dental to medical

[DrNush]

i was just wondering.. if a DDS/DMD wanted to go back to school and get their MD, do they have to repeat 4 years of med school? does anyone have a dentist in their med schools who maybe got a year or two off cuz they already have done the basic sciences?

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[gatoradedrinker]

no, they dont have to... there are a handful of programs which allows for the DDS/DMD to enter into an MD program with advanced standing. Often, they'll only make you do the third and fourth year of the MD. This is a common path for those wanting to pursue maxillofacial surgery.

what i've been curious about though... is for MDs who want to go back and get their DDS/DMD for the same reason (practicing maxillofacial surg.).

 

[Taurus]

no, they dont have to... there are a handful of programs which allows for the DDS/DMD to enter into an MD program with advanced standing. Often, they'll only make you do the third and fourth year of the MD. This is a common path for those wanting to pursue maxillofacial surgery.

what i've been curious about though... is for MDs who want to go back and get their DDS/DMD for the same reason (practicing maxillofacial surg.).

Um, you're quite misinformed. If you jump directly into year 3, what about step 1, the most important of all the steps and one that you need for residency matching? Nearly all of them require that you do all 4 years of medical school. I think I heard one school would let you start at year 2. Frankly, you wouldn't want advanced placement, unless you don't care about step 1 performance or you're very confident that you will do well.

 

[ACSurgeon]

Um, you're quite misinformed. If you jump directly into year 3, what about step 1, the most important of all the steps and one that you need for residency matching? Nearly all of them require that you do all 4 years of medical school. I think I heard one school would let you start at year 2. Frankly, you wouldn't want advanced placement, unless you don't care about step 1 performance or you're very confident that you will do well.

I think he's referring to dental students who match in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery (OMFS). I'm not sure if they have to take step 1 or not, but I know for sure that they do jump into 3rd year AND graduate with an MD (so become a DMD/MD or DDS/MD). What I do NOT know, is if they can apply to MD residencies, or if they are bound to doing OMFS.

 

[Taurus]

I think he's referring to dental students who match in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery (OMFS). I'm not sure if they have to take step 1 or not, but I know for sure that they do jump into 3rd year AND graduate with an MD (so become a DMD/MD or DDS/MD). What I do NOT know, is if they can apply to MD residencies, or if they are bound to doing OMFS.

From what the OMFS person in my class told me, most OMFS programs start the resident as MSII. Yes, they have to take all three steps because you need to do that to get a medical license. The OP question refers to what if a dental student, not an OMFS resident, wanted to switch to medical school. Most will require all 4 years.

 

[FrickenhugeMD]

We have someone in our class who just graduated from dental school. He is a first year, and will have to all 3 others after this one like the rest of us. This is how it works at my school at least....

 

[DrNush]

what i've been curious about though... is for MDs who want to go back and get their DDS/DMD for the same reason (practicing maxillofacial surg.).

hey, from what i know MDs have to start from the 1st year of dental school because though the 1st 2 years are basic sciences, it's also intermixed with pre-clinicals. i'm sure on a school-to-school basis MDs would get credit for the basic science courses since u guys go more in depth, but pre-clinical dental courses would have to be done somehow.

i wasn't actually referring to OMFS - just if a general practice DDS wanted to switch to medicine. i guess it's a school to school decision? thanks for the help guys, appreciate it

 

[armorshell]

OMFS - If you match in to a 6 year, combined MD/OMFS residency, depending on the school you'll do 18-30 months of medical school (Only 12 months at Case!) and get awarded an MD. Part 1 is universally required before starting the M3 rotations, and OMFS residents end up taking all the steps of the exam, doing a year equivalent of general surgery and are considered fully licensed physicians (and dentists!).

Non-OMFS - I've heard of a few programs that will fast track dentists in to the M2 year but I have no idea which school's those might be. Most likely they'll expect you to start from the beginning.

As far as MD's wanting to do OMFS, there are a few programs that have established programs for that (Alabama being the most well known) that will have you do 3 years of dental school and 4 years of residency.