aegd residency

[mdsn]

well im only 7 weeks into my dental education and have found it to be very challenging. i have found the classes to be difficult and am struggling to keep the gpa above a 3.0 . im thinking about doing an aegd residency, but am a bit worried about my gpa. do you guys think maybe someone with hovering around a 3.0 would be able to plavce in an aegd residency

and also if you guys have heard of some good ( or bad) aegd programs let me know

thnx

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[drhobie7]

well im only 7 weeks into my dental education and have found it to be very challenging. i have found the classes to be difficult and am struggling to keep the gpa above a 3.0 . im thinking about doing an aegd residency, but am a bit worried about my gpa. do you guys think maybe someone with hovering around a 3.0 would be able to plavce in an aegd residency

and also if you guys have heard of some good ( or bad) aegd programs let me know

thnx

It is my understanding that AEGD is not very competitive. Frankly, I wouldn't do one. I think it'd be a waste of time. You'd see far more patients in private practice and build your skills much faster. People frequently make the analogy of AEGD being a 5th year of dental school.

Also, you're worrying about which residency way too early. You might end up doing perio (Yeck!). Just focus on getting good grades, explore what you like, and you'll figure out residency by 3rd year.

 

[12YearOldKid]

well im only 7 weeks into my dental education and have found it to be very challenging. i have found the classes to be difficult and am struggling to keep the gpa above a 3.0 . im thinking about doing an aegd residency, but am a bit worried about my gpa. do you guys think maybe someone with hovering around a 3.0 would be able to plavce in an aegd residency

and also if you guys have heard of some good ( or bad) aegd programs let me know

thnx

Your situation is very common. It's a shock for many people to find that they actually have to work for good grades in dental school when in college they were at the top of the class without even trying.

A low 3.something is probably good enough to get into an AEGD somewhere. But you are only 7 weeks in and you may find that you have a lot more in you than you think. You haven't even made it to mid-term yet.

If you are happy with a 3.0 then just keep doing what you are doing. Be careful about burning your bridges behind you, though. You never know what may catch your interest in the future.

 

[simpledoc]

It is my understanding that AEGD is not very competitive. Frankly, I wouldn't do one. I think it'd be a waste of time. You'd see far more patients in private practice and build your skills much faster. People frequently make the analogy of AEGD being a 5th year of dental school.

i dont agree with that one! an AEGD or a GPR will put you atleast FIVE years ahead of a dental school grdauate who did not do one! also, you will certainly be preferred to a fresh graduate for an associateship (especially in a high power practice) and your pay is much higher! trust me we all don't know SiHt when we come out of dental school! we are just D4's carrying a piece of paper saying "Dr" . the 1 year residency will give you so much more knowledge, skills and above all--confidence!
dont be discouraged from not doing an AEGD and am pretty sure that will be the future replacement for standardized testing to grant licences,similar to what NY, CT and a few other states are doing..

 

[Demeter]

It is not necessarily true that an AEGD equals 5 yrs of practice. There are some programs which are great and and others where the AEGD simply equals the 5th year of Dental school. Some programs put you to work seeing 12 pts a day doing routine work such as ext and amalgams. Other programs teach cosmetic dentistry, IV sedation, implants etc... Before you commit a year of your life and potentially 90 K ask many questions about the program. Make sure they do provide advanced training. Ask to talk to the current residents. If they are not happy, you won't be either.

 

[drhobie7]

i dont agree with that one! an AEGD or a GPR will put you atleast FIVE years ahead of a dental school grdauate who did not do one! also, you will certainly be preferred to a fresh graduate for an associateship (especially in a high power practice) and your pay is much higher! trust me we all don't know SiHt when we come out of dental school! we are just D4's carrying a piece of paper saying "Dr" . the 1 year residency will give you so much more knowledge, skills and above all--confidence!
dont be discouraged from not doing an AEGD and am pretty sure that will be the future replacement for standardized testing to grant licences,similar to what NY, CT and a few other states are doing..

Thanks for the comments and different perspective. I'm sure the utility of a program depends on the given institution. I would be afraid of spending my days not seeing many patients and instead doing clerical work. I have seen plenty of GPRs do this. You are at the mercy of a bureacracy, which will never be as efficient as private practice. I agree that after a year of GPR/AEGD you will have increased confidence, but I believe you will have just as much if not more confidence after doing a year of private practice. You'll have seen far more patients and had interactions that are relevant to private practice. One of the problems I have with a GPR is that my future dental practice will not be in a hospital. The GPR treats a totally different patient pool than a dentist in private practice. I don't know how useful this knowledge would be. We really don't need to know how to manage medical problems. We simply need to know if it's safe to do dentistry on a patient. I don't think you need a year long residency to learn that. In short, a GPR trains you to treat hospital patients. Private practice trains you for private practice.

I would like to hear more of your thoughts on why a GPR/AEDG is beneficial as well as what programs you like.

 

[Bifid Uvula]

I totally disagree with you saying that a GPR only teaches you to treat hospital patients. Now granted, I'm an oral surgery resident, but my girlfriend did an intense hospital GPR residency 4 years ago and has been in PRIVATE PRACTICE SINCE, and most of my friends have chosen and done GPR's over AEGD's.

You don't do a GPR only based on the fact you want to do hospital dentistry. You do a GPR in order to be exposed to the broader and MUCH MORE IMPORTANT aspects of your degree/training. Now, some GPR's (VA's or private hospitals) may offer more advanced prosthodontic training or endo training) while many inner-city/public hospitals may be a completely different ball-game...

Almost everyone who does a GPR goes into private practice. But what you've gained in that year seperates the big boys/gals from the AEGD residents and the fresh grads.

Choose your program wisely. I know GPR programs where the residents placed and restored over 60 implants in 1 year. I know other GPR programs where the residents extracted over 3000 teeth. You've got to look for a happy balance. One that will teach you to deal with medical emergencies in your office, expose you to dealing with other health-care professionals on a regular basis (because you are part of the team), teach you to perform advanced dentistry (which you will have to continue learning through the life of your career anyway), and how to make the right decisions in your patient's care.

Regardless if you choose an AEGD or a GPR in the end doesn't matter too much though. At least you are thinking about it and you can see that there just isn't enough time to learn everything in dental school.

 

[drhobie7]

I totally disagree with you saying that a GPR only teaches you to treat hospital patients. Now granted, I'm an oral surgery resident, but my girlfriend did an intense hospital GPR residency 4 years ago and has been in PRIVATE PRACTICE SINCE, and most of my friends have chosen and done GPR's over AEGD's.

You don't do a GPR only based on the fact you want to do hospital dentistry. You do a GPR in order to be exposed to the broader and MUCH MORE IMPORTANT aspects of your degree/training. Now, some GPR's (VA's or private hospitals) may offer more advanced prosthodontic training or endo training) while many inner-city/public hospitals may be a completely different ball-game...

Almost everyone who does a GPR goes into private practice. But what you've gained in that year seperates the big boys/gals from the AEGD residents and the fresh grads.

Choose your program wisely. I know GPR programs where the residents placed and restored over 60 implants in 1 year. I know other GPR programs where the residents extracted over 3000 teeth. You've got to look for a happy balance. One that will teach you to deal with medical emergencies in your office, expose you to dealing with other health-care professionals on a regular basis (because you are part of the team), teach you to perform advanced dentistry (which you will have to continue learning through the life of your career anyway), and how to make the right decisions in your patient's care.

Regardless if you choose an AEGD or a GPR in the end doesn't matter too much though. At least you are thinking about it and you can see that there just isn't enough time to learn everything in dental school.

Those are good points. I pictured the GPR graduate as being a 'jack of all trades, master of nothing.' Do they spend enough time in any one area to acquire advanced skills? It seems like this differs by program, but they can't become proficient in endo, pros, os, and implants in one year. I wonder if you can achieve the same advanced training through CE courses. I understand there are a bunch of shady CE courses out there and you have to pick wisely, but the same can be said of GPR programs.

Regarding handling medical emergencies, does the GPR get that much training in this? Do they run codes? I imagine they're somewhere between an OMS intern and a dental school graduate in competence. My limited experience with GPRs is that they tend to be observers in areas outside dentistry. If a patient has an MI they're probably not going to be the ones to defibrillate.

My perspective is based on seeing/interacting with GPRs during an externship. They didn't do a whole lot. Mostly sitting around or observing. I would hate to do that for $35K a year. I understand each program is different, but I still think you'd get more relevant experience in private practice.

Thanks for your comments. Obviously I've got a lot more to learn about this, but I fear using my time poorly post-graduation.

 

[gryffindor]

Do they spend enough time in any one area to acquire advanced skills It seems like this differs by program, but they can't become proficient in endo, pros, os, and implants in one year. I wonder if you can achieve the same advanced training through CE courses. I understand there are a bunch of shady CE courses out there and you have to pick wisely, but the same can be said of GPR programs.

There are actually some good programs where you will get a lot of good training in all of the areas you mentioned. If you are basing your experience on the GPR where you did your externship a few weeks ago, then no, the GPRs there probably do not do much of the above procedures, except maybe OS and some emergency endo.

The difference between doing the advanced training in a GPR vs. CE courses is the liability. In the GPR, although you are a DDS, you are still heavily protected by the hospital b/c you are their employee. It's a good place to really learn how to fly with the complicated procedures without having the dental school instructor breathing down your neck. At the same time, the experienced people are there to advise and help you get better at the procedures, not demean and overly criticize about line angles and grade you. In CE courses, any mistakes you make are going to be out of your pocket and on your personal malpractice, the room for error is much less than the GPR environment.

My advice if you are looking for a GPR to make you more marketable as a GP, do your homework and research VERY carefully.