can I get accepted into prostho residency?

[fallout]

I graduated from a US dental school, did a general dental residency, and am in private practice. The problem is my academic stats. I was probably around average in class ranking back in dental school. My scores were in the low 80s and upper 70s for the Part I and II exams, respectively.

Short story: I want to become a prosthodontist.

Do I stand a decent chance at the following schools:

NYU
Manhattan VA
Columbia
Penn
Harvard
Montefiore
New York Hospital of Queens
VA in Washington DC
UConn

Will I get in anywhere for the upcoming cycle? Is there anything I can do besides retaking my boards?

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[fallout]

*bump*

No prosthodontists, pros hopefuls, or attendings here?

Please help. Thank you.

 

[Guy Smiley]

You should PM Dr. Dai Phan - he's a protho on the board here.

 

[Dr. Dai Phan]

I graduated from a US dental school, did a general dental residency, and am in private practice. The problem is my academic stats. I was probably around average in class ranking back in dental school. My scores were in the low 80s and upper 70s for the Part I and II exams, respectively.

Short story: I want to become a prosthodontist.

Do I stand a decent chance at the following schools:

NYU
Manhattan VA
Columbia
Penn
Harvard
Montefiore
New York Hospital of Queens
VA in Washington DC
UConn

Will I get in anywhere for the upcoming cycle? Is there anything I can do besides retaking my boards?

Hello,

With your stats I would not say you will have a great chance or you won't get in anywhere either. It all depends on how many people apply for that particular year and also depends on your other factors besides your GPA, boards and class ranking. Class ranking, GPA, board score are poor prognostic indicators because pros is so heavily involved with critical thinking (problem solving) and requires EXCELLENT handskill. If you do not have great hand skill, you will sink even if you have perfect stats. This I think is so important that IMHO, it takes precedent over someone with higher stats. So if you have done some tough restorative cases and have photos to show your work, and if you have really good handskill I think you have a shot. If not, then get your skill up along with your stats to improve your chances. Pros residency is where you learn to polish your handskill as well as learning to think "outside the box" to difficult restorative problems. It is not the place where you learn to walk. DP

 

[fallout]

if you have done some tough restorative cases and have photos to show your work, and if you have really good handskill I think you have a shot.

Can you give me some examples of photos of "tough" restorative cases?

I have some old photos but I really can't tell if they're complex by prosthodontic standards.

And for someone of my stats, what do you think of my selection of prostho residency programs? I know they vary each year in terms of competitiveness but, overall, are there any programs I should add or remove from my list? ( I have no preference in geographic location and I'm indifferent to the MS degree option. But I prefer not to pay relatively high tuition for programs of low quality. )

And what about retaking Part I? Would you recommend it for someone who already finished dental school, did a residency, and is now in private practice? What about Part II?

 

[jdmdd]

Can you give me some examples of photos of "tough" restorative cases?

I have some old photos but I really can't tell if they're complex by prosthodontic standards.

And for someone of my stats, what do you think of my selection of prostho residency programs? I know they vary each year in terms of competitiveness but, overall, are there any programs I should add or remove from my list? ( I have no preference in geographic location and I'm indifferent to the MS degree option. But I prefer not to pay relatively high tuition for programs of low quality. )

And what about retaking Part I? Would you recommend it for someone who already finished dental school, did a residency, and is now in private practice? What about Part II?

Monte and the VA pay so are much harder to get into than NYU. The VA generally takes its own or people that are connected to someone there. So I would say that would be a long shot

 

[Dante60]

I'm over at Tufts in my first year of Pros. I graduated from dental school in '05. Trust me, my grades weren't exactly something to be proud of. But of all the specialties, I feel that experience really does give you a leg up when applying. The only places you might have a hard time are the ones with a stipend. I only applied to Tufts, and they accepted me.

Besides, most programs have some kind of manual dexterity test. At Tufts, you have to carve down a tooth from a block of wax with full coronal and radicular anatomy.

I believe at UMDNJ they require you to setup teeth in a balanced occlusal set up.

My suggestion is to apply and see what happens. With Prostho, you'd be surprised.

 

[akg]

Hello,

With your stats I would not say you will have a great chance or you won't get in anywhere either. It all depends on how many people apply for that particular year and also depends on your other factors besides your GPA, boards and class ranking. Class ranking, GPA, board score are poor prognostic indicators because pros is so heavily involved with critical thinking (problem solving) and requires EXCELLENT handskill. If you do not have great hand skill, you will sink even if you have perfect stats. This I think is so important that IMHO, it takes precedent over someone with higher stats. So if you have done some tough restorative cases and have photos to show your work, and if you have really good handskill I think you have a shot. If not, then get your skill up along with your stats to improve your chances. Pros residency is where you learn to polish your handskill as well as learning to think "outside the box" to difficult restorative problems. It is not the place where you learn to walk. DP

Dr.Dai phan,

Can a prosthodontist practice general dentistry ( root canals, fillings, scaling )in addition to complex protho cases?

 

[Black Teeth]

Dr.Dai phan,

Can a prosthodontist practice general dentistry ( root canals, fillings, scaling )in addition to complex protho cases?

Why not? You are a general dentist first before you can become a prosthodontist. The question is not whether you are able to do root canals, fillings, scaling, etc as a prosthodontist. You can do it. You were trained to do it in dental school. And you have a license to do it (assuming you took one of the licensing exams during your last year in dental school). The real question is whether you would still want to do all those things after recieving your pros certificate. And if you still want to practice general dentistry, your dental license gives you that privelage regardless of your pros certificate.

 

[fallout]

Trust me, my grades weren't exactly something to be proud of. But of all the specialties, I feel that experience really does give you a leg up when applying. The only places you might have a hard time are the ones with a stipend.

Can you give me an idea of how competitive the stipend-based programs are?

 

[chartero]

Can a prosthodontist practice general dentistry ( root canals, fillings, scaling )in addition to complex protho cases?

From Page 7 of the Guidelines to the Certification Process of the American Board of Prosthodontics (pdf):

Diplomates of the American Board of Prosthodontics are expected to announce and limit their practice to prosthodontics.

Limited Practice—Dentists who have successfully completed an advanced prosthodontic education program which is accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation may ethically limit their practice to prosthodontics, subject to individual state guidelines.

So there is this to keep in mind.

 

[jdmdd]

Can you give me an idea of how competitive the stipend-based programs are?

I can only speak about the New York programs but like I said they are competitive. Not only do you need good board scores and good grades, but you basically need to know someone. While non paying perio and pros residencys may be somewhat easier to get into than other specialties, stipended programs are as hard to get into a just about anything - owing mostly to the exceptionally small number of them.

 

[mike3kgt]

From Page 7 of the Guidelines to the Certification Process of the American Board of Prosthodontics (pdf):



So there is this to keep in mind.

Simply not true.

From "http://www.prosthodontics.org/patients/who.asp"

A prosthodontist is a dentist who:
*
Specializes in the esthetic restoration and replacement of teeth,
*
Receives two or three years of additional training after dental school, and
*
Restores optimum appearance and function to your smile.

Explain to me how restoring optimum appearance and function of teeth and smiles does not include "root canals, fillings, scaling".

Why a prosthodontist would want to spend chair time performing root canals and SRP is beyond me, but I disagree that limiting your scope of practice to prosthodontics to just crowns, bridges, and implant dentistry.

Restoring optimum appearance and function includes anything inside the mouth, including, extractions, direct & indirect restorations, RCT, SRP, heck, even prophies. Again, it's not time constructive to spend your time doing prophies or RCT as a prosthodontist.

It is probably unethical to advertise yourself as "specialist in prosthodontics" and also advertise that you perform comprehensive dentistry including extractions and fillings, but performing these procedures as a specialist are not considered unethical, IMO.

 

[nbde]

Hi, i am international dentist and i got interview call from tufts prostho program, i wann to know more about that program. like hows the interviews ? n wt they mainly expect? plz. do reply me. my interview is next week.

I'm over at Tufts in my first year of Pros. I graduated from dental school in '05. Trust me, my grades weren't exactly something to be proud of. But of all the specialties, I feel that experience really does give you a leg up when applying. The only places you might have a hard time are the ones with a stipend. I only applied to Tufts, and they accepted me.

Besides, most programs have some kind of manual dexterity test. At Tufts, you have to carve down a tooth from a block of wax with full coronal and radicular anatomy.

I believe at UMDNJ they require you to setup teeth in a balanced occlusal set up.

My suggestion is to apply and see what happens. With Prostho, you'd be surprised.