military oral surgery residency

[Dadoh]

I asked this question in the dental residency forum and got no response. I was hoping that you guys might be able tell me something. I am currently in dental school and looking at doing oral surgery in the army. I wanted to find out any information at all about the oral surgery residencies in the military or possibly how they might differ from a civilian residency.

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[dexadental]

I'm just about to start dental school this August at Nova but I have talked to a Navy dentist who eventually entered an oral surgery residency and now has been in the service for 20+ years. He makes very good money (six figures) and has patients actually flown into see him in California (naval officers). Pretty good deal, you definitely can't go wrong getting into this prestigous specialty, and it is so competitive in the civilian world.

 

[bogatyr]

I asked this question in the dental residency forum and got no response. I was hoping that you guys might be able tell me something. I am currently in dental school and looking at doing oral surgery in the army. I wanted to find out any information at all about the oral surgery residencies in the military or possibly how they might differ from a civilian residency.

I don't know any details except that in the Army they don't have to go back to medical school and get an MD degree like in the civilian world. Also, I can get my class 3 underbite fixed for free, whereas I'm sure a civilian would charge me $10-20K.

 

[Dadoh]

I don't know any details except that in the Army they don't have to go back to medical school and get an MD degree like in the civilian world.

I did notice that the army residencies don't have an MD part. It seems that more and more civilian residencies are doing this, and I am perfectly fine with not doing the extra two years.

Also, I can get my class 3 underbite fixed for free, whereas I'm sure a civilian would charge me $10-20K.

It is also nice that the patients and the providers don't have to worry about finances when it comes to things that are "needed".

 

[pmoney]

I asked this question in the dental residency forum and got no response. I was hoping that you guys might be able tell me something. I am currently in dental school and looking at doing oral surgery in the army. I wanted to find out any information at all about the oral surgery residencies in the military or possibly how they might differ from a civilian residency.

IIRC, it is quite difficult to do OMFS in the army vs civillian residencies. Endo and Ortho are pretty hard to. Of course, if you wanted to do something like Perio you are basically guaranteed a slot. In the past (and even now) dentists who have been in the system longer usually get an opportunity in the program over a new dentist that just entered the system.

However, in order to entice dentists to stay past their 4 yr commitment they are letting these guys get into residencies earlier and earlier. Of course this accrues a 1for1 additional commitment. I know a couple of retired O6s as well as a reserve O6 that was called up and went to Germany about 6 months ago. He put me in contact with a newbie O3 who talked at length about the 'difficult' specialties vs the 'easy' ones to get into. Some dentists are getting into endo residencies with only 2 yrs service . That is rare but becoming less so.

 

[pmoney]

Oh, I should add, if you end up in a career track, it is very beneficial to specialize, whether it is perio, endo, OMFS, or even do the 2 year AEGD (specialize as a GP). If you are a specialist you are basically guaranteed O6 after 20-25. it is hard to achieve that rank with only a 1 yr AEGD and/or no specialization.

 

[USAF_Dentman]

I read that last year's Navy match rate for OMFS was 50%. 16 applied for 8 spots. Also, you have to remember that rank and deployment time is a big factor, oftentimes more important than board scores..Of course, you still have to do good on boards, though. I think you have a better chance in the military than the civvy world, if you have put in your years and maybe have done a Mil GPR/AEGD..

 

[dexadental]

I don't know any details except that in the Army they don't have to go back to medical school and get an MD degree like in the civilian world. Also, I can get my class 3 underbite fixed for free, whereas I'm sure a civilian would charge me $10-20K.

In the civilian world, some schools offer a certificate, and other schools offer the MD degree which follows the DDS/DMD for all oral surgeons. I know oral surgery is the hardest specialty to match into in the civilian world, but I'm curious about orthdontics, which comes in near second. The branches say you can specialize in ortho, but what is their need for orthodontics? Surely they don't send soldiers with braces into combat or deploy them...right? Do any officers or active duty soldiers actually require orthodontic treatment...I thought having braces could disqualify you...or am I just really confused?

 

[NavyFP]

I don't know any details except that in the Army they don't have to go back to medical school and get an MD degree like in the civilian world. Also, I can get my class 3 underbite fixed for free, whereas I'm sure a civilian would charge me $10-20K.

What group are you talking about? DDS/DMDs doing OMFS? They do a residency in OMFS, but no they do not need an MD/DO to do it. The military does not place non-degreed people into OMFS if that is what you are trying to allude to.

 

[Dadoh]

It is quite difficult to do OMFS in the army vs civillian residencies.

Do you mean that the residency is more difficult to get into or that the residency is more difficult? I am more concerned about how difficult the residency will be on me and my family in the army. I am not too worried about getting into the residency. If I don't get accepted, then the choice is made for me. If I get accepted, then I have to decide if the impact on my family from the residency and the Army oral surgeon lifestyle is worth it for me to do what I really want to do.
I have already heard that since oral surgeons are in high demand right now in the army that they are worked to the bone after they get out of residency. I was wondering how the residency is. What is the workload? Do they emphasize trauma, extracting thirds, plastics, orthognathics, or is it pretty balanced. Is there PT instead of rounds on certain days?

 

[pmoney]

It is quite difficult to do OMFS in the army vs civillian residencies.

Do you mean that the residency is more difficult to get into or that the residency is more difficult? I am more concerned about how difficult the residency will be on me and my family in the army. I am not too worried about getting into the residency. If I don't get accepted, then the choice is made for me. If I get accepted, then I have to decide if the impact on my family from the residency and the Army oral surgeon lifestyle is worth it for me to do what I really want to do.
I have already heard that since oral surgeons are in high demand right now in the army that they are worked to the bone after they get out of residency. I was wondering how the residency is. What is the workload? Do they emphasize trauma, extracting thirds, plastics, orthognathics, or is it pretty balanced. Is there PT instead of rounds on certain days?

I meant getting in. I do not know enough for me to confidently answer anything else except I'm sure the lifestyle as a resident is approximately equivalent to a civvy residency. And yeah you probably have to PT on certain days.