Grades and Specializing

[outback95]

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I just began dental school and was having some struggles in one or two classes. I know I won't get straight A's, and I'm sure I will NOT be at the top of my class. Is all hope lost when it comes to specializing then? I want to be involved in student organizations and extra-curriculars, but do those not matter in an application if your grades aren't the best of the best? I know it's too early to be thinking about this, but if it's really not worth the effort, I want to spend my resources learning how to become the best dentist I can be rather than trying to memorize mostly useless information that will have no application when I am practicing.

 

[toothsucker]

What specialty? That’s an important question. OMFS or ortho consider extracurriculars way less important than GPA, rank, CBSE/GRE. Perio, on the other hand, may look the other way to a less impressive GPA if you have some solid research under your belt.

 

[outback95]

What specialty? That’s an important question. OMFS or ortho consider extracurriculars way less important than GPA, rank, CBSE/GRE. Perio, on the other hand, may look the other way to a less impressive GPA if you have some solid research under your belt.

What about prosth? And why do OMFS and ortho put so much stress on grades over anything else? Wouldn't they care about externships in those fields or simply performance in OMFS or ortho classes while in dental school?

 

[toothsucker]

Why would med school put stress on grades over everything else? Wouldn’t they just care about shadowing doctors and doing well in an anatomy course? Why does anyone care about grades?

These are the most competitive specialties and they can be picky. Your grades and test scores are a direct predictor of your work ethic. When you have tons and tons of applicants, you have to screen them somehow.

 

[ncide]

What about prosth? And why do OMFS and ortho put so much stress on grades over anything else? Wouldn't they care about externships in those fields or simply performance in OMFS or ortho classes while in dental school?

For Ortho it's because of the quality of life the field offers. It becomes competitive for this reason.

For OFMS, it's because you are the doctor who gets the most difficult pathologies and manage the most medically compromised patients. You want someone who is sharp and can handle the most complex cases.