difficulty of various specialty programs?

[rashad951]

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we all know that specializing is not an easy thing to do by any means, but I would just like to get your insight by ranking the various programs from hardest to "easiest".

 

[sleeplessinsf]

ortho > (OMFS = endo) > perio > prosth

 

[Mackchops]

Do mean difficulty of getting in or how hard things are once you're there?

 

[KlingonDentist]

Difficulty of getting into a program:

ortho > (OMFS = endo) > (perio = pedo = oral path) > (prosth = oral radiology = oral implantology = dental anesthesiology = oral med = TMJ/Craniofacial Pain)

I'm not sure if this this real, but feelings only.

 

[sleeplessinsf]

oops. I left out pedo (along w/ the others).. pedo seems to be a little tougher to get into than perio... and I heard dental anesthesia is actually tough to get into since a lot of people use that as a gateway to get into OMFS.

 

[bracer]

oops. I left out pedo (along w/ the others).. pedo seems to be a little tougher to get into than perio... and I heard dental anesthesia is actually tough to get into since a lot of people use that as a gateway to get into OMFS.

Pedo can be pretty tough sometimes. Ortho is still the hardest to get into.

 

[furcation]

Pedo can be pretty tough sometimes. Ortho is still the hardest to get into.

I agree, from what I've seen, ESPECIALLY for females, pedo can be very tough. For males I havent seen it be to hard for them to match. But thats just from what ive seen.

 

[KlingonDentist]

Do mean difficulty of getting in or how hard things are once you're there?

General Practice is the hardest to practice if you compare to all specialties. This is a fact no one really talks about.

The Generalist is the quarterback and is the single most important professional to coordinate the patient's care.

 

[6897round2]

General Practice is the hardest to practice if you compare to all specialties. This is a fact no one really talks about.

The Generalist is the quarterback and is the single most important professional to coordinate the patient's care.

Agree with this - GP is likely the hardest to practice because you can do everything but also need to be humble enough to know when its time to refer...OMFS probably has the worst lifestyle and work the most hours.

As far as toughest residency to get into, I'd say ortho > OMFS > endo > pedo > perio = prosth > oral path/radiology

As far as toughest residency to complete: OMFS >> prosth > everything else

 

[Guy Smiley]

Agree with this - GP is likely the hardest to practice because you can do everything but also need to be humble enough to know when its time to refer...OMFS probably has the worst lifestyle and work the most hours.

As far as toughest residency to get into, I'd say ortho > OMFS > endo > pedo > perio = prosth > oral path/radiology

As far as toughest residency to complete: OMFS >> prosth > everything else

Personally, I would say OMFS is as hard, maybe harder to match into...but that's just me personally.

 

[AEGDdentist]

Now prosth gets more and more difficult to enter, I guess it might be that now many prosth programs included the implant surgical part. Prosth residents can perform from implant insertion to the final restoration.

 

[gary_ruska]

Personally, I would say OMFS is as hard, maybe harder to match into...but that's just me personally.

Gary Ruska here,
GR would agree, with the exception that, like all specialties, OMFS is a self-selecting group. However, the self-selection that occurs in OMFS is different from endo, ortho or the others because of the lifestyle. So you end up with a pool of people who have good grades/scores and can deal with 4-6 years of grueling, often unappreciated, always inconvenient, work.

In addition, OMFS, to GRs knowledge, is the only specialty where it has been demonstrated in the literature that a certain NBDE score is correlated with a proxy for academic performance in residency (i.e. NBDE correlating with USMLE Step 1). As such, 90 or above is a must (no ifs-ands-or-buts) for many 6-year programs. At GRs program, the secretary would be in charge of the initial screening: > 90, committee review for possible interview, < 90: circle file.

GR.

 

[biggezzz]

What do you mean by self selecting?

Thanks

 

[HelicopterBen]

but shouldn't OMFS be less competitive considering that almost half of the top class (females) won't be applying? 😀

Gary Ruska here,
GR would agree, with the exception that, like all specialties, OMFS is a self-selecting group. However, the self-selection that occurs in OMFS is different from endo, ortho or the others because of the lifestyle. So you end up with a pool of people who have good grades/scores and can deal with 4-6 years of grueling, often unappreciated, always inconvenient, work.

In addition, OMFS, to GRs knowledge, is the only specialty where it has been demonstrated in the literature that a certain NBDE score is correlated with a proxy for academic performance in residency (i.e. NBDE correlating with USMLE Step 1). As such, 90 or above is a must (no ifs-ands-or-buts) for many 6-year programs. At GRs program, the secretary would be in charge of the initial screening: > 90, committee review for possible interview, < 90: circle file.

GR.

 

[shabu2]

What do you mean by self selecting?

Thanks

GR just stated above that we are a bunch of people who have strived to get the numbers to match into 4-6 years of unappreciative/grueling hard work for 4-6yrs! Self selecting.

 

[PreDentRob]

Can anyone give an accurate estimate of about how much time is necessary to put in each week on average during each type of specialty residency? (I am especially curious about Perio.)

 

[Bifid Uvula]

Can anyone give an accurate estimate of about how much time is necessary to put in each week on average during each type of specialty residency? (I am especially curious about Perio.)

OMFS 90-120 hours of work. You spend the rest of your time reading, food, gym and maybe a couple of hours a week you can get some sleep.

Everybody else almost always gets a guaranteed breakfast/lunch/dinner and decent social life.

Prosthodontics: 50-70 hours, no calls, no emergencies

Perio/Ortho/Endo- 9-5, leisure reading, no calls, no emergencies

GPR- probably 40-60 hours and a few "on-calls"

AEGD- 40 hours, few if any "on-calls" where u would actually have to go in.

 

[KlingonDentist]

Most OS residents and programs are proud of the fact that they spend too much time in the hospital and on call. I know Parkland at one time boast a divorce rate of over 100% among the residents. i.e. some residents even got divorced more than once. But they are proud of it. To each his own.

 

[Bifid Uvula]

That takes talent! 😀

 

[PreDentRob]

Thanks for that info! Although I love OS, I think I'm going to have to stay away from the "divorce specialty"! Nothing is worth that kind of cost/loss.

 

[KlingonDentist]

Parkland was just the extreme. There are many "country club" OS programs out there that are quite benign such as Case WEstern and USC. Don't give OS up if you really like it.

 

[SNOZBERRIES]

OMFS 90-120 hours of work. You spend the rest of your time reading, food, gym and maybe a couple of hours a week you can get some sleep.

Everybody else almost always gets a guaranteed breakfast/lunch/dinner and decent social life.

Prosthodontics: 50-70 hours, no calls, no emergencies

Perio/Ortho/Endo- 9-5, leisure reading, no calls, no emergencies

GPR- probably 40-60 hours and a few "on-calls"

AEGD- 40 hours, few if any "on-calls" where u would actually have to go in.

I haven't got to the gym since I got off ENT.

 

[fjk]

Parkland was just the extreme. There are many "country club" OS programs out there that are quite benign such as Case WEstern and USC. Don't give OS up if you really like it.

I didn't hear that USC was country club. It's at LA County hospital, afterall. Not that they're not benign, but certainly not country club.