MD applicants to dentistry?

[puppy]

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Hypothetically,

If a jaded, disillusioned individual, decided in the 4th year of his medical education that he would like to be a dentist, could he gain entrance relatively easily? Would he have to write the DAT? Would the individual receive credit for his medical training and be put through an accelerated path?

Advice would be brilliant, thanks.

 

[lnn2]

You still have to write the DAT. You won't be put through an accelerated path so you most likely won't receive credit for med training.

 

[drhobie7]

I think you'd still have to take every class in each year of dental school. Schools are very particular about their curriculum.
Yeah, the DAT would be required for admission. If you did well in med school that'd be a plus. I think the dental schools would be concerned about whether or not you'd finish dental school, although I can't imagine someone would bolt with 4 years of med school debt and 4 years of dental school debt!

I'd be curious to hear how you came to this realization (if this in fact is more than a hypothetical).

 

[Jediwendell]

Yeah, I have a friend that did two years of medical school and is trying the same thing. You won't get any credit for the classes that you have taken, except maybe at a place like UConn or Columbia where the first two years are identical to the medical school curriculum. Even then, I doubt it. Dental school is too competitive right now.

 

[Dr.SpongeBobDDS]

There is a guy in my class who completed the first year or two of med school. His wife got cancer so he pulled out for a few years and when he was ready to go back to school he decided dentistry was the way to go.

My biggest concern would be the debt --- OUCH!!!

 

[Smilemaker100]

Hypothetically,

If a jaded, disillusioned individual, decided in the 4th year of his medical education that he would like to be a dentist, could he gain entrance relatively easily? Would he have to write the DAT? Would the individual receive credit for his medical training and be put through an accelerated path?

Advice would be brilliant, thanks.

I personally know of more switches from dental school to med school as oppose to the opposite. Two collegues from my dental school went into medical school after completing the 4 year D.M.D program. However, I also know of two gals who desparately wanted to get into dental school but gave up because they had failed the infamous soap carving component on the DAT (Canadian) and ended up going to med school.

As far as I know, the DAT is required for admission for every dental school. I wouldn't worry too much about it in your case given your medical background. It should be a cinch for you. 😉 There are all kind of DAT prep books on sale at the bookstores to help you prepare for it.

I don't think you would get credit for your medical training unless you were in a university where the dental and medical students had the same curriculum for the first 1-1.5 years (ie. basic science courses like anatomy, physiology, microbiology etc.).

Good luck!

 

[aphistis]

I personally know of more switches from dental school to med school as oppose to the opposite. Two collegues from my dental school went into medical school after completing the 4 year D.M.D program. However, I also know of two gals who desparately wanted to get into dental school but gave up because they had failed the infamous soap carving component on the DAT (Canadian) and ended up going to med school.

As far as I know, the DAT is required for admission for every dental school. I wouldn't worry too much about it in your case given your medical background. It should be a cinch for you. 😉 There are all kind of DAT prep books on sale at the bookstores to help you prepare for it.

I don't think you would get credit for your medical training unless you were in a university where the dental and medical students had the same curriculum for the first 1-1.5 years (ie. basic science courses like anatomy, physiology, microbiology etc.).

Good luck!

Don't take the DAT too much for granted. It's an undergraduate exam, so they're testing stuff that the OP hasn't seen for 4-8 years. I don't doubt he'll perform well on the test, but I'd still suggest some time reviewing instead of just walking in cold one morning. 😉

 

[Smilemaker100]

Don't take the DAT too much for granted. It's an undergraduate exam, so they're testing stuff that the OP hasn't seen for 4-8 years. I don't doubt he'll perform well on the test, but I'd still suggest some time reviewing instead of just walking in cold one morning. 😉

Yes, you have a point. I personally took the Kaplan course (which I find ridiculously overpriced) and had an excellent teacher who happened to be consistently on the dean's list in dental school and got into OMF so he made it worthwhile.

I was drawn to taking that course because of my fear of the carving component of the DAT and at the time I took it, there were no Kaplan prep books for the DAT. I prepared for it over a few months period. I practiced on chalk before moving onto soap for the carving. I ended up doing over 100 carvings but it was worth it as I ended up having a standard score of 28 (maximum is 30)!

 

[onetoothleft]

most schools dont make special accomodations for MD students. But Columbia does. Click here to read the instructions. I sounds like it would take just as long, but you can at least work or something while the regular students do their medical classes.

 

[QCkid]

Hypothetically,

If a jaded, disillusioned individual, decided in the 4th year of his medical education that he would like to be a dentist, could he gain entrance relatively easily? Would he have to write the DAT? Would the individual receive credit for his medical training and be put through an accelerated path?

Advice would be brilliant, thanks.

I would finish med school since the 4th year isn't very difficult anyways. We have a guy in my class thats an M.D. and he recently took boards part 1. We are 2008's but I heard that he is on the fast track here at USC. I don't know what the particulars are though.

 

[Energon]

I would try applying to the same university system if they have a dental school and try my best to transfer as many basic science credits as possible.

 

[DcS]

You can try UNC...I know a classmate of mine switched over after 2 or 3 years of med school.

I know they let him audit a few classes during 1st year. He got to take an exam to place out of them from what I've heard. He posts on here, very rarely, but maybe he'll pop in to educate us all.

 

[puppy]

Actually, I had full intentions of finishing up my MD (debt is a motivating factor). I would have liked to do ENT but OMFS seems like a better field all things considered. I suppose I should have phrased my question as follows: What is the fastest way for an MD to become an OMFS?

I am not worried about scoring well on the DAT, just wondering if I should be looking to write it this year.

I apologize in advance for my ignorance re: paths to become an OMF surgeon. My medical school is paired with a dental school that is unfortunately quite rubbish relative to the others in the country.

Thanks for the quick replies thus far...

 

[drhobie7]

Actually, I had full intentions of finishing up my MD (debt is a motivating factor). I would have liked to do ENT but OMFS seems like a better field all things considered. I suppose I should have phrased my question as follows: What is the fastest way for an MD to become an OMFS?

I am not worried about scoring well on the DAT, just wondering if I should be looking to write it this year.

I apologize in advance for my ignorance re: paths to become an OMF surgeon. My medical school is paired with a dental school that is unfortunately quite rubbish relative to the others in the country.

Thanks for the quick replies thus far...

I'm curious, what is it about OMS attracts you? Head and neck surgery (ENT) is a good surgical specialty too, no?

 

[HulkHogan]

So please set my ignorance straight. MD's cannot go straight o OMFS, correct? You need a dental degree to do so, correct?

I am compfused.

I'm curious, what is it about OMS attracts you? Head and neck surgery (ENT) is a good surgical specialty too, no?

 

[umkcdds]

there is an md in the class below me. he doesn't take all the normal classes with everyone else. he is getting to skip all of the general science stuff (anatomy, biochem, neuroscience...). he still has to take all the courses with dental material.
he finished med school and decided he wanted to be an omfs, so he had to go to dental school first. he has already been accepted into the omfs program, pending his graduation from dental school.
the way he did it sucks, because his med school was 4 years. if you go through dental school first, you can get into a 6 year omfs program which gets you the md degree with 2 years of med school.

 

[toofache32]

Actually, I had full intentions of finishing up my MD (debt is a motivating factor). I would have liked to do ENT but OMFS seems like a better field all things considered.

Why OMFS if you're originally interested in ENT? There are anatomical similarities, but that's about it. ENT does more general medicine stuff like runny noses, sinus problems, allergies, and earaches. They also do surgical treatments for sinus problems, cancer, ear/hearing problems, etc. The only common ground with OMFS is probably facial trauma and cosmetics. OMFS does more craniofacial, orthognathics, reconstruction/bone grafting, etc.

I apologize in advance for my ignorance re: paths to become an OMF surgeon. My medical school is paired with a dental school that is unfortunately quite rubbish relative to the others in the country.

There are a handful of people who have done this, but not many. The problem is that OMFS is a dental specialty and therefore requires a dental degree. The MD is irrelevant. The problem with applying is that applicants are compared by their dental board scores, so they will probably have a difficult time comparing you to the traditional applicants. University of Louisville (Kentucky) has a guy right now who applied out of med school and didn't match. So he did a general surgery internship and re-applied and matched. They set a deal with the dental school to fast track him through in about 3 years. It's still a 6-year program, but he's spending 7 years because he already did a year of general surgery.

You will obviously have to apply to programs with dental schools. I would start by writing letters to explain your situation to find out which programs would be interested in you.

 

[simpledoc]

So please set my ignorance straight. MD's cannot go straight o OMFS, correct? You need a dental degree to do so, correct?

I am compfused.

you just answered your own question: "OMFS" stands for ORAL and maxillofacial surgery...so how can an MD go straight to do an ORAL surgery when he doesn't even properly know how many teeth are present in the mouth? (ps: he sure might know the average rate of blood flow through the right renal artery!)