Another new Ortho program!!? Something very fishy…..

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There is a new orthodontic program that appears to be gaining initial accreditation this fall. It is another private program, this time is Hoboken NJ called CTOR Academy. If you look at the CODA site visit it seems to be under the name Hudson Regional Hospital, same name the Georgia School of Ortho operates under. Considering that Georgia has 36 residents now, this new CTOR program is bound to have atleast half that. I smell some greed in the disguise of education. It’s going to be one tough job market for Ortho.

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Wow that’s pretty crazy. I guess anyone that wants to get an Ortho certificate can, but the question is will there be a gold pot at the end of the rainbow?
 
Ortho is becoming if you have the money to pay residency you can get in. That’s essentially the hurdle to getting into Georgia or this new program. If you can show you have the funds, without having to take on loans, you will become an orthodontist. Is it worth it? @charlestweed @2TH MVR @Tooth @Firm @gryffindor
 
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Ortho is becoming if you have the money to pay residency you can get in. That’s essentially the hurdle to getting into Georgia or this new program. If you can show you have the funds, without having to take on loans, you will become an orthodontist. Is it worth it? @charlestweed @2TH MVR @Tooth @Firm @gryffindor

Not worth it at all unless you have daddy bankrolling it or has a practice setup for you
 
This is disappointing to hear. When I was kid thinking about dentistry orthodontics was always the coolest specialty. Now it sounds like it's getting flooded with GPs dipping into it along with more orthos pumped out
 
This is disappointing to hear. When I was kid thinking about dentistry orthodontics was always the coolest specialty. Now it sounds like it's getting flooded with GPs dipping into it along with more orthos pumped out
To be fair, GPs did ortho before ortho was a specialty. Also, you mention "coolest specialty" so, having other people doing it should not take away from the coolness. Unless by "cool" you meant lucrative.
 
To be fair, GPs did ortho before ortho was a specialty. Also, you mention "coolest specialty" so, having other people doing it should not take away from the coolness. Unless by "cool" you meant lucrative.
I think he/she means lucrative
 
To be fair, GPs did ortho before ortho was a specialty. Also, you mention "coolest specialty" so, having other people doing it should not take away from the coolness. Unless by "cool" you meant lucrative.
I mean i hope dentists were the first ones practicing it before orthos. It was the first specialty
 
This is disappointing to hear. When I was kid thinking about dentistry orthodontics was always the coolest specialty. Now it sounds like it's getting flooded with GPs dipping into it along with more orthos pumped out
It’s still the coolest specialty. Ortho is still one of the hardest specialties to get into. Many people have to apply more than once. Not a lot of people can afford to go to a for profit ortho program like Georgia or this new program in NJ. Keep in mind that ortho is not the only specialty that is saturated. Everything is saturated. General dentistry is saturated because of the openings of several new dental schools in last decade. OS and Perio compete each other for patient referrals from the GPs. Endo programs now teach their residents to place implants. A lot of new pedo programs were opened in recent years as well.

There are plenty of complicated ortho cases to keep you busy. To get more patients, you just have to reach out for a wider audience….not just the top 20% income earning group that most private ortho offices are targeting.
 
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Ortho is becoming if you have the money to pay residency you can get in. That’s essentially the hurdle to getting into Georgia or this new program. If you can show you have the funds, without having to take on loans, you will become an orthodontist. Is it worth it?

It is worth it financially? Probably not. You are giving up 3 years of income and taking on $400K (my rough guess of tuition + living).

Is it worth it as a passion? Possibly yes. I practiced some time as a GP. I was certain that ortho was what I really really wanted to do. I was ready and willing to attend the most expensive program (in 2005, that was USC, $270K) if that's what it took. If I had to join the 6 days a week club to pay it off, I was ready to be ok with it.

Is it worth it as a practice owner? Possibly yes. I really like building an ortho practice. It was one of the unexpected side bonuses of this profession. But this path is rough. There are a limited amount of decent practices that go for sale because the previous generation of orthodontists work until they die. There is a lot of competition to buy them. Starting a business from scratch in this field requires an austere life for a while. Some people might get burnt out by the time they get to this point of considering ownership since they've been in the 6 days a week club for a while paying down $400K ortho residency + $300 dental school debt. Now they just want to coast for a bit in their 30s and buy a house, nice vacations, a car, have some kids, etc.
 
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There is a new orthodontic program that appears to be gaining initial accreditation this fall. It is another private program, this time is Hoboken NJ called CTOR Academy. If you look at the CODA site visit it seems to be under the name Hudson Regional Hospital, same name the Georgia School of Ortho operates under. Considering that Georgia has 36 residents now, this new CTOR program is bound to have atleast half that. I smell some greed in the disguise of education. It’s going to be one tough job market for Ortho.
And yet I work for a DSO who has been looking for 2 additional orthodontists for the last 8-12 months. They're still looking. I know 2 other DSOs who have been trying to get me to work for them due to their ortho vacancies. I've posted this before. There are plenty of jobs if you are willing to travel. New ortho grad could easily find a DSO job and then immediately look to start or buy a small private practice. Do both for awhile.

note. I'm not advocating working for a DSO is great. It works for me since I already practiced privately for over 25 years and I'm at a point in my life where I can coast and enjoy life. It's a means to an end.

Am I happy about these for profit schools? No. But. Can't do anything about it.
 
There must be a special place in hell reserved for this guy doing this. If it's the same guy, I believe he started the programs in Colorado (15 residents per year), Las Vegas (6 residents per year), Jacksonville FL (15 residents per year), Georgia (36 residents per year), and now this one.
 
Be aware of everything that you saw online, mostly when it comes to your health. You should talk to a specialist about that. Orthodontics is an important topic and a lot of people could take mistaken information and believe it. My orthodontist Amarillo, from my neighborhood, advised me to stop looking for information about health care on the internet and to start taking it from books or to ask a person that learned something about it. A lot of people have to suffer from believing everything posted online and I hope it is not your case and that you've informed yourself before sharing this news with so many people.
Solid first post
 
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