getting into a specialty

[dackmonkey]

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Hey everyone,

I'm currently a 3rd year dental student, and although I really have no idea whether or not I want to pursue a specialty, I certainly want to keep my options open. I just wanted some opinions regarding my situation, and any input is appreciated.

My grades during dental school have been pretty good so far. I took the NBDE I and scored a composite score of 96, which I was super stoked about. Overall, I'm satisfied with my grades in school, although in terms of class rank I'd say I'm in the top 20% for grades, so nothing outstanding comparatively, but decent nonetheless. On the other hand, I think that my clinical performance is very average. I'm just wondering what the folks on SDN think about my situation. Assuming I keep my grades where they're at, what is the likelihood of matching into a specialty in spite of mediocre clinical performance?

 

[Streetwolf]

Hey everyone,

I'm currently a 3rd year dental student, and although I really have no idea whether or not I want to pursue a specialty, I certainly want to keep my options open. I just wanted some opinions regarding my situation, and any input is appreciated.

My grades during dental school have been pretty good so far. I took the NBDE I and scored a composite score of 96, which I was super stoked about. Overall, I'm satisfied with my grades in school, although in terms of class rank I'd say I'm in the top 20% for grades, so nothing outstanding comparatively, but decent nonetheless. On the other hand, I think that my clinical performance is very average. I'm just wondering what the folks on SDN think about my situation. Assuming I keep my grades where they're at, what is the likelihood of matching into a specialty in spite of mediocre clinical performance?

As far as I can tell, there's only two ways the programs can find out about your "mediocre" performance in clinic (assuming this is true and you aren't just being hard on yourself): your clinical grades and your letters of recommendation.

The first isn't even necessarily a good indicator because a lot of schools take into account quantity of procedures done as well as quality. If you have an honors/satisfactory system like we do, not only do you need to be consistently good at the procedure but you also need to have done considerably more than the minimum acceptable amount - sometimes double the requirement. Even if you are the best at crowns in your class, if you only get so many cases that come your way you may not get that H or the A if you use A/B/C/F.

The second you can try to sway in your favor by picking faculty that you've worked closely with and will write a very positive letter of recommendation. Choose wisely! You will also need a dean's letter but I don't think you'll have to worry about that bringing you down.

Honestly with your board score I'm pretty sure you won't have any problems except *MAYBE* ortho since so many people applying there have scores up in that area. Even so, I think you'll be fine there too.

 

[rarm1]

Hey everyone,

I'm currently a 3rd year dental student, and although I really have no idea whether or not I want to pursue a specialty, I certainly want to keep my options open. I just wanted some opinions regarding my situation, and any input is appreciated.

My grades during dental school have been pretty good so far. I took the NBDE I and scored a composite score of 96, which I was super stoked about. Overall, I'm satisfied with my grades in school, although in terms of class rank I'd say I'm in the top 20% for grades, so nothing outstanding comparatively, but decent nonetheless. On the other hand, I think that my clinical performance is very average. I'm just wondering what the folks on SDN think about my situation. Assuming I keep my grades where they're at, what is the likelihood of matching into a specialty in spite of mediocre clinical performance?

You have nothing to lose by applying. In the meantime you can improve your chances by doing externships in the area your interested in, research with faculty in the speciallity, community help/volunteerism - all will help you get in.

If you still feel your chances are not that good, you may want to do an "internship" in that or a related field, or do a 1 year AEGD or GPR. All of these will help your chances

 

[Pedosmakebank]

You have nothing to lose by applying. In the meantime you can improve your chances by doing externships in the area your interested in, research with faculty in the speciallity, community help/volunteerism - all will help you get in.

If you still feel your chances are not that good, you may want to do an "internship" in that or a related field, or do a 1 year AEGD or GPR. All of these will help your chances

+1 take Dr. Arms advice. Very solid. Thanks Dr. Arm for your contributions to this forum. You are da man!! 🙂