Dental Research

[KatieJune]

Does anyone know of the path to take if I am interested in working as a dentist, but also being involved in dental research?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[gryffindor]

Look into DDS-PhD programs. A number of schools have them, UCSF, Buffalo, UConn come to mind. You will probably receive some sort of stipend for participating in it in addition to the program covering your tuition costs. You really have to probe the schools for info, the DDS-PhD path isn't as popular as the MD-PhD track. There are soooo many paths to explore in dental research. Also, check out the web pages for the NIDCR (www.nih.gov) and the IADR (www.iadr.org). Some other research-oriented schools are also Univ. of Texas-San Antonio and Iowa (they had tons of students attend the IADR meeting in San Diego this year).

 

[Blue Tooth]

Our interests are pretty similar, since I plan on being an academic, but I would shy you away from DDS/PhD programs. I considered applying too but when I got to thinking about they way they are structured (not that I've heard anything bad about them, I haven't), there are better wasy to do it. I just don't like the format (2-3-2 or 4-3) because the breaks interrupt either your clinical or research educations. The thing I'm thinking about is the Dental Scientist Award (DSA) through the NIH. It is a 5 or 6 year program that you do after you get your DDS and you do yoru specialty training at the same time as you get your PhD. So it allows you to do both simultaneously and when you have your specialty done, you can sometimes moonlight while working on your PhD so you can make a decent living. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.