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mido1765

mido1765

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Hey guys,
I'm not sure how to start my first post here at the forum lol so im gonna start like this.. my name is Mido, im a premed student (biomedical science major) and recently i been having a change of mind between dental or medical. I loooove BOTH fields.. i worked in both fields - shadowed a cardiologist for md and an endodontist for dental. After i bought all my mcat books, i decided i was not going to take mcat but the dat. I would love for anyone with experience or knowledge about this matter to help me. is it a good idea to go to dental school then 6 year oral surgery/MD program? i understand the costs, but im more worried about the idea falling apart..

Thank you 🙂
 
you cant bank on the idea that you will certainly get into an oral residency program. It is extremely competitive, you have to have the mindset that you are going to dental school, and will most likely be a general dentist. You can WANT to specialize, but its deff not where near guaranteed.
 
bing12 said:
you cant bank on the idea that you will certainly get into an oral residency program. It is extremely competitive, you have to have the mindset that you are going to dental school, and will most likely be a general dentist. You can WANT to specialize, but its deff not where near guaranteed.
Click to expand...

wait so are you saying any kind of specialty is rare for a dentist? and why is it hard to specialize?
 
I would say it is difficult to specialize, but obviously not impossible. IDK the specific number of students that specialize, but I know those that are currently in dental school can help you with that question.

as for WHY?...well its because its usually more attractive to a large amount of people competing for a limited amount of positions, thats usually why anything is difficult in life. Specialist usually make more for the most part.
 
usually top ~10-15% of your class will have the chance to specialize. Not saying you can't if you're lower, but it will be more difficult.

Everyone graduates dental school as general dentist. Why would many people stay general dentists if they could all become orthos, perios, endos, and make on average twice as much? That's why its competitive. Specialists make A LOT more.
 
Another factor is that not all schools have specialty programs and those that do dont have very large classes. But basically what was said in the above.
 
mido1765 said:
Hey guys,
I'm not sure how to start my first post here at the forum lol so im gonna start like this.. my name is Mido, im a premed student (biomedical science major) and recently i been having a change of mind between dental or medical. I loooove BOTH fields.. i worked in both fields - shadowed a cardiologist for md and an endodontist for dental. After i bought all my mcat books, i decided i was not going to take mcat but the dat. I would love for anyone with experience or knowledge about this matter to help me. is it a good idea to go to dental school then 6 year oral surgery/MD program? i understand the costs, but im more worried about the idea falling apart..

Thank you 🙂
Click to expand...

General consensus is that.... The competition for matching into those specialties (orthodontics, oral surg., peds, etc) is on a whole different level.

Just to demonstrate my point... On my temple interview last october. Brian (admission guy from temple) took on a tour of the school, when we got to the ortho wing he told us their program receives about 600 applications, of which only 20 people are interviewed, and only 6 get admitted 😱 (6 from 600).... I never checked to verify how much truth there was behind it, but I didn't see why he would make up such a story.

I don't think oral surgery is that competitive, but i wouldn't be surprise to see programs get between 200-300 applications for only 2-3 spots.

One thing you need to be okay with is... majority of people don't make it into oral surgery, and you need to be okay with that
 
hmmmm i think its an amazing opportunity to go into oral surgery. It seems like a really amazing career. I work for an oral surgeon and hes AMAZINGGGGGGG and he told me only 3 people from his class @ penn made it into oral surgery.
sooo hes a M.D DMD, that just looks hot in general. he does all sorts of orthognathic surgery but his job is like 70% extractions all day everyday. it also seems to be a very male dominated speciality, his arm muscles flex so bad when hes pulling some teeth out...literally, id probably fall over trying to get it out. ummm but yea hes also in his 50s now (im assuming?) but is makin milllionnnssss on millions, good location office i guess and smart as helll.
i mean anythings possible, u could be one of the select few who makes it into oral surgery, your best bet would be to get accepted to dental school first 🙂 & pass your boards with flying colors when u get there.
 
Last edited:
molar3 said:
hmmmm i think its an amazing opportunity to go into oral surgery. It seems like a really amazing career. I work for an oral surgeon and hes AMAZINGGGGGGG and he told me only 3 people from his class @ penn made it into oral surgery.
sooo hes a M.D DMD, that just looks hot in general. he does all sorts of orthognathic surgery but his job is like 70% extractions all day everyday. it also seems to be a very male dominated speciality, his arm muscles flex so bad when hes pulling some teeth out...literally, id probably fall over trying to get it out. ummm but yea hes also in his 50s now (im assuming?) but is makin milllionnnssss on millions, good location office i guess and smart as helll.
i mean anythings possible, u could be one of the select few who makes it into oral surgery, your best bet would be to get accepted to dental school first 🙂 & pass your boards with flying colors when u get there.
Click to expand...

are you talking about NBDE part 1? thats changing for us... starting 2012, its going pass/fail

there is talk that the test that will dominate pre-OMFS is NBME (I think thats the same one med students have to pass before USMLE step 1)
 
dentalworks! i have no idea, im not even in dentalschool yet! but yes sure, youre right! bc i dunno ha
 
molar3 said:
dentalworks! i have no idea, im not even in dentalschool yet! but yes sure, youre right! bc i dunno ha
Click to expand...

Oh... Im sorry... I didn't mean you were wrong.... I was just spreading the word about part 1.
 
well im looking into UF dental program and oral surgery/md program and they say they accept 2 md/oral and only 1 oral 4 year. do you guys think it would be worth the risk of getting into dental school in hopes to get into that program or just do med school. i would rly love to hear opinions 😉
 
mido1765 said:
well im looking into UF dental program and oral surgery/md program and they say they accept 2 md/oral and only 1 oral 4 year. do you guys think it would be worth the risk of getting into dental school in hopes to get into that program or just do med school. i would rly love to hear opinions 😉
Click to expand...

If you REALLY want to be an oral surgeon go to dental school. yeah its competetive, but one thing is for sure.. they accept students every year! Someone has to get those competetive residency spots, why not you? only you can answer whether or not you will work hard enough to be competetive. but i would go for it!
 
mr24 said:
If you REALLY want to be an oral surgeon go to dental school. yeah its competetive, but one thing is for sure.. they accept students every year! Someone has to get those competetive residency spots, why not you? only you can answer whether or not you will work hard enough to be competetive. but i would go for it!
Click to expand...

Exactly. Matching into OMS is not a lottery ticket. You control your own destiny/potential (to a certain degree) so don't listen to others who complain about how competitive things are when they are just pissed about not being at the top of their class.

Great programs successfully match their students all the time.
 
OP-have you shadowed an OMFS since you seem pretty set in getting into that specialty? You said you've only shadowed an endodontist and cardiologist. I would also shadow a general dentist to see if you like dentistry in general. You have to ask yourself, "if I don't get into an OMFS residency, would I still like dentistry?"

There are people who have chosen the dental school route in order to achieve their ultimate goal of becoming an oral surgeon thinking that it would be easier. Unfortunately, some never make it into OMFS residencies and end up becoming a general dentist....and becoming absolutely miserable because they were never really interested in dentistry to begin with. So it's important that you figure out if you truly enjoy dentistry and can live with doing general dentistry for 30+ years if by chance you don't get into oral surgery.
 
I'm very competitive person. I have a 4 science GPA and 3.92 overall, its just the thought of how limited the amount they accept to these programs is what scares me. I mean sure they do accept people, but seriously 3 people per year get to be what they want.

I really want to thank all the people that replied to my questions. you guys helped a ton. I will follow what you guys said about shadowing a dentist and see if this is what I would want to do if it doesn't workout as I plan.

just two last questions:
1) is there any other way to get into oral surgery without dental school? like through medical school

2) if someone doesnt get accepted to oral surgery program, can he/she apply the year after?
 
3 people? what do you mean? are you set on just one school?
 
mr24 said:
3 people? what do you mean? are you set on just one school?
Click to expand...

well 3 people according to UF (2 people accepted into oral/md and 1 person just oral). I know NOVA has that program (oral/md) as well so i guess i can say 6 out of the school im interested in.
 
mido1765 said:
well 3 people according to UF (2 people accepted into oral/md and 1 person just oral). I know NOVA has that program (oral/md) as well so i guess i can say 6 out of the school im interested in.
Click to expand...

I take back what i said earlier. if you are only willing to apply to 2 schools, then DONT go to dental school!! way to risky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
mr24 said:
I take back what i said earlier. if you are only willing to apply to 2 schools, then DONT go to dental school!! way to risky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

wait so how many schools are you thinking? I was planning one (UF) but NOVA is just a side thing ... am I doing something wrong?
 
mido1765 said:
wait so how many schools are you thinking? I was planning one (UF) but NOVA is just a side thing ... am I doing something wrong?
Click to expand...

Well it probably depends on your final gpa after dental school. but even with a 4.0 i would apply to more than 2. now i am know expert on this seeing that i start dental school in august. im not even sure how many schools have oms residencies. but i would hope you could apply to atleast ten.
 
dentalWorks said:
General consensus is that.... The competition for matching into those specialties (orthodontics, oral surg., peds, etc) is on a whole different level.

Just to demonstrate my point... On my temple interview last october. Brian (admission guy from temple) took on a tour of the school, when we got to the ortho wing he told us their program receives about 600 applications, of which only 20 people are interviewed, and only 6 get admitted 😱 (6 from 600).... I never checked to verify how much truth there was behind it, but I didn't see why he would make up such a story.

I don't think oral surgery is that competitive, but i wouldn't be surprise to see programs get between 200-300 applications for only 2-3 spots.

One thing you need to be okay with is... majority of people don't make it into oral surgery, and you need to be okay with that
Click to expand...


Technically, those are the same odds. 😀
 
mido1765 said:
I'm very competitive person. I have a 4 science GPA and 3.92 overall, its just the thought of how limited the amount they accept to these programs is what scares me. I mean sure they do accept people, but seriously 3 people per year get to be what they want.

I really want to thank all the people that replied to my questions. you guys helped a ton. I will follow what you guys said about shadowing a dentist and see if this is what I would want to do if it doesn't workout as I plan.

just two last questions:
1) is there any other way to get into oral surgery without dental school? like through medical school

2) if someone doesnt get accepted to oral surgery program, can he/she apply the year after?
Click to expand...

These residency programs aren't like professional schools where they have a set number of seats to fill up every year.... They accept a max of 2-3 applicants but if they don't find the "right brand", they'll settle for less.

If oral surgery is REALLY something you are considering... maybe MD is a better option since they have more surgical specialties that also work in the head/neck area (ENTs and Plastics)... and I think theyr just as competitive as OMFS

For question 1) Generally "no". Majority of OMFS programs require you to have a DMD/DDS. So dental school = must

For question 2) Last summer, there was a dentist in the dental forums, he has been working as a GP for 8 years, and was accepted into an OMSF program (4 year ~ no MD). Apparently there are some programs that could favor the older GP applicants.... But I read somewhere (unreliable source) that many programs want new graduates, those who haven't been "poisoned" with the industry.

Here is a PDF of all available OMFS programs in the U.S
http://www.aaoms.org/docs/residency/program_list.pdf

Look at the 2nd page, that tells you which are MD granting, and which are 4 year with the option of 2 more for MD, and which are just 4 years

Only 102 programs, if we go with the 2-3 residents a year, thats only 200-300 maximum accepted.

I wonder how many people apply tho. 4500 dentists graduate every year, It can't be a majority. Maybe 500-700?
 
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