I'm starting as an intern next year and I feel like I have forgotten everything OS related... from type of extraction flaps, to pathology to space infections. I can barely tell you what Ameloblastoma is. Is this normal? or do I just have a very weak memory and need to constantly review?
Is it normal to forget so much OS stuff?
- Thread starter Demilaax
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It's really not that bad, as a DS you are focused on quite a few other things to get your requirements and graduate. With that being said, once you graduate and finish I would start reviewing the basics again. OMFS secrets isn't a bad review book to look stuff up. I would buy and memorize the Maxwell book (small pocket book) as much as you can (it contains Glasgow coma score, dermatomes, mini mental state exam, eye test, etc). Nevilles pathology book is great for pathology review. You definitely need to start gearing up and you'll realize quickly that intern year is crazy busy but you must read. I am cranking through Petersons now but read a lot of Fonseca trauma and regular Fonseca my intern year and it was very helpful.
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Definitely. I just know what looks normal and refer everything else abnormal. Most of dental school was not clinically relevant and that's why we forget a lot of what we learned. Now, if you're gonna specialize into OS, then you should probably know all that since us GPs lean on our surgical counterparts to know everything beyond teeth and gums.
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I will also add to my post from earlier that going from DS to doing an intern year is quite a large difference. To me, I thought it was a much bigger learning curve going from DS to intern year than it was transitioning into DS (just my .02) - could be different for you. OMFS is a completely different animal in many ways - you will certainly understand this as each week goes by in your first year. Going off what TanMan mentioned above - the reason OMFS is 4-6 more years is because you must understand the management of many patients that you don't get in DS, this will be invaluable to your other colleagues and referring docs to help treat your mutual patients optimally. It takes time to understand the medical management of these patients, knowing the medicine, anesthesia, surgical procedures, and how to treat/manage the complications. Just take it one step at a time and do your due diligence to read as much as possible and ask questions. Good luck to you during your intern year!
This man knows what oral surgery is all about. Intern year is about learning how to make photocopies of your inpatient list every morning before rounds and how to fax medical consults to cardiologists from a different hospital system. Unfortunately real life oral surgery is all about useless stuff, like knowing how to do surgery. In all seriousness though, intern year is about OMS secrets and maxwell book. The night before you go to OR you should read surgical approaches and deepak kademani’s atlas of oral surgery.
