OMF with new boards

[Toofdr]

Hi all,

I've been searching this forum since I was a pre-dent but finally have a question I haven't seen covered much so I joined up. A little bit about me, I am a first year dental student and I hit the ground running and have been keeping mid A's in all of my classes. I have done some assisting/observing in our OMF clinic and have really taken a liking to it. Other interests have come from shadowing an OMF surgeon before dental school and having a family member that is a general but loves to take 3rds out so I've seen a lot of those and liked it. I like to work hard, long hours but I still like to have fun with classmates and friends. So now that you know a little about me I just wanted to get some suggestions about how I should plan out my next few years of dental school if I want to pursue this very interesting specialty. Along with keeping grades up and interacting well with faculty, what else should I be doing? From what I have read on here intern/externships are very important for seeing if this is for me but what timeline should I do those? I also read 2 week intern/externships are pretty good so I imagine I could fit 2-3 in one 6 week summer? I am also interested in research, did any of you guys do it over the summer or fit it into your 3rd and 4th year semesters? How will the pass/fail board exams affect what I need to focus on for my resume?

I know this is long but I spent a good amount of time here and there researching this topic on SDN. If you have a link to another topic that could help please share the wealth.

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[cactuscooler]

You're on the right track.

- Try to stay in the top 10% of your class. Traditionally I believe top 20% would have been okay but since there is no board score, class rank will probably be weighted more heavily.
- Externships are huge. Try to aim for 3 - 4 before graduation. Basically every break you have after second year will be used for externships. For sure extern at the school you are currently attending, as it will be easier to get letters of recs.
- Letters of recommendations are also very very important. Continue to interact with the OMS staff at your school and show interest.
- Do research. It looks pretty good if you can get published before graduating. OMS related research is the best, but any research is better than none. I did research first and second year.
-Study for the NBME, the mock boards for USMLE. I don't know if it's official yet or not, but it seems like OMS applicants will be evaluated using this exam.

It all comes down to how badly you want it. Cheers.

 

[Toofdr]

Thanks cactus that really helped

 

[yappy]

Not trying to thread-jack; I hope this question helps the OP and I!

What type of reserach is avialable in DS? Is their hard-core molecular bio/genetics research going on in a prototypical research undergrad or are these more clinical based studies on outcomes and the like. Can anyone mention some good journals where the OP or I can look for the types of studies that are conducted in DS.

Thanks!

 

[Bereno]

You're on the right track.

- Try to stay in the top 10% of your class. Traditionally I believe top 20% would have been okay but since there is no board score, class rank will probably be weighted more heavily.
- Externships are huge. Try to aim for 3 - 4 before graduation. Basically every break you have after second year will be used for externships. For sure extern at the school you are currently attending, as it will be easier to get letters of recs.
- Letters of recommendations are also very very important. Continue to interact with the OMS staff at your school and show interest.
- Do research. It looks pretty good if you can get published before graduating. OMS related research is the best, but any research is better than none. I did research first and second year.
-Study for the NBME, the mock boards for USMLE. I don't know if it's official yet or not, but it seems like OMS applicants will be evaluated using this exam.

It all comes down to how badly you want it. Cheers.

I also heard that they are beta testing a new exam for specialties. It would be written specifically for those looking to specialize. This is just hearsay though