MD/DDS-- Currently DDS alone

[DDSBound]

Ok. I want to become a dentist (which I explained to the pre-dent forum as well.) I have been accepted to U Penn's DDS program. If I graduate with a DDS degree, does anyone know if I would have to go through another 4 years of schooling to get my MD even though if you go for Oral Surgery you can either get an MD at the end of your 4 year residency or the option to go for an additional 2 to get your MD at some schools? Case has a dual 5 year DDS(or DMD)/MD so I don't understand why DDS/MD would be 8 years for everyone else. Can anyone shine light on this? The reason I want dual degrees is because I want to bring knowledge of all systems of the body into dentistry since there has been a link associated with oral health and heart disease, diabetes etc. I am interested in research too. Ultimately whatever my reasoning, I want an MD/DDS. Can I do this in under 8 years if I graduate with my DDS after 4 years first? Thanks.

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[kdburton]

Ok. I want to become a dentist (which I explained to the pre-dent forum as well.) I have been accepted to U Penn's DDS program. If I graduate with a DDS degree, does anyone know if I would have to go through another 4 years of schooling to get my MD even though if you go for Oral Surgery you can either get an MD at the end of your 4 year residency or the option to go for an additional 2 to get your MD at some schools? Case has a dual 5 year DDS(or DMD)/MD so I don't understand why DDS/MD would be 8 years for everyone else. Can anyone shine light on this? The reason I want dual degrees is because I want to bring knowledge of all systems of the body into dentistry since there has been a link associated with oral health and heart disease, diabetes etc. I am interested in research too. Ultimately whatever my reasoning, I want an MD/DDS. Can I do this in under 8 years if I graduate with my DDS after 4 years first? Thanks.

At the school I go to right now the dental students take a lot of the same classes as the medical students during the first couple years I guess. So if you were going for some dual degree you might as well get it all in one sitting rather than getting the DDS and then going back for the MD. If no credits transfer to another school then it would probably be 8 years total, but if you do it at the same school (or at two schools who will transfer credits for overlapping classes) then you would probably be able to do it in much less time.

 

[rayfar]

Ok, I interviewed for the Case DMD/MD program last month and i recently got waitlisted at both schools (i had to interview at both). They said they only invited like 10 people in all to interview for the program, but im not sure if it was because they were selective or because the program was poorly advertised (they admit to doing a horrible job of advertising the program).

Biggest problems I had with the school was that they wanted to start off this program with only 1-4 students -- they actually made it sound like if i got accepted i would likely be the ONLY student in the program, so i guess they are leaning towards only 1 student. The idea of doing all that work for 5 years, med school in the morning and dental school in the afternoon, all by yourself without anyone to relate to what you are going through is insane. Another thing that pissed me off is that the financial aid depts of the med school and the dental school werent in sync, and they couldnt tell me which school i would be officially enrolled under -- this was a problem because the dental school, which has the more expensive tuition, has very little funds in term of grants and scholarships while the med school has plenty.

Sorry for the tangents... to answer your question, the dental school at case told me about one of their students who got his DMD and then decided to get his MD, so they designed a program for him to do it in an additional 2 yrs, and i think the guy was able to finished sooner than expected so it was like more like 1.5 yrs to get his MD (apprently this dude was one of their BEST STUDENTS in a long time). In light of this info, i dont think working your ass off in the 5 yr program would be wise when you could just do what this dude did and get my DMD and then MD, which would be a lot more chill.

 

[DDSBound]

This is all pretty interesting. I hope some of my credits transfer. 2 additional years to get an MD is totally worth it! I better kick some major butt in dental school though

 

[NonTradMed]

Right now, most schools don't have this type of program set up. The schools where the med and dental students sharing the same classes may allow a student to transfer over, but I'm thinking those types of programs will be special cases rather than a general program.

At my med school, dental and medical students do not take any classes together so I doubt any students from our respective schools can cross over, even if they get accepted to another school's MD or DMD program. A dental student graduating from our dental school would have neither the medical courses (such as the med school's anatomy class) under their belt that medical students take, nor the non-medical classes they would need to take (such as ICM etc). Ditto on med students wanting a shortcut to a DMD. To the OP, I suggest you call up call up your dental school's attached med school and ask them. I doubt most schools have any type of system set up like this.

 

[lord_jeebus]

Get your DDS first, then worry about this.

Chances are that once you have that degree you'll find a way to do what you want to do without the MD.

 

[Scottish Chap]

Ok. I want to become a dentist (which I explained to the pre-dent forum as well.) I have been accepted to U Penn's DDS program. If I graduate with a DDS degree, does anyone know if I would have to go through another 4 years of schooling to get my MD even though if you go for Oral Surgery you can either get an MD at the end of your 4 year residency or the option to go for an additional 2 to get your MD at some schools? Case has a dual 5 year DDS(or DMD)/MD so I don't understand why DDS/MD would be 8 years for everyone else. Can anyone shine light on this? The reason I want dual degrees is because I want to bring knowledge of all systems of the body into dentistry since there has been a link associated with oral health and heart disease, diabetes etc. I am interested in research too. Ultimately whatever my reasoning, I want an MD/DDS. Can I do this in under 8 years if I graduate with my DDS after 4 years first? Thanks.

Realistically, most DDS-to-MD converts practice one or the other - maxillofacial surgery, or a regular medical specialty after residency and this is usually only after taking Step 1 and applying to the max-facial programs that will bypass you into MSIII right away. Most U.S. allopathic schools are not accommodating for students who do not want to take some of their classes because they covered the material elsewhere. The U.S. health system is just not conducive to the fantasy or practicing both concomitantly. I predict that the new program in Cleveland will not be as successful as hoped and, similar to the two-year MD that the University of Miami once offered for PhDs, it will likely go the way of the dodo once the politicians get their teeth into the pie.

If you want to be a dentist, get your DDS as planned. If you think the 'grass is greener', apply to medical school after taking the MCAT. Don't do both just because it's theoretically possible. Life is too short and you'll end up with superfluous training that you won't use and a heftier loan repayment schedule for no good reason. Well, you didn't ask for my opinion, but you sure got it!

 

[Dr Jordanian]

Ok. I want to become a dentist (which I explained to the pre-dent forum as well.) I have been accepted to U Penn's DDS program. If I graduate with a DDS degree, does anyone know if I would have to go through another 4 years of schooling to get my MD even though if you go for Oral Surgery you can either get an MD at the end of your 4 year residency or the option to go for an additional 2 to get your MD at some schools? Case has a dual 5 year DDS(or DMD)/MD so I don't understand why DDS/MD would be 8 years for everyone else. Can anyone shine light on this? The reason I want dual degrees is because I want to bring knowledge of all systems of the body into dentistry since there has been a link associated with oral health and heart disease, diabetes etc. I am interested in research too. Ultimately whatever my reasoning, I want an MD/DDS. Can I do this in under 8 years if I graduate with my DDS after 4 years first? Thanks.

hi !
u know, there isn`t many guys that i could find that think similar to you (or me!)....
i got a foreign BDS (bachelor of dental surgery) and an american DDS from UCHSC ....will be done in less than 4 weeks ....its an international program, i believe upenn has a similar program for foreign dentists too, u might be familiar with it....
i took the MCAT last august and applied to several MD/PhD combined degree programs ! iam currently 30 ...! hoping to start at 31.....
u see , the problem with those OMS/MD program is probably due to the following reasons:
1- the level of competetition( esp. for a foreigner!)....many choose to go for a year or two of GPR or AEGD to increase their chances....or pre-OMS year like that offered by uic to 3 students.....that would mean wasting 1.5 year at least! between applying and enrolling ....
2- there are many MD/OMS programs that would award u a weird kind of an MD ....to be able to apply for further MEDICAL specialties, u would need to take what is known as a transitional year (residency) ...so its really not the coolest MD.....not all programs are like that though!
3- the fact that when applying to further school ( more medical residencies) u might actually have to explain to the interviewer " how did you get your MD in such a none-traditional way" ...something i would consider to be a weak area.....esp. if u had very competitive specialty residencies in mind!
4- that fact that oral surgery is extremely boring ( at least to me!) and to do the combined OMS/MD just to get to the MD part is just not worth it!
when i did my OMS rotations for the DDS ....i only did extractions and ended up with sore hands after a long boring day of pulling and pushing!!! ....u might be better off applying to a separate MD if u r more "medically" minded than technically!


hope that helps!
regards

 

[Dr Jordanian]

Ok. I want to become a dentist (which I explained to the pre-dent forum as well.) I have been accepted to U Penn's DDS program. If I graduate with a DDS degree, does anyone know if I would have to go through another 4 years of schooling to get my MD even though if you go for Oral Surgery you can either get an MD at the end of your 4 year residency or the option to go for an additional 2 to get your MD at some schools? Case has a dual 5 year DDS(or DMD)/MD so I don't understand why DDS/MD would be 8 years for everyone else. Can anyone shine light on this? The reason I want dual degrees is because I want to bring knowledge of all systems of the body into dentistry since there has been a link associated with oral health and heart disease, diabetes etc. I am interested in research too. Ultimately whatever my reasoning, I want an MD/DDS. Can I do this in under 8 years if I graduate with my DDS after 4 years first? Thanks.

hi !
u know, there isn`t many guys that i could find that think similar to you (or me!)....
i got a foreign BDS (bachelor of dental surgery) and an american DDS from UCHSC ....will be done in less than 4 weeks ....its an international program, i believe upenn has a similar program for foreign dentists too, u might be familiar with it....
i took the MCAT last august and applied to several MD/PhD combined degree programs ! iam currently 30 ...! hoping to start at 31.....
u see , the problem with those OMS/MD program is probably due to the following reasons:
1- the level of competetition( esp. for a foreigner!)....many choose to go for a year or two of GPR or AEGD to increase their chances....or pre-OMS year like that offered by uic to 3 students.....that would mean wasting 1.5 year at least! between applying and enrolling ....
2- there are many MD/OMS programs that would award u a weird kind of an MD ....to be able to apply for further MEDICAL specialties, u would need to take what is known as a transitional year (residency) ...so its really not the coolest MD.....not all programs are like that though!
3- the fact that when applying to further school ( more medical residencies) u might actually have to explain to the interviewer " how did you get your MD in such a none-traditional way" ...something i would consider to be a weak area.....esp. if u had very competitive specialty residencies in mind!
4- that fact that oral surgery is extremely boring ( at least to me!) and to do the combined OMS/MD just to get to the MD part is just not worth it!
when i did my OMS rotations for the DDS ....i only did extractions and ended up with sore hands after a long boring day of pulling and pushing!!! ....u might be better off applying to a separate MD if u r more "medically" minded than technically!


hope that helps!
regards

 

[littlealex]

hi !
u know, there isn`t many guys that i could find that think similar to you (or me!)....
i got a foreign BDS (bachelor of dental surgery) and an american DDS from UCHSC ....will be done in less than 4 weeks ....its an international program, i believe upenn has a similar program for foreign dentists too, u might be familiar with it....
i took the MCAT last august and applied to several MD/PhD combined degree programs ! iam currently 30 ...! hoping to start at 31.....
u see , the problem with those OMS/MD program is probably due to the following reasons:
1- the level of competetition( esp. for a foreigner!)....many choose to go for a year or two of GPR or AEGD to increase their chances....or pre-OMS year like that offered by uic to 3 students.....that would mean wasting 1.5 year at least! between applying and enrolling ....
2- there are many MD/OMS programs that would award u a weird kind of an MD ....to be able to apply for further MEDICAL specialties, u would need to take what is known as a transitional year (residency) ...so its really not the coolest MD.....not all programs are like that though!
3- the fact that when applying to further school ( more medical residencies) u might actually have to explain to the interviewer " how did you get your MD in such a none-traditional way" ...something i would consider to be a weak area.....esp. if u had very competitive specialty residencies in mind!
4- that fact that oral surgery is extremely boring ( at least to me!) and to do the combined OMS/MD just to get to the MD part is just not worth it!
when i did my OMS rotations for the DDS ....i only did extractions and ended up with sore hands after a long boring day of pulling and pushing!!! ....u might be better off applying to a separate MD if u r more "medically" minded than technically!

hope that helps!
regards

This was pretty informative, but the grammar/typing makes my eyes bleed.

u r thirty... st0p typin like u r 14.....!

 

[caliprincess]

My dentist is a DDS/MD - he did a full 4 years at UCSF for dental school and I think he said 3 at UCLA for med school. He said that a lot of his first year dental classes (anatomy, physiology, etc) transferred over to the med school. However, he might have been able to do that only because he was in the UC system, but some of the other posters have mentioned this elsewhere. I guess you should just contact schools and ask. Good luck!