DDS since 2007, thinking about ortho

[newbee99]

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I need some advice please. I graduated dental school in 2007, always was thinking about going into ortho, but circumstances did not allow it untill now.
My overall standing in school was 2/77 students. Part I boards: 93
Part II boards 86. I basically worked during dental school and did not have time to do any extracurricular work, or research. I plan on applying next year for the 2011. I need some help on what i need to do to make my resume look stronger.
Do I need to volunteer at an orthodontics office
Do research
take ortho CE courses

Any advice is highly appreciated.

Thank you

 

[Istr8nthem]

I need some advice please. I graduated dental school in 2007, always was thinking about going into ortho, but circumstances did not allow it untill now.
My overall standing in school was 2/77 students. Part I boards: 93
Part II boards 86. I basically worked during dental school and did not have time to do any extracurricular work, or research. I plan on applying next year for the 2011. I need some help on what i need to do to make my resume look stronger.
Do I need to volunteer at an orthodontics office
Do research
take ortho CE courses

Any advice is highly appreciated.

Thank you

I think you should be competitive. I would make sure to apply to ALL hospital-based ortho residency programs as they typically prefer applicants with real-world experience. They also are not as research/academic based as other dental school based programs and you will not be docked as much for not having research experience. I would also make sure you can justify your reasoning for entering the ortho world- i.e.- shadowing, private practice ortho experience, or other means of showing specific interest in orthodontics. At this point, if I were you, I would not worry about getting involved with research and focus my time on getting to know some orthodontists and maybe even spending a day or 2 at an ortho program (one that will allow it) to get some face-time and a possible letter of recommendation since you have been out for a few years. Best of luck.

 

[newbee99]

Thank you for the reply. I was planning on going to my dental school and talking with the ortho chair person on things i can do to improve my chances, and spend some time in the clinic, and also volunteer at an orthodontists office one day a week.

 

[newbee99]

Come on, any advice would be helpful.

thank you

 

[mcshow2]

Come on, any advice would be helpful.

thank you

I think if you had the opportunity to get into some sort of research project... anything that might suit your schedule and interests couldn't hurt your chances. Might also show some commitment?

I also think it might be more beneficial to hang around an academic ortho environment a day a week rather than in a private practice. Again shows academic interests (along with potentially getting into some research) and wouldn't be as dreadfully boring as observing in a private practice.

Yes, you should play to your strengths (apply to hospital programs and others that prefer residents have some real world experience,) but why not also try and bolster your weaknesses to make yourself a shoe-in?

 

[OG1]

I think if you had the opportunity to get into some sort of research project... anything that might suit your schedule and interests couldn't hurt your chances. Might also show some commitment?

I also think it might be more beneficial to hang around an academic ortho environment a day a week rather than in a private practice. Again shows academic interests (along with potentially getting into some research) and wouldn't be as dreadfully boring as observing in a private practice.

Yes, you should play to your strengths (apply to hospital programs and others that prefer residents have some real world experience,) but why not also try and bolster your weaknesses to make yourself a shoe-in?

I agree with this. Some programs really like research - Michigan for example, and it's a great program.

I also agree about observing at a private practice being dreadfully boring. I love doing ortho, but man, when I observed for several weeks at a private practice, I was bored to tears at times. In dentistry big things happen in a single visit, but in ortho it takes months.