Low Class rank - specializing options

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Ariredso

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Hi
we just got our class rank's at the beginning of D2. I have a gpa of 3.4 and a class rank of 62/92. This is obviously a low rank. Is there a specializing option for this low of a rank? I would be interested in Perio. I heard that anyone can get into Perio. Is that true? or to have a shot at Perio you need to be in the to half?
Please help
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Yeah, you still have 2 more years, and it should definitely be doable to bump up into the top half if you put in the work. This year (D2) is going to be critical, in D3 your rank probably won't be able to shift around too much.
 
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Ariredso said:
Hi
we just got our class rank's at the beginning of D2. I have a gpa of 3.4 and a class rank of 62/92. This is obviously a low rank. Is there a specializing option for this low of a rank? I would be interested in Perio. I heard that anyone can get into Perio. Is that true? or to have a shot at Perio you need to be in the to half?
Please help
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You still have time. Try to work hard with networking too. Class rank isn’t everything.
 
Also, it might be advantageous to work on some perio research. It’ll give you something to put on the ol’ CV and help you get some good letters of recommendation when the time comes.

Big Hoss
 
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Do perio programs only require applicants to be in the top half of their class?
 
Steins;Gate said:
Do perio programs only require applicants to be in the top half of their class?
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Definitely not. All of the perio applicants in my class matched and most were below average students.
 
I’ll second that. Most of my class mates who ended up in perio had average grades and not very high ranks. I am still surprised how some of them are specialists now.
 
The periodontist working at the Corp where I'm at is 72 yrs old. :eek: He travels to at least 7-8 different Corp offices. Seems like the Corp GPs are treating most of the easier perio treatments what ever that is (Perio Protect) and doing most of the implants . The Corp employs about 6-7 orthodontists and "one" periodontist. Is Perio still relevant?
 
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2TH MVR said:
The periodontist working at the Corp where I'm at is 72 yrs old. :eek: He travels to at least 7-8 different Corp offices. Seems like the Corp GPs are treating most of the easier perio treatments what ever that is (Perio Protect) and doing most of the implants . The Corp employs about 6-7 orthodontists and "one" periodontist. Is Perio still relevant?
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Why would it be irrelevant? They take on the more challenging cases, translating into higher fees/case. Also, dental academia is dominated by periodontists. Perio isn't going anywhere anytime soon. If there's any one field in marked decline, it's ortho.

To the OP, just get the best grades you can get but don't stress too much about it lol. Dental school class rank is a funny game of which you don't have a full control. It is true though that perio is the least competitive specialty to get into. By that I mean you don't even need to be in top half to match. Obviously hospital based programs (eg Mayo) that offer a salary require you to have a higher class rank and extras like research. Never hurts to do some externships during third year.
 
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thanks for all the replies. My class is apparently unusually smart. Usually we have 5 -10 students failing out or repeating a year, our year had all 92 students make it to second year. So the competition is there. I am interested in Perio because I enjoy watching the surgeries and dealing with the gums, it seems more medical than restoring teeth from my vantage point. (obviously everyone likes a different part.) Do the people here think Perio is phasing out, because GP's are doing everything Perio used to do; or if you can keep yourself busy and get lots of referrals it is still worth it? I know a perio in michigan that works 4 days a week and only does implants all day. But some Periodontists told me they need to travel to 15 different offices.
 
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Ariredso said:
thanks for all the replies. My class is apparently unusually smart. Usually we have 5 -10 students failing out or repeating a year, our year had all 92 students make it to second year. So the competition is there. I am interested in Perio because I enjoy watching the surgeries and dealing with the gums, it seems more medical than restoring teeth from my vantage point. (obviously everyone likes a different part.) Do the people here think Perio is phasing out, because GP's are doing everything Perio used to do; or if you can keep yourself busy and get lots of referrals it is still worth it? I know a perio in michigan that works 4 days a week and only does implants all day. But some Periodontists told me they need to travel to 15 different offices.
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It’s not hard to get into perio but if you want to get into a paid residency program, you will need to have good grades, high class rank, and do research.

Most specialists (OS, ortho, endo, perio, pedo) travel and this is not a bad thing. They travel to more offices to reach out to more patients. Many specialists open more than 1 office. Why limit yourself to just 1 location with limited number of referring GPs and smaller patient base? When you travel 30 miles east to one office on day 1, 30 miles west to another office on day 2, 30 miles north to another office on day 3, and 30 miles south on day 4 etc…you will end up having much higher patients volume and higher number of referring GPs than the doctor, who travels 1 direction to his only office 4 days/week. The daily commuting distance is still only 30 miles.

Dr. A, who owns a practice and works 4 days/week, may not do as well nor have as good of a lifestyle as Dr. B, who travels to 15 different offices. Dr. A has to go door to door to beg the referring GPs and Dr. B doesn’t need to do this. Dr. A has to pay rent and to deal with all the headaches associated with running a business. During the slow months when Dr. A doesn’t have enough patients to keep his appointment book full, his income declines but he still has to pay the same fixed business expenses. Dr. B doesn’t need to worry about that.
 
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2TH MVR said:
So true. I make up for it with a superior index pointer finger. I just point to asst's and the patients in the chairs.
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what about your vermillion borders though? are they still intact after all those years of rear kissing GPs?
 
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studentdent00 said:
what about your vermillion borders though? are they still intact after all those years of rear kissing GPs?
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You know those specialists make much, much more than GPs. My vermillion borders would be permanently creased from the constant smiles I'd have if I were one.

The Christmas fruit baskets to the GPs would make up for the $100k+ average salary bump.
 
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ncide said:
You know those specialists make much, much more than GPs. My vermillion borders would be permanently creased from the constant smiles I'd have if I were one.

The Christmas fruit baskets to the GPs would make up for the $100k+ average salary bump.
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You know, I was naive like that once. Then I realized how much you make as an owner doesn't depend on whether you are a GP or a specialist. :)

Tangentially, I wouldn't be surprised if orthodontics is the first dental field to be automated from start to finish with the field moving away from traditional brackets to purely aligner technology and "on-demand"/ "cloud" diagnoses being made by some cheap, corporate orthos. With time, any shortcomings current aligner technology may have will likely be rectified such that even the challenging ortho cases can be treated with aligners. This will without a doubt drastically reduce the demand for orthodontists and consequently put downward pressure on their wages. Additionally, the days of orthos having their own shop will come to a halt, and they will most likely work for GPs as traveling orthos (essentially borrowing GPs office space a couple of times a month) or as aforementioned "cloud/on-demand" orthos. Just look around. It's already happening.
 
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ncide said:
You know those specialists make much, much more than GPs. My vermillion borders would be permanently creased from the constant smiles I'd have if I were one.

The Christmas fruit baskets to the GPs would make up for the $100k+ average salary bump.
Click to expand...
As for your last statement, I defer to @TanMan for what he gets from his orthodontists for Christmas.
 
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