MBBS increases chances @ OMFS res?

In Australia now (and I thought the UK as well), it is actually a requirement to have both degrees (BDent and MBBS) and a high mark on the primary fellowship RACDS first before being allowed to apply for a maxfac training position. What's it like in Trinidad? Do you guys have any postgrad spots there or do they expect you to go elsewhere for specialty training? I was under the impression your school had an agreement with the UK for licensure and training, etc?

 

Well dinesh,

I think the bad news is for dentistry(including OMFS), if your a foreign trained dental grad no matter if you have an MD you still need to go to dental school in the US if you want to get a full license in any state(except california maybe but they are all crazy there). You can however get OMFS training here and stay in the university system and work as a faculty member with a restricted liscence. (i think). An intern of ours from india (DDS in india) had this same trouble. Also basically there are only like 2-3 OMFS training programs in the country that take residents without US dental degrees. I know emory is one of them, i don't know the others.

You could however get the foreign MD and then take the USMLE steps 1-3, do an american internship and practice under your MD degree...i think. But it would be extremely shady doing OMFS when your not even board eligable. (or dental board eligable for that matter.)

 

I thought board eligibility and licensure were two completly different things. I know a few Maxfacs here who are Board certified (ABOMS) in the US and they did ALL their training in Australia.

 

My understanding is if you work under your MD degree you can't do your own anesthesia. At our program this is the edge we have over ENT is that we can do a lot more procedures in our clinic because of our dental anesthesia credentials. I could be all-wrong as well.

 

No, that sounds correct to me. Maxfac trainees in Australia and the UK I don't think get training in general anesthesia. (although we do in IV sedation) Here we always have a med anesth provider deliver the gas during all cases. But I was also under the impression that UK and Australian trainees were given a slightly wider scope including more H/N oncology, microvascular, craniofacial than the majority of the US programs (minus some of programs I've heard you speak about located in southern US).

 

I agree. The US is geographically tilted to the west. All the loose nuts roll out there.

 

If you want to practice and/or complete your training in the US, then having a medical degree won’t be required. Having both degrees might help your application, but it's not going to guarantee you a training position either.

Do you want to return to Trinidad to practice when you’re done? Or is your goal to practice in the states? What about the programs in the UK you spoke about?

If you want to do something to make yourself more competitive, then I'm sure there are many other things you could do during the same 2-4 years or however long it would take you to complete med school that might serve better to increase your chances of an OMS training position than the med degree.

ie.
bumping up your NDEB scores
Internship
research

If I were you, I'd probably first investigate the ties your school has with some of the training positions in the UK since you too are British commonwealth and especially considering that there are no postgrad positions in Trinidad as you mentioned. I know the UK has great programs and also considering that many of the UK programs have a history and a mission to train a certain number of foreign docs/dents so that they can return and provide care to citizens of their home countries that would otherwise go without.

 

Doubt much.

You'd just be older, slower, uglyer, and smellier