Importance of being involved in student orgs, volunteering, etc for specializing.

[ToothEnthusiast96]

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Hello, I'm a D1 considering specializing and trying to put myself into the best situation if I decide to do so. Obviously grades, rank, and any applicable tests are the most important aspect, but I was curious about how much residency programs care about your involvement in student orgs and the like. Tbh I really have no desire to obtain a leadership position in any student org but if that's what it takes to reach a residency I would consider it. Or should I just focus on getting the best grades I can, network with faculty, and try and get some research in?

At this time I am most interested in perio, but I'm open to hearing about how this applies to other specialties as well like OMFS, ortho, etc.

Thanks!

 

[deleted1082923]

Hello, I'm a D1 considering specializing and trying to put myself into the best situation if I decide to do so. Obviously grades, rank, and any applicable tests are the most important aspect, but I was curious about how much residency programs care about your involvement in student orgs and the like. Tbh I really have no desire to obtain a leadership position in any student org but if that's what it takes to reach a residency I would consider it. Or should I just focus on getting the best grades I can, network with faculty, and try and get some research in?

At this time I am most interested in perio, but I'm open to hearing about how this applies to other specialties as well like OMFS, ortho, etc.

Thanks!

For OMFS its mostly about the CBSE. Extracurriculars mostly don't matter, with exception of maybe some research (OMFS-related of course), but even research isn't really mandatory. Rank is kind of important too, but you just need top 25% or so if your school ranks. Other thing is LORs, which people claim are important but at the end of the day, you just need to have all of them from oral surgeons and not have them say anything bad about you. Its more a requirement than something that can distinguish you.

 

[dentalchamp98]

For OMFS its mostly about the CBSE. Extracurriculars mostly don't matter, with exception of maybe some research (OMFS-related of course), but even research isn't really mandatory. Rank is kind of important too, but you just need top 25% or so if your school ranks. Other thing is LORs, which people claim are important but at the end of the day, you just need to have all of them from oral surgeons and not have them say anything bad about you. Its more a requirement than something that can distinguish you.

What about for perio?

 

[PerioDont]

What about for perio?

anecdotal, but I matched perio and had extensive ECs, research, and a bunch of other things. Most of the other residents held at least one leadership position during dental school as well.

My order of important is focus on class rank, then research and networking for LORs, then leadership and ECs.

Additionally, there has to be at least one club at your school that hopefully you would enjoy being a part of, so I'd recommend getting involved with that one and just stick with it.

 

[ToothEnthusiast96]

anecdotal, but I matched perio and had extensive ECs, research, and a bunch of other things. Most of the other residents held at least one leadership position during dental school as well.

My order of important is focus on class rank, then research and networking for LORs, then leadership and ECs.

Additionally, there has to be at least one club at your school that hopefully you would enjoy being a part of, so I'd recommend getting involved with that one and just stick with it.

Thanks for the response. I'm sure there are some clubs I'd enjoy being involved in I guess I'm just being negative after hating it in undergrad. Did you get any feedback from your interviewers about what set you apart? Or did they ask a lot of questions about a particular part of your application?

 

[ToothEnthusiast96]

For OMFS its mostly about the CBSE. Extracurriculars mostly don't matter, with exception of maybe some research (OMFS-related of course), but even research isn't really mandatory. Rank is kind of important too, but you just need top 25% or so if your school ranks. Other thing is LORs, which people claim are important but at the end of the day, you just need to have all of them from oral surgeons and not have them say anything bad about you. Its more a requirement than something that can distinguish you.

Thanks for responding. I have been tossing around the idea of OMFS but still not sure if the commitment would be worth it to me. I finished my first semester with a 3.1 GPA so I would obviously have to get that up a lot to be considered. Did you apply OMFS/planning to go that route?

 

[deleted1082923]

Thanks for responding. I have been tossing around the idea of OMFS but still not sure if the commitment would be worth it to me. I finished my first semester with a 3.1 GPA so I would obviously have to get that up a lot to be considered. Did you apply OMFS/planning to go that route?

I am an OMFS resident. What is your rank? GPA is not as important as rank. Rank is more informative.

 

[ToothEnthusiast96]

I am an OMFS resident. What is your rank? GPA is not as important as rank. Rank is more informative.

Not sure yet, I am still waiting for them to post our ranks but they're taking their time. I'm at my state school. Class size is 120 for context

 

[LeagueofLigTies]

Does anyone know how this applies to peds?

 

[MrThirsty12]

Does anyone know how this applies to peds?

I want to say grades don’t matter (sometimes they don’t) but it gets your foot in the door. With peds it’s about personality, letters of rec, outreach, and obviously class rank. The programs want to make sure you really want to be a pediatric dentist and it should show in your experience.

Also externships once everything goes back to normal

 

[deleted1082923]

Not sure yet, I am still waiting for them to post our ranks but they're taking their time. I'm at my state school. Class size is 120 for context

Rank should be top 25% ideally. Anything below that and it begins to hurt you. But low rank can be made up for with high CBSE, up to a certain point.

With a 3.1, unfortunately I think your rank might be quite low. At my school that would have been close to the bottom of the class. Just try your best and see where the cards fall.

 

[PerioDont]

Thanks for the response. I'm sure there are some clubs I'd enjoy being involved in I guess I'm just being negative after hating it in undergrad. Did you get any feedback from your interviewers about what set you apart? Or did they ask a lot of questions about a particular part of your application?

Yes many interviewers told me that my ECs were truly exceptional and asked me specific questions about them. e.g. you were in this club, and you guys achieved X thing, can you tell me more - I wish someone at our school did something like that. some said the PS was the best they ever read.

just like d school, its hard to pin point the exact thing that got someone accepted - its a well rounded thing for sure. My d school has no UG, so only grad school, the clubs culture is very different than UG. I'm sure you would enjoy at least one of them.

 

[ToothEnthusiast96]

Rank should be top 25% ideally. Anything below that and it begins to hurt you. But low rank can be made up for with high CBSE, up to a certain point.

With a 3.1, unfortunately I think your rank might be quite low. At my school that would have been close to the bottom of the class. Just try your best and see where the cards fall.

Yeah I agree with you unfortunately. Luckily it is only my first semester so I have time to bring it up. When you applied OMFS, what were the major aspects of your app?

 

[ToothEnthusiast96]

Yes many interviewers told me that my ECs were truly exceptional and asked me specific questions about them. e.g. you were in this club, and you guys achieved X thing, can you tell me more - I wish someone at our school did something like that. some said the PS was the best they ever read.

just like d school, its hard to pin point the exact thing that got someone accepted - its a well rounded thing for sure. My d school has no UG, so only grad school, the clubs culture is very different than UG. I'm sure you would enjoy at least one of them.

Thanks for the insight! I'll keep this in mind.