MD wanting to get dds or dmd

[pmh07914]

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I am a resident in an MD program and I am curious if I wanted to go to dental school would I have to do all 4 years? I know some of the OMFS residents just do two years to get their MD.

 

[armorshell]

Some schools out there will give you credit for classes like anatomy, phsyiology and biochemistry, but there's really no way to get around having to do things like operative, dental anatomy, cariology and the like.

S0 while you should be able to get some waivers, you'll probably have to do 4 (easier) years, 3 at best.

There are a few oral surgery programs out there that take MD residents and end up granting a DDS. They've recently been discussed if you perform a search.

 

[wizziefiend]

I am a resident in an MD program and I am curious if I wanted to go to dental school would I have to do all 4 years? I know some of the OMFS residents just do two years to get their MD.

One of the reasons the MD is a little shorter for the DDSers-->OMFS is because alot of the clinical rotations you did your 3rd and 4th year are done during the OMFS residency. There is no use doing a clinical rotation in surgery or anesthesia because you'll be an actual resident in those departments for awhile. Other reason is our first 2 years are supposed to be very similar to MD first 2 years. But I seriously doubt that...only a few dental schools probably do that 100%.

Columbia DOES take MDs into their DDS program and it will cut some time. Also, work for a year as a physician and on the side study for your Dental Boards part 1 (only 2 in dentistry, no step 3 really...only for some specialties). That REALLY shows you are committed to the dental profession plus you've got some more stuff to show the adcoms. If your score is higher than their average, I don't see why they wouldn't beg to get you. You'd still have to do at least 3 years because of the very specific hand skills of dentistry. But you could at least work on the side as an ER physician maybe and at least prevent anymore loans.

The issue is not, 'will they accept me'. They accept people without undgergrad degrees sometimes. It is 'Is this worth sacrificing 3-4 more years of my life', you could just pursue a different medical specialty. Although, perhaps you didn't get on the R.O.A.D. to success and dentistry is looking good now.

 

[Sunny_1225]

Hey My friend,

OMFS is a great career to go into. (Especially private practice LOL).

I think you making a fine decision.

At USC where I'm from, there have been guys who have already completed their MDs, and they want to come back to dental school just because of OMFS.

One of my friends (an upperclassman) is currently doing this.

The director of our OMFS program - Dennis Duke Yama****a gave a talk and he mentioned that he gets calls from med students who want to come into his program. He tells them that they need to go through the entire dental school, and what's really scary is that (sometimes) they actually do.

Good luck my friend.

 

[cel083]

Good luck to the OP, and to my fellow pre-healthcare students, consider carefully, as best as you can (I do realize that sometimes interests change) what you want to do before entering professional school, so that you can save yourself time, money, and sometimes, headache. Shadow and volunteer for those professions you are interested, and see where this takes you. Best wishes to all. 😉