cases, had no clue what was going on with the patients he was operating on.

He had to repeat internal medicine because he caused so many issues.

He was on some kind of probation during every single year he was a resident.

He puts UAB on blast when he is the one who has causes all his own problems.

Let me ask all of you, if you were the attending, would you let him cut or stand at the head?

 

[HockeyDocOMFS]

I’m pretty sure this is the resident who got kicked out of the UAB OMFS program. So let’s get the facts straight before we pass judgement on the whole program, starting with:
He let a D1 drill on a sedated patient because he was trying to bang her. Lying about rounding on patients.
Spent most of his 5 month anesthesia rotation going on vacation but then forged documentations to make it look like he was there.
He never read up on anything before his cases, had no clue what was going on with the patients he was operating on.

He had to repeat internal medicine because he caused so many issues.

He was on some kind of probation during every single year he was a resident.

He puts UAB on blast when he is the one who has causes all his own problems.

Let me ask all of you, if you were the attending, would you let him cut or stand at the head?

 

[D1Bound]

I’m pretty sure this is the resident who got kicked out of the UAB OMFS program. So let’s get the facts straight before we pass judgement on the whole program, starting with:
He let a D1 drill on a sedated patient because he was trying to bang her. Lying about rounding on patients.
Spent most of his 5 month anesthesia rotation going on vacation but then forged documentations to make it look like he was there.
He never read up on anything before his cases, had no clue what was going on with the patients he was operating on.

He had to repeat internal medicine because he caused so many issues.

He was on some kind of probation during every single year he was a resident.

He puts UAB on blast when he is the one who has causes all his own problems.

Let me ask all of you, if you were the attending, would you let him cut or stand at the head?

Lol how do you go on vacation during anesthesia? That's probably the single most important one

 

[Life of Pablo]

I guess we have to agree to disagree. I have never heard a physician describe their training that way.

If you went to medical school and gen surg, you would agree. Trust. There is always someone above you to help you out if needed, but interns run the show while on call. Gen surg you are holding 5 pagers holding down the floor for 150+ patients while your upper levels are in the OR operating all night. Can you ask them questions? Of course, but a lot of it is running around and just keeping people safe/alive until the morning. I will say, because of our prior training during OMFS intern year, we do a pretty good job on gen surg.

I will never forget when I was on call 4th of July weekend and had 10 pages I hadn’t called back yet, a level 1 trauma in the trauma bay, and both my upper levels in the OR.

You run down to the trauma bay and on your way, you get another 2 pages. You try to call back one of the pages to at least make a dent in your page load and the nurse says their patient has a heart rate of 120 and chest pain. Shoot! You need to go see them but you have this trauma that just came in. You start the trauma and that nurse that paged you 25 minutes ago is paging you again. You constantly hear the pager ringing. By the time the trauma is over, you have 15 pages, but wait - you have to start the note for the trauma and call the consulting services! By the time you have started the note/called the consulting services you have another 1-2 pages.

You are forced to learn quickly! Just the nature of it. You’ll make it out though.

 

[D1Bound]

If you went to medical school and gen surg, you would agree. Trust. There is always someone above you to help you out if needed, but interns run the show while on call. Gen surg you are holding 5 pagers holding down the floor for 150+ patients while your upper levels are in the OR operating all night. Can you ask them questions? Of course, but a lot of it is running around and just keeping people safe/alive until the morning. I will say, because of our prior training during OMFS intern year, we do a pretty good job on gen surg.

I will never forget when I was on call 4th of July weekend and had 10 pages I hadn’t called back yet, a level 1 trauma in the trauma bay, and both my upper levels in the OR.

You run down to the trauma bay and on your way, you get another 2 pages. You try to call back one of the pages to at least make a dent in your page load and the nurse says their patient has a heart rate of 120 and chest pain. Shoot! You need to go see them but you have this trauma that just came in. You start the trauma and that nurse that paged you 25 minutes ago is paging you again. You constantly hear the pager ringing. By the time the trauma is over, you have 15 pages, but wait - you have to start the note for the trauma and call the consulting services! By the time you have started the note/called the consulting services you have another 1-2 pages.

You are forced to learn quickly! Just the nature of it. You’ll make it out though.

Why is this normalized and accepted that you did not have enough help?

 

[Allsmiles!]

If you went to medical school and gen surg, you would agree. Trust. There is always someone above you to help you out if needed, but interns run the show while on call. Gen surg you are holding 5 pagers holding down the floor for 150+ patients while your upper levels are in the OR operating all night. Can you ask them questions? Of course, but a lot of it is running around and just keeping people safe/alive until the morning. I will say, because of our prior training during OMFS intern year, we do a pretty good job on gen surg.

I will never forget when I was on call 4th of July weekend and had 10 pages I hadn’t called back yet, a level 1 trauma in the trauma bay, and both my upper levels in the OR.

You run down to the trauma bay and on your way, you get another 2 pages. You try to call back one of the pages to at least make a dent in your page load and the nurse says their patient has a heart rate of 120 and chest pain. Shoot! You need to go see them but you have this trauma that just came in. You start the trauma and that nurse that paged you 25 minutes ago is paging you again. You constantly hear the pager ringing. By the time the trauma is over, you have 15 pages, but wait - you have to start the note for the trauma and call the consulting services! By the time you have started the note/called the consulting services you have another 1-2 pages.

You are forced to learn quickly! Just the nature of it. You’ll make it out though.

You’re wasting your time explaining this to Yappy…he is clueless. His next response should be, “sorry, I had absolutely no clue of the reality of OMFS/medical residency…thank you so much for taking the time to help me be better informed so I don’t come across so naive in future discussions about this topic”.

 

[Thefourthmolar]

I’m pretty sure this is the resident who got kicked out of the UAB OMFS program. So let’s get the facts straight before we pass judgement on the whole program, starting with:
He let a D1 drill on a sedated patient because he was trying to bang her. Lying about rounding on patients.
Spent most of his 5 month anesthesia rotation going on vacation but then forged documentations to make it look like he was there.
He never read up on anything before his cases, had no clue what was going on with the patients he was operating on.

He had to repeat internal medicine because he caused so many issues.

He was on some kind of probation during every single year he was a resident.

He puts UAB on blast when he is the one who has causes all his own problems.

Let me ask all of you, if you were the attending, would you let him cut or stand at the head?

You are horribly misinformed

I’m pretty sure this is the resident who got kicked out of the UAB OMFS program. So let’s get the facts straight before we pass judgement on the whole program, starting with:
He let a D1 drill on a sedated patient because he was trying to bang her. Lying about rounding on patients.
Spent most of his 5 month anesthesia rotation going on vacation but then forged documentations to make it look like he was there.
He never read up on anything before his cases, had no clue what was going on with the patients he was operating on.

He had to repeat internal medicine because he caused so many issues.

He was on some kind of probation during every single year he was a resident.

He puts UAB on blast when he is the one who has causes all his own problems.

Let me ask all of you, if you were the attending, would you let him cut or stand at the head?

Let’s clear a few things up.


Yes, I am the former resident you're referring to—and unlike you, I’m not hiding behind an anonymous account to spread half-truths and outright lies. I wasn't kicked out, I withdrew. It’s easy to throw stones from the shadows, but much harder to stand behind your words with facts and context.

What you’ve posted is a mix of falsehoods, twisted narratives, and gossip recycled by people who never had the courage to speak to me directly. Not once in my years at UAB did I cause harm to a patient. I worked long hours, took difficult call shifts, and did my best in an environment that, for many—including those still there—has been described as toxic and unsupportive.

Let’s be real: this isn’t about patient care or professional standards. This is retaliation because I dared to speak up about how residents are treated. That’s the real issue here. The moment someone challenges the status quo, the whisper campaign begins—fabrications, exaggerations, and character assassination become the weapons of choice. And I know you were a big part of it.

If you want to discuss facts, then sign your name and show your sources. Otherwise, understand that smearing someone who’s already endured more than enough doesn’t make you look righteous—it makes you part of the problem.

 

[somefuturedoc]

Why is this normalized and accepted that you did not have enough help?

Most places will only have 1-2 interns covering the lists on gen surg and trauma overnight. Interns do the floor work so upper levels can be in the OR. Just how it is.

 

[Thefourthmolar]

Lol how do you go on vacation during anesthesia? That's probably the single most important one

Yes it is
You are forced to take two weeks of your vacations during anesthesia, it’s part of the agreement with Gen surg. So no, I took the same allotted vacations I was entitled to as everyone else. And forging verified nursing records that log everyone in and out of the OR, one’s that I don’t even have access to, would be impossible. This is simply another example of a smear campaign. suckbetta can keep drinking the koolaid for all I care, she’s a misinformed fool and most likely an ex of mine who has done nothing but destroy my reputation any chance she can get. Sad, pathetic, angry person. Can’t seem to let it go. So consider that bias