Ask an OMS Resident Anything 2012 Apocalypse Edition

[UCSFx2017]

It's crazy how just a couple months ago we were stressing about getting into dental school. Already we're aspiring for the next goal.

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[armorshell]

As a female considering eventually going into OMFS, I have to ask.. do you think it would be reasonable to go for the 6 year program AND have a kid or two during it? I don't want to wait until I'm 34 to start having kids, but I also am very interested in OMFS.

I'm not the best person to answer this since I have really no experience with it, but I think it would be exceptionally difficult unless you managed to go through your pregnancy during the medical school years. Getting a significant amount of time off during residency is going to be difficult. For this kind of question you'll probably have to try and find someone who went through it to get more accurate advice.

 

[armorshell]

Do you have a lot of studying and projects to do outside of your residency?

I already answered this question above.

 

[armorshell]

Thanks for the insight. I am debating staying home and spending that time with my GF and family (namely trying to spend time with my father), doing research here in CT, or doing a fundraiser bike ride across the US (from Cali to CT) decisions... lol

I'd pick the bike ride. Actually, scratch that. I'd hang out with your girlfriend.

 

[armorshell]

if you dont mind me asking..
what was your class ranking??

3/141 when I applied. I don't remember what rank I finished at. I think maybe 9 or something.

 

[armorshell]

I'm sorry if this comes off as a personal question, but what is the typical pay like of a OMFS resident throughout the 4 (or 6, in your case) years? It's more of a financial factor for me during the residency period since I've heard the income is quite low during those years. If you could speak as to your friends experiences or even your own in terms of salary, that would be great. Its also fine if you choose not to answer. Thanks in advance!

It depends from program to program but pay is pretty consistently around $50,000/year around the country with minor variations. Some programs pay during med school, most don't. Some programs allow moonlighting, most don't.

 

[armorshell]

How many University of the Pacific alumni does UTSW have?

Too damn many, especially considering they only did 3 years of dental school.

 

[UCSFx2017]

So I'm reading First Aid's Behavioral Science (biostatistics) section and it took me 20 minutes to understand/memorize just one page...
Assuming you also used First Aid for Step 1's, about what percentage of the time would you say the material was covered in your dental school curriculum?

 

[503224]

I know you said that 4 year residents don't really go on to do fellowships or academia for the most part, but would someone be able to if that person was very driven? After a 4 year residency, are people still able to get a part-time position doing trauma at a hospital?

 

[armorshell]

So I'm reading First Aid's Behavioral Science (biostatistics) section and it took me 20 minutes to understand/memorize just one page...
Assuming you also used First Aid for Step 1's, about what percentage of the time would you say the material was covered in your dental school curriculum?

I did not use First Aid at any point. I'd recommend the boards review series for anything you truly don't understand and then UWorld QBank.

 

[armorshell]

I know you said that 4 year residents don't really go on to do fellowships or academia for the most part, but would someone be able to if that person was very driven? After a 4 year residency, are people still able to get a part-time position doing trauma at a hospital?

As far as I know the majority of, if not all, fellowships require an MD (Some cosmetic fellowship may not).

As far as the second question, there is nothing preventing anyone from doing trauma, it's one of the core privileges of OMS.

 

[NDPitch]

Where do you plan on working after you're done? Also, is there a general trend on what OMS graduates do after residency? Can both 4 and 6 year graduates work for a hospital doing OMS? Or, is that reserved for most of the MDs, and 4 year graduates tend to work in their own private practices? I only ask because I have no idea, haha

 

[armorshell]

Where do you plan on working after you're done? Also, is there a general trend on what OMS graduates do after residency? Can both 4 and 6 year graduates work for a hospital doing OMS? Or, is that reserved for most of the MDs, and 4 year graduates tend to work in their own private practices? I only ask because I have no idea, haha

The most likely situation is that I'll go into private practice. The large majority (Think 90+%) of OMS go into private practice, both 4 and 6 year.

There is nothing restricting 4 year OMS from doing hospital-based or academic OMS. The entire specialty is built on the foundations laid by single degree oral surgeons and the large majority of faculty at academic institutions (and oral surgeons in general) are single degree surgeons. My institution currently has 10 full time faculty and only 3 are dual degree, all of whom started in the last 3 years.

 

[James35]

As far as "extracurriculars" what do you recommend? Psi-O/Delta-Sig, AASDA, various research/specialty clubs or do any of those matter when applying?

What extracurriculars/whatever would you recommend?

 

[tooth knockn]

Well, the world is ending in a few days so I thought I might as well get my annual AMA thread out of the way.

As a baseline, I'm a 3rd year OMS resident at the University of Texas-Southwestern, dental school at University of the Pacific.

Ask me absolutely anything you want to know about life, OMS, dentistry or whatever.

I would like to say thank you before hand , thank you , very nice post.

Ok

I am on the path in becoming a dental student.

I am considering HPSP as a financial help if I get accepted OOS dental school.


1) If I become a dentist under the financial assistance of HPSP, could I specialize as a OMS at a 4year program with in the navy/airforce and have that as timed served ?



2) If I become a dentist with out HPSP , can I join a 4year OMS residency program to specialize within navy/aiforce ? And would they pay for the student loans I owe while in the program?



When should I consider HPSP , knowing I want to specialize.

I plan in applying in July August 2013

 

[thewingman]

The percentage of women in OMS is low, probably around 10%. Out of nearly 30 residents we currently have no women in my residency program, but not for lack of trying. Over the past few years we've ranked several women fairly highly in the match but they've chosen to go elsewhere.

I think there are several reasons for this, and none of them are active discrimination. The number of women who apply for OMS are low in the first place, and the number of women applying for 6 year programs is even lower. Many women seem attracted to dentistry because of the life balance it offers as a career, and taking an OMS residency kind of eliminates that benefit.

I thought you finally got a women out at parkland. Didn't some stuff go down several years back, which led to the PD deciding on not taking women? Is that dude out?

 

[UltimateHombre]

1) If I become a dentist under the financial assistance of HPSP, could I specialize as a OMS at a 4year program with in the navy/airforce and have that as timed served ?

2) If I become a dentist with out HPSP , can I join a 4year OMS residency program to specialize within navy/aiforce ? And would they pay for the student loans I owe while in the program?

When should I consider HPSP , knowing I want to specialize.

These are better questions to be asked in the military dentistry forum. However, being interested in HPSP myself i think i can answer questions accurately, as i had them myself at one point and time and looked them up w/ the search function.

1) See answer below

2) No. Military residencies are generally reserved for those in the military. Civilians cannot apply to them. You can however join the military afterward as a general dentist, but their loan payback is nowhere near the same as the HPSP scholarship.

 

[ktran17]

To the above poster, I've been reading extensively about hpsp and military residencies and what they say in other threads don't reflect what you're saying in this one. Although I'm not in the military yet, I do plan applying this summer.

In general, if you graduate dental school with a 4 year hpsp and join residency immediately, then your payment time during oms residency will be concurrent with your hpsp payback (you don't gain or lose payment time) afterwards when you're done you owe whichever active time payback is greater ( due to residency or hpsp; this rule usually applies in the navy when certain residencies like orthodontics is 1 year training for 2 year active service) , in the case of oms you'll still just owe 4 years of active time. In addition, during this 4 years of active time even though you are a specialist you won't qualify for the super specialist bonus (forgot what its called) until you're done with those 4 years and sign back up.

4 years of dental school (with 4 year hpsp)> 4 years oms residency> 4 years payback time (not 8 like what the above poster said)

I got this information from threads that date anywhere from 2009-2012 so if there is a change feel free to let me know.

P.S. If you finish dental school with the 4 year hpsp and payback 4 years of active service and then do oms residency, you will still owe 4 more years of the residency. So the key to getting residency training and minimizing active payback time is to do your residency immediately after dental school if possible.

 

[UltimateHombre]

In general, if you graduate dental school with a 4 year hpsp and join residency immediately, then your payment time during oms residency will be concurrent with your hpsp payback (you don't gain or lose payment time) afterwards when you're done you owe whichever active time payback is greater ( due to residency or hpsp; this rule usually applies in the navy when certain residencies like orthodontics is 1 year training for 2 year active service) , in the case of oms you'll still just owe 4 years of active time. In addition, during this 4 years of active time even though you are a specialist you won't qualify for the super specialist bonus (forgot what its called) until you're done with those 4 years and sign back up.

4 years of dental school (with 4 year hpsp)> 4 years oms residency> 4 years payback time (not 8 like what the above poster said)


P.S. If you finish dental school with the 4 year hpsp and payback 4 years of active service and then do oms residency, you will still owe 4 more years of the residency. So the key to getting residency training and minimizing active payback time is to do your residency immediately after dental school if possible.

You are correct and i should have clarified my answer a little better. OMS is a very competitive residency to get into. You have to have very high marks and have completed OBLC before going into dschool. So the odds of someone going directly into OMS out of school are pretty slim. Often times, military dentists end up practicing for 2-4 years before they are accepted into a residency. Thanks for the clarification.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=885966
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=12022715
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=870905

 

[tooth knockn]

These are better questions to be asked in the military dentistry forum. However, being interested in HPSP myself i think i can answer questions accurately, as i had them myself at one point and time and looked them up w/ the search function.

1) See answer below

2) No. Military residencies are generally reserved for those in the military. Civilians cannot apply to them. You can however join the military afterward as a general dentist, but their loan payback is nowhere near the same as the HPSP scholarship.

Thanks,
What would you recommend ? And why

 

[tooth knockn]

To the above poster, I've been reading extensively about hpsp and military residencies and what they say in other threads don't reflect what you're saying in this one. Although I'm not in the military yet, I do plan applying this summer.

In general, if you graduate dental school with a 4 year hpsp and join residency immediately, then your payment time during oms residency will be concurrent with your hpsp payback (you don't gain or lose payment time) afterwards when you're done you owe whichever active time payback is greater ( due to residency or hpsp; this rule usually applies in the navy when certain residencies like orthodontics is 1 year training for 2 year active service) , in the case of oms you'll still just owe 4 years of active time. In addition, during this 4 years of active time even though you are a specialist you won't qualify for the super specialist bonus (forgot what its called) until you're done with those 4 years and sign back up.

4 years of dental school (with 4 year hpsp)> 4 years oms residency> 4 years payback time (not 8 like what the above poster said)

I got this information from threads that date anywhere from 2009-2012 so if there is a change feel free to let me know.

P.S. If you finish dental school with the 4 year hpsp and payback 4 years of active service and then do oms residency, you will still owe 4 more years of the residency. So the key to getting residency training and minimizing active payback time is to do your residency immediately after dental school if possible.

What route do you recommend and why ?

Apply to HPSP > do dental school> apply to OMS (civilian or govt) , get accepted and finish> then the 4 year military/ navy/Air Force active duty due

Or

Loan out dental school> apply to OMS (civilian)> then apply to military as a OMS and military helps pay back loans

 

[ktran17]

What route do you recommend and why ?

Apply to HPSP > do dental school> apply to OMS (civilian or govt) , get accepted and finish> then the 4 year military/ navy/Air Force active duty due

Or

Loan out dental school> apply to OMS (civilian)> then apply to military as a OMS and military helps pay back loans

Your first method is a very very very very rare scenario so I would scratch that off your list

This method is more likely but still rare
Apply to HPSP > do dental school> apply to OMS military residency , get accepted and finish> then the 4 year military/ navy/Air Force active duty due

IMO the best path is dependent on what you value and what your current circumstances are.
I think the general consensus is, if you get into a cheap dental school do the loan method and forget military. If you go to a super expensive school choose the military.

Just understand that, if you join the military your chances of doing a civilian residency is severally limited. PM me if you want to know what I'm personally going to do.

 

[Tooth Extractor]

G

 

[Ferneezy]

OP, i'm vaguely, tangentially and mildly acquainted with your undergrad record from a near-forgotten yah-e scroll...to go from that to third in your class (when applying) is obviously due to monumental effort.

would it be possible for you to quantify or relate, to those of us not yet in dental school, just how much effort it takes to consistently produce high level work to meet the standard of a "dental school A"?

is it really a matter of magnitude between that and a B as other students have posted?