north2southOMFS said:
I did an externship at minnesota, good program I thought...although I also though it was the worst externship i ever did. They made me take out teeth the entire time to cover for the dental students who were on vacation at the time. Things might have changed since then, but it was not what i wanted, i wanted to go to the OR, over to hennepin county...etc...
But the residency is great i though, i ranked em high. I like the attendings, especially sandler and the residents were great, really nice people. Great scope of practice. A lot of estrogen in that program though.....good i guess if your single:>) Twin cities are "da bomb" also, fun town.
It's funny that you said that, you're absolutely right. MN OMFS externship is basically covering pre-doc OMFS patients at the dental school while the current MN dental students are on vacation. The externship have not changed at all. Since I've been there before (during my 1st and 2nd year spring breaks), I knew what was up. If you as the extern doesn't say anything, then you're stuck at the pre-doc clinic shucking teeth all day. I wanted to see the entire residency so I expressed what I wanted to see and do. Dr. Sandler is so cool that he said, this is my externship, I can see and experience whatever I want as long as I inform him.
So during my official 3 week externship, I simply followed the Chief around (went along with their schedule). Here's an outline of what I experienced at MN OMFS:
Monday:
- OR day @ Fairview/University Medical Center (Dr. Sandler staffing)
- Anesthesia Conference @ 9 AM (Dr. Basi)
- Dental Clinic (Fairview & HCMC)
Tuesday:
- Morning Rounds (conference) @ 6:30 AM (Chiefs present)
- Dr. Swift Dental Clinic all day
- Dental Clinic (Fairview & HCMC)
Wednesday:
- OR day @ Fairview/University Medical Center (Dr. Swift staffing)
- OR day @ HCMC
- Dental Clinic (Fairview)
Thursday:
- Grand Rounds @ Fairview/University Medical Center (6 AM)
- AM Dental Clinic (Fairview & HCMC)
- Core Lecture series @ dental school
Friday:
- OR day @ Fairview/University Medical Center (Dr. Swift & Sandler)
- Dental Clinic (Fairview & HCMC)
I was able to scrub in in many OR cases, often as a second assist to both Drs. Sandler and Swift. I shucked teeth both at HCMC and dental school's dental clinics. Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) is similar to Charity Hospital at LSUNO in the scope of practice, lots of trauma and shucking teeth, but not as busy of course. I also took calls and stayed at HCMC during OMFS trauma call week.
MN externship is really what you make of it. If you didn't know any better, then you'll probably would be stuck in the pre-doc OMFS clinic treating pre-doc patients. If you knew that you could see and do whatever you wanted as long as you asked, then your externship would've been more like other externships out there (OR cases, gone to the trauma county hospital, etc). The issue here is that MN OMFS externship is not based at a hospital like other OMFS externships out there (UTSW at Parkland and LSUNO at Charity) MN OMFS externship is based off the dental school's OMFS clinic.
Luckily for me, they were two MN dental students that were there covering the clinic because they wanted to shuck teeth. Since there were two MN dental students already there, no one bothered me to cover the pre-doc clinic. At MN dental school, 3rd year students don't even extract teeth, they only assist 4th years on their OMFS rotations. Often during vacation time, 3rd years will do the "externship" to gain experience in exodontia covering the pre-doc OMFS clinic.
My 3 weeks there were very productive, fun, and I previewed a lot about the program. I also met USC2003 and all the rest of the residents. Good times, good times......
