OMFS question..

[NoorAlhuda]

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Hello all,

I'm a prosthodontist who has been practicing for some years now. I'm thinking of doing OMFS because it was my dream specialty that I have never fulfilled, and I have been feeling guilty for not pursuing my dream or at least trying.

The reason for that is my dental school GPA of 2.9 and my class ranking, which was last among the international dentists that did the two-year program with me (24/24).

I had a strong reason for my low GPA and my ranking.
My school was involved, supportive, and understanding back then; however, my transcripts reflect my poor performance.

In my prosth residency, I graduated with t a GPA of 3.4, and my master's degree GPA was 3.5. I also had a GPA of 3.2 from my first international dental school.

Let's say I aim for a decent score in the CBSE exam (not sure how decent is decent in my case). Do you think I have a chance to get in? Would medical schools consider my application?

I would appreciate any feedback/tips!

Thank you

 

[DustFreeEraser]

80+ CBSE will solve all your questions/concerns.

 

[PerioDont]

Dr. Craig M. Misch - Misch Implant Dentistry

Dr. Craig Misch received his dental degree from the University of Michigan School of Dentistry in 1985, graduating Omicron Kappa Upsilon (top 5%). Thereafter, he practiced with his brother Dr. Carl Misch for three years at Michigan Implant Dentistry, one of the first practices in the country to...

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Here is someone who has done exactly that.

A prosthodontist who became an OMFS. So it’s definitely possible

 

[AONLINE]

I know not one, but 2 pros residents that started OMFS residency immediately after graduated from the prosthodontics program. I’m sure a lot of OMFS programs would love to admit a prosthodontist who has a thorough understanding of the restorative side of dentistry. Best or luck!

 

[redchesus]

I have nothing to add but will say that if you are a restoratively-driven OS your referral sources will love you, even on single implant cases not just FMR or fixed prosthetics

 

[deleted923283]

I think you would need to do one or more non-categorical years to get a spot. You need to prove you could cut it in residency being out in the cushy world.

 

[NoorAlhuda]

I know not one, but 2 pros residents that started OMFS residency immediately after graduated from the prosthodontics program. I’m sure a lot of OMFS programs would love to admit a prosthodontist who has a thorough understanding of the restorative side of dentistry. Best or luck!

I know who they are, and I felt more encouraged to go after my dream after hearing their stories.

 

[rotichawal]

80+ CBSE will solve all your questions/concerns.

I think it’ll be tough, maybe one international a year will match OMFS if that. Plus being dead last in that cohort won’t help either.

Maybe a 90+. If you feel strongly enough, go for it though, failure is better than regret imo

 

[nade0016]

I agree with the sentiments above. That low GPA and class rank will be tough to overcome. A good CBSE and Intern year will help. Better be a very good reason for the low GPA as that will the the anchor on the application.

 

[deleted1047421]

Hello all,

I'm a prosthodontist who has been practicing for some years now. I'm thinking of doing OMFS because it was my dream specialty that I have never fulfilled, and I have been feeling guilty for not pursuing my dream or at least trying.

The reason for that is my dental school GPA of 2.9 and my class ranking, which was last among the international dentists that did the two-year program with me (24/24).

I had a strong reason for my low GPA and my ranking.
My school was involved, supportive, and understanding back then; however, my transcripts reflect my poor performance.

In my prosth residency, I graduated with t a GPA of 3.4, and my master's degree GPA was 3.5. I also had a GPA of 3.2 from my first international dental school.

Let's say I aim for a decent score in the CBSE exam (not sure how decent is decent in my case). Do you think I have a chance to get in? Would medical schools consider my application?

I would appreciate any feedback/tips!

Thank you

In all honesty I think the chances are quite small you will get in. Your grades and class rank are what’s killing you. A prosthodontics residency wont unfortunately won’t help you getting into omfs. Doing internships and an anesthesia residency can help.

But if your motivated and really want to try you need to have an amazing test score and do an internship to find out.

I don’t know what you have in mind when you say you want to give it a shot.

Here is an example of a motivated candidate. He did three internships, a gpr, and also an anesthesia residency. I think it was a combined total of 7 years following dental school before he got in.
He also had decent grades and test scores, far better than what you had.

I wish you well and good luck.

 

[PerioDont]

In all honesty I think the chances are quite small you will get in. Your grades and class rank are what’s killing you. A prosthodontics residency wont unfortunately won’t help you getting into omfs. Doing internships and an anesthesia residency can help.

But if your motivated and really want to try you need to have an amazing test score and do an internship to find out.

I don’t know what you have in mind when you say you want to give it a shot.

Here is an example of a motivated candidate. He did three internships, a gpr, and also an anesthesia residency. I think it was a combined total of 7 years following dental school before he got in.
He also had decent grades and test scores, far better than what you had.

I wish you well and good luck.

So this individual did 4yr college + 4yr d school + 7yr residencies to get in + 4/6 yr OMFS.

For a total of literally two decades after high school of training? He must have been around 40 by then.

 

[D1Bound]

In all honesty I think the chances are quite small you will get in. Your grades and class rank are what’s killing you. A prosthodontics residency wont unfortunately won’t help you getting into omfs. Doing internships and an anesthesia residency can help.

But if your motivated and really want to try you need to have an amazing test score and do an internship to find out.

I don’t know what you have in mind when you say you want to give it a shot.

Here is an example of a motivated candidate. He did three internships, a gpr, and also an anesthesia residency. I think it was a combined total of 7 years following dental school before he got in.
He also had decent grades and test scores, far better than what you had.

I wish you well and good luck.

That doesn't even make sense. 7 years of post-dental school training to get accepted? I understand it's competitive but give me a break that sounds ridiculous.

 

[deleted1047421]

So this individual did 4yr college + 4yr d school + 7yr residencies to get in + 4/6 yr OMFS.

For a total of literally two decades after high school of training? He must have been around 40 by then.

He definitely was the record. I’ve heard of a number of applicants who have done several internships before matching also.

The point is - if you want to get in your going to have to convince the department that you will do whatever it takes. And sometimes they will even ask during an interview : what happens if you don’t get in this time ? Your job is to convince them that you will be right here sitting in front of them a year later after having done another internship.

I was not suggesting the OP to do seven years of internships. I’m merely bringing to reality the state of competition.

 

[D1Bound]

He definitely was the record. I’ve heard of a number of applicants who have done several internships before matching also.

The point is - if you want to get in your going to have to convince the department that you will do whatever it takes. And sometimes they will even ask during an interview : what happens if you don’t get in this time ? Your job is to convince them that you will be right here sitting in front of them a year later after having done another internship.

I was not suggesting the OP to do seven years of internships. I’m merely bringing to reality the state of competition.

If someone became a dental anesthesiologist and still wanted to do oral surgery, I would think they'd be more than set up to simply sedate and remove thirds like most OS do. I guess the only point to go do a formal OMS residency would be to do the orthognathic stuff.

 

[deleted1047421]

If someone became a dental anesthesiologist and still wanted to do oral surgery, I would think they'd be more than set up to simply sedate and remove thirds like most OS do. I guess the only point to go do a formal OMS residency would be to do the orthognathic stuff.

I disagree.
Removal of third molars can be complicated. Would one feel comfortable removing a third molar dislodged into the infratemporal fossa or sublingual space? How about simple retrieval into the sinus? How about doing a buccal fat pad for fistula closure?
If this were the case then theoretically all General dentists could be offering removal of impacted third molars under local and nitrous. They don’t do that because they have no formal surgical training.
It’s not as easy as you think.

Also who would refer to them ? Most general dentists will not refer to another general dentist for wisdom teeth. They will go to their trusted oral surgeon.

Removal of wisdom teeth and general anesthesia has stress and liability. Why would one subject themselves under gp fees? It only makes sense to do it under a Specialty fee schedule.

 

[deleted1047421]

That doesn't even make sense. 7 years of post-dental school training to get accepted? I understand it's competitive but give me a break that sounds ridiculous.

It is not your place to comment on what is ridiculous or not.
The last I checked this is a free country.
For this particular individual they couldn’t foresee themselves doing anything else, and it paid off for him.

I have another colleague and friend. He did two fellowships and is a head and neck cancer surgeon. He is now transitioning into private practice because of the growing needs of his family. Will you also comment negatively ? Keep your negative comments to yourself.

 

[D1Bound]

"Ridiculous" meaning the application process requiring that much for acceptance. Don't get offended

 

[ucla7130]

NoorAlhuda,

Did you have trouble being admitted to an American prosthodontics residency with your grades/rank? Also, have you considered pursuing a perio residency instead (similar to Spear, Kois, Tarnow, etc)?

 

[NoorAlhuda]

In all honesty I think the chances are quite small you will get in. Your grades and class rank are what’s killing you. A prosthodontics residency wont unfortunately won’t help you getting into omfs. Doing internships and an anesthesia residency can help.

But if your motivated and really want to try you need to have an amazing test score and do an internship to find out.

I don’t know what you have in mind when you say you want to give it a shot.

Here is an example of a motivated candidate. He did three internships, a gpr, and also an anesthesia residency. I think it was a combined total of 7 years following dental school before he got in.
He also had decent grades and test scores, far better than what you had.

I wish you well and good luck.

Your opinion is negative and judgmental, especially the part when you say, " I don't know what you have in mind when you say you want to give it a try."

You have to understand that things happen, and people fail in their lives for whatever circumstances they pass through. So my failures represented in a low GPA and a class ranking shouldn't stop me from trying.

 

[NoorAlhuda]

NoorAlhuda,

Did you have trouble being admitted to an American prosthodontics residency with your grades/rank? Also, have you considered pursuing a perio residency instead (similar to Spear, Kois, Tarnow, etc)?

I received interviews from decent prosth programs (one interview was from your school UCLA), and I had the choice to get into the program I wanted from those who had interviewed me before prosth was a part of the match. It wasn't easy, but it happened

Not only that, but I applied to a second specialty in my third year and received 5-6 interviews, of which one was from an IVY league school. I withdrew from the match before the result because I wanted to do OMFS.

Sometimes it's about the connections and how you present yourself on the paper. I know in OMFS it's harder but to know how hard it's, I need to try that myself rather than spending my life regretting not trying.

 

[NoorAlhuda]

I want to mention something here now that I've shared the above info.

My low GPA and class ranking were based on my very first semester. I was hit hard and couldn't recover through the rest of the semesters, which had a higher GPA. I learned this fact from one of the interviewers who tracked my GPA in every semester and asked me specifically why my first semester was the worst.

I want to share a story for one of the OMFS residents in my alma mater who presented to us as dental students. He showed us his GPA in one of the slides and had a very low GPA in one of the semesters. Yet, he managed to recover and get into OMFS because he had 3.5 years still, while in my case, it was a bit different.

I can't say it's impossible before I try. I promise to keep you updated as I go.
Keep the positive vibes coming, people.

 

[piratewow]

Your opinion is negative and judgmental, especially the part when you say, " I don't know what you have in mind when you say you want to give it a try."

You have to understand that things happen, and people fail in their lives for whatever circumstances they pass through. So my failures represented in a low GPA and a class ranking shouldn't stop me from trying.

I think he just meant that you didn't really specify how committed you were or anything. Give a try could mean study an hour here and there for a few months, apply to like 5 or 10 programs, then just give up when you get no interviews. It's the internet we don't really know how dedicated you are and OMFS is not something you can just match by "giving a try", you really need to dedicate yourself to it and make sure it's the right path for you.

Let's say I aim for a decent score in the CBSE exam (not sure how decent is decent in my case). Do you think I have a chance to get in? Would medical schools consider my application?

For starters the next date to take the CBSE is July 23, and registration has closed. So you can't apply this cycle. I assume you haven't started studying if you don't really know what a competitive score is. Next time is in February 2023. Since you're so many years out from studying, you will have to really dedicate yourself to studying for the exam- Most people put in 700-1000+ hrs studying for this test minimum and still need multiple attempts.

Next, even with a good CBSE score, tbh in your case probably 85 or 90+ (which is like 95-99th percentile), your chances are still slim without good letters of rec ( at least 3 from OMFS only, preferably academic). If you can't do that you'll probably have to do the following or something close to it.
GPR- 1 year of chilling during which you can network with academic OMFS, and retake the CBSE 2 more times if necessary
Non-cat- prove you're actually dedicated to the specialty/ get better letters of rec
Another non-cat/Dental anesthesia residency/ Residency.

Many medical schools will probably auto-reject you since you're missing college pre-reqs ( happened to me and I went to a US undergrad and dental school lol).

So you're looking at 3 years preparation + 4-6 years residency in one of the best case scenarios. Are you really that in love with OMFS that you are willing to commit up to a decade of your life to it? Because if you half-*** it then you're gonna waste your time and not get in, just being honest here. Also you're going to be making 50-60k the whole time too, compared to your current prosthodontist salary.

 

[schmoob]

I received interviews from decent prosth programs (one interview was from your school UCLA), and I had the choice to get into the program I wanted from those who had interviewed me before prosth was a part of the match. It wasn't easy, but it happened

Not only that, but I applied to a second specialty in my third year and received 5-6 interviews, of which one was from an IVY league school. I withdrew from the match before the result because I wanted to do OMFS.

Sometimes it's about the connections and how you present yourself on the paper. I know in OMFS it's harder but to know how hard it's, I need to try that myself rather than spending my life regretting not trying.

Wait so there’s a third specialty involved? Should’ve went with that one IMO.

 

[AONLINE]

Wait so there’s a third specialty involved? Should’ve went with that one IMO.

I bet the OP applied to periodontics, but he/she wanted more "real" surgeries so he/she withdrew the application. Perio and prosth are the 2 specialties that work really well together with many dual-degree specialists, it would have been a good route for OP to still be able to do some surgeries.

 

[schmoob]

I bet the OP applied to periodontics, but he/she wanted more "real" surgeries so he/she withdrew the application. Perio and prosth are the 2 specialties that work really well together with many dual-degree specialists, it would have been a good route for OP to still be able to do some surgeries.

Maybe it was Perio, I don’t want to assume but it’s a good guess.

I know a Perio/prosth and his work was absolutely incredible. I watched him pull off some amazing cases. I would love to be that good.

 

[SilkyJ]

The reality is that being dead last in your dental school class is going to raise some eyebrows. It will also stand out that you’ve been “practicing for some years”. Those folks unfortunately don’t tend to do very well in the match, for a few reasons.

Not to be negative, but I think your chances are slim. You’d have to plan to do an internship or two, with no guarantee that you’d find a spot. If your end goal is to abandon a lot of your prosthodontic training and do full scope surgery, then you have to decide if it’s worth it to try. If your goal is simply to expand your office-based surgery, there are easier ways of doing this. There are plenty of prosthodontists, periodontists, and GPs doing all sorts of interesting surgery in the office setting.

 

[omfsing]

From seeing many applicants go through the ringer over the last few years, all that matters is a good CBSE score. Study hard and crush it.

 

[D1Bound]

From seeing many applicants go through the ringer over the last few years, all that matters is a good CBSE score. Study hard and crush it.

Would an applicant fair well with an 80 CBSE but no externships? I'm actually curious because there may be some students who haven't been able to go on any

 

[omfsing]

Every applicant is different. If you are working as a GP or another specialist and wanted to do OS, then realistically you couldn’t do any externships (since only students are granted temporary privelages to do externships). 80+ CBSE, regardless of your status, trumps everything.

 

[NoorAlhuda]

I think he just meant that you didn't really specify how committed you were or anything. Give a try could mean study an hour here and there for a few months, apply to like 5 or 10 programs, then just give up when you get no interviews. It's the internet we don't really know how dedicated you are and OMFS is not something you can just match by "giving a try", you really need to dedicate yourself to it and make sure it's the right path for you.



For starters the next date to take the CBSE is July 23, and registration has closed. So you can't apply this cycle. I assume you haven't started studying if you don't really know what a competitive score is. Next time is in February 2023. Since you're so many years out from studying, you will have to really dedicate yourself to studying for the exam- Most people put in 700-1000+ hrs studying for this test minimum and still need multiple attempts.

Next, even with a good CBSE score, tbh in your case probably 85 or 90+ (which is like 95-99th percentile), your chances are still slim without good letters of rec ( at least 3 from OMFS only, preferably academic). If you can't do that you'll probably have to do the following or something close to it.
GPR- 1 year of chilling during which you can network with academic OMFS, and retake the CBSE 2 more times if necessary
Non-cat- prove you're actually dedicated to the specialty/ get better letters of rec
Another non-cat/Dental anesthesia residency/ Residency.

Many medical schools will probably auto-reject you since you're missing college pre-reqs ( happened to me and I went to a US undergrad and dental school lol).

So you're looking at 3 years preparation + 4-6 years residency in one of the best case scenarios. Are you really that in love with OMFS that you are willing to commit up to a decade of your life to it? Because if you half-*** it then you're gonna waste your time and not get in, just being honest here. Also you're going to be making 50-60k the whole time too, compared to your current prosthodontist salary.

You brought an excellent point to my attention so thank you so much for it. I didn't think about pre-reqs.
The rest makes sense as well but are manageable. It's not hard to get good letters of recommendation or to do one year of internship if needed.

Great points!

 

[NoorAlhuda]

The reality is that being dead last in your dental school class is going to raise some eyebrows. It will also stand out that you’ve been “practicing for some years”. Those folks unfortunately don’t tend to do very well in the match, for a few reasons.

Not to be negative, but I think your chances are slim. You’d have to plan to do an internship or two, with no guarantee that you’d find a spot. If your end goal is to abandon a lot of your prosthodontic training and do full scope surgery, then you have to decide if it’s worth it to try. If your goal is simply to expand your office-based surgery, there are easier ways of doing this. There are plenty of prosthodontists, periodontists, and GPs doing all sorts of interesting surgery in the office setting.

I happen to interview an OMFS today who has attended his residency after 15 years of being a GP. I also do my own surgeries starting from simple exos to all-on-x procedures. It's never about expanding my office based surgery but it's about personal goals and self gratifications.

I'm not doing this to end up doing 3rd molar exos and implants!

 

[NoorAlhuda]

From seeing many applicants go through the ringer over the last few years, all that matters is a good CBSE score. Study hard and crush it.

Will go for it. Thank you

 

[NoorAlhuda]

Wait so there’s a third specialty involved? Should’ve went with that one IMO.

wasn't satisfying enough! lol

 

[nade0016]

You brought an excellent point to my attention so thank you so much for it. I didn't think about pre-reqs.
The rest makes sense as well but are manageable. It's not hard to get good letters of recommendation or to do one year of internship if needed.

Great points!

As someone who reviews about 180 applications a year. Getting good recc. letters is very difficult, especially academic ones. 180 x 3 = 540 recc letters. I think I saw 10-12 that stood out last year out of 500+. All PD's can read between the lines on recc letters. trust me on this. Also, "it's not hard to do a one year internship"? Talk to me after you have completed one. Start with Penn or Parkland. Get one of those and then email me how easy it was. I think you may be underestimating this process and position. All this being said, I wish you the best of luck, worst case scenario is 5 years from now you are right where you are currently. Still not a bad life.

 

[odontoblaster90210]

Hello all,

I'm a prosthodontist who has been practicing for some years now. I'm thinking of doing OMFS because it was my dream specialty that I have never fulfilled, and I have been feeling guilty for not pursuing my dream or at least trying.

The reason for that is my dental school GPA of 2.9 and my class ranking, which was last among the international dentists that did the two-year program with me (24/24).

I had a strong reason for my low GPA and my ranking.
My school was involved, supportive, and understanding back then; however, my transcripts reflect my poor performance.

In my prosth residency, I graduated with t a GPA of 3.4, and my master's degree GPA was 3.5. I also had a GPA of 3.2 from my first international dental school.

Let's say I aim for a decent score in the CBSE exam (not sure how decent is decent in my case). Do you think I have a chance to get in? Would medical schools consider my application?

I would appreciate any feedback/tips!

Thank you

You will probably only be eligible to apply for 4 yr programs. Nearly all 6 yr programs have med schools also reviewing your app, and usually they require a Bachelors degree from a US or Canadian university in order to be eligible to matriculate at their school. Not only that, but some of them go a step further and mandate that certain courses have been taken during your undergraduate studies. Some even require a minimum cumulative GPA from your undergraduate studies. I think one poster mentioned that above.

One other thing to consider is if you are a citizen or not. If you are not a citizen or do not have a green card, you will need Visa sponsorship by the hospital, which a lot of programs don't want to deal with. You can ask any Canadians trying to get into US OMFS programs and they will tell you that many programs automatically discard their applications simply because the Visa process is just another hassle for them.

Its very rare for an international dentist, even with the 2 year program DDS/DMD, to get into OMFS programs, as they already have more than enough qualified American dental school graduates to choose from.

Regardless, I wish you the best. I would recommend saving your money and not applying to the 6 yr programs, as you are likely ineligible at nearly all of them.

 

[DocMon16]

I disagree.
Removal of third molars can be complicated. Would one feel comfortable removing a third molar dislodged into the infratemporal fossa or sublingual space? How about simple retrieval into the sinus? How about doing a buccal fat pad for fistula closure?
If this were the case then theoretically all General dentists could be offering removal of impacted third molars under local and nitrous. They don’t do that because they have no formal surgical training.
It’s not as easy as you think.

Also who would refer to them ? Most general dentists will not refer to another general dentist for wisdom teeth. They will go to their trusted oral surgeon.

Removal of wisdom teeth and general anesthesia has stress and liability. Why would one subject themselves under gp fees? It only makes sense to do it under a Specialty fee schedule.

I agree with this here completely....not only do you not have a formal residency to perform such procedures. I know that some malpractice isn't going to cover a GP if they decide to take out impacted third molars and there's a complication. Third molars can be humbling even for the most experienced omfs and dealing with the complications is part of doing procedures.

This is beside the point....

To the OP - there is a lot of good information here that people have commented. Coming from a current resident who did a non-cat year myself, don't let the naysayers tell you you can't do this, you can.

With that being said, it's a long road even if you were applying right now and theoretically had 10+ interviews with a good chance of matching. Intern years can be very difficult with how busy you are (aka the amount of hours your working) and demanding. As some have said and it may be obvious but you go from a particular lifestyle with work hours, quality of life, income, etc to working many many more hours and making 60-70k a year. Obtaining quality LOC's is difficult too but can be done. Good luck, I hope it goes the way you want it too!

 

[NoorAlhuda]

As someone who reviews about 180 applications a year. Getting good recc. letters is very difficult, especially academic ones. 180 x 3 = 540 recc letters. I think I saw 10-12 that stood out last year out of 500+. All PD's can read between the lines on recc letters. trust me on this. Also, "it's not hard to do a one year internship"? Talk to me after you have completed one. Start with Penn or Parkland. Get one of those and then email me how easy it was. I think you may be underestimating this process and position. All this being said, I wish you the best of luck, worst case scenario is 5 years from now you are right where you are currently. Still not a bad life.

I'm involved in academia so trust me when I say I can get good letters of recommendations. I do have connections as well and those connections helped me get the interviews I received when I applied the second time. If I managed to get an interview in an Ivy league school with that GPA and ranking, then I must have had something in my application that was convincing/appealing to some.

I understand that it might be a different game with OMFS, but I'm willing to use every card I have.
And I agree! The worst scenario is to be where I'm 5 years from now.
But then at least I know I have tried so be without regrets!

 

[NoorAlhuda]

You will probably only be eligible to apply for 4 yr programs. Nearly all 6 yr programs have med schools also reviewing your app, and usually they require a Bachelors degree from a US or Canadian university in order to be eligible to matriculate at their school. Not only that, but some of them go a step further and mandate that certain courses have been taken during your undergraduate studies. Some even require a minimum cumulative GPA from your undergraduate studies. I think one poster mentioned that above.

One other thing to consider is if you are a citizen or not. If you are not a citizen or do not have a green card, you will need Visa sponsorship by the hospital, which a lot of programs don't want to deal with. You can ask any Canadians trying to get into US OMFS programs and they will tell you that many programs automatically discard their applications simply because the Visa process is just another hassle for them.

Its very rare for an international dentist, even with the 2 year program DDS/DMD, to get into OMFS programs, as they already have more than enough qualified American dental school graduates to choose from.

Regardless, I wish you the best. I would recommend saving your money and not applying to the 6 yr programs, as you are likely ineligible at nearly all of them.

I'm a US citizen!

FYI: hundreds of international medical doctors apply yearly along with American grads to residencies, and they still get selected and sponsored.
Same thing with dental schools. We were like 3-4 US citizens and green card holders compared to the rest who were completely international and needed to be sponsored.

Although it's not applicable on me, I don't think this is something that directors care much about when they have the right candidate. It gets handled anyway by the HR and the assigned departments.

I have also heard of internationals who got into OMFS. I can't say it's rare or not because I don't like to generalize my statements and would like to use data points before I can confirm or deny.

 

[NoorAlhuda]

I agree with this here completely....not only do you not have a formal residency to perform such procedures I know that some malpractice isn't going to cover a GP if they decide to take out impacted third molars and there's a complication. This molars can be humbling even for the most experienced omfs and dealing with the complications is part of doing procedures.

This is beside the point....

To the OP - there is a lot of good information here that people have commented. Coming from a current resident who did a non-cat year myself, don't let the naysayers tell you you can't do this, you can.

With that being said, it's a long road even if you were applying right now and theoretically had 10+ interviews with a good chance of matching. Intern years can be very difficult with how busy you are (aka the amount of hours your working) and demanding. As some have said and it may be obvious but you go from a particular lifestyle with work hours, quality of life, income, etc to working many many more hours and making 60-70k a year. Obtaining quality LOC's is difficult too but can be done. Good luck, I hope it goes the way you want it too!I

I got First Aid USMLE step I today and I'll aim for the Feb exam. So I'm not letting the naysayers affect my decision.

Thank you for your comment.

 

[rotichawal]

I'm a US citizen!

FYI: hundreds of international medical doctors apply yearly along with American grads to residencies, and they still get selected and sponsored.
Same thing with dental schools. We were like 3-4 US citizens and green card holders compared to the rest who were completely international and needed to be sponsored.

Although it's not applicable on me, I don't think this is something that directors care much about when they have the right candidate. It gets handled anyway by the HR and the assigned departments.

I have also heard of internationals who got into OMFS. I can't say it's rare or not because I don't like to generalize my statements and would like to use data points before I can confirm or deny.

To my understanding, with OMFS there is a pretty strong preference towards domestic applicants. 2022 match statistics show 4 internationals out of 237 matched, so it is pretty uncommon (but better than I mentioned previously). If I had to guess, these guys are probably stellar applicants for a program to rank them to match.

Not applicable to you as a US citizen, but OMFS programs do definitely care about US/Canadian citizenship/green card-- I don't personally know of any that will sponsor, but willing to be corrected on this point.

Medical residencies are more open to sponsoring IMGs because there are 100s of IM spots in absolutely garbage programs that need warm bodies to be exploited for labor. You will see significantly fewer IMGs in surgical subspecialties.

Edit: Looked into it further, seems like typically 2-3 international matched per year are from Latin American countries and are training at the University of Puerto Rico, which requires Spanish in addition to English

 

[odontoblaster90210]

I'm a US citizen!

FYI: hundreds of international medical doctors apply yearly along with American grads to residencies, and they still get selected and sponsored.
Same thing with dental schools. We were like 3-4 US citizens and green card holders compared to the rest who were completely international and needed to be sponsored.

Although it's not applicable on me, I don't think this is something that directors care much about when they have the right candidate. It gets handled anyway by the HR and the assigned departments.

I have also heard of internationals who got into OMFS. I can't say it's rare or not because I don't like to generalize my statements and would like to use data points before I can confirm or deny.

Getting into dental school and getting into an OMFS residency are very different things. I know for a fact many OMFS programs will not sponsor. There are around 10 programs of the ~100 programs that will even consider a Canadian citizen. The others will throw your application out if you are not a US citizen or green card holder.

Like the poster above said, there are many IM programs and FM residency programs that take IMGs because there are not enough AMG MDs or DOs graduating and applying to fill those spots. That is not the case for OMFS. There are more than enough US born American DDS/DMDs graduating and applying to fill the ~230 OMFS spots available every year. This is because OMFS is highly desirable.

I know all of this because I went through the OMFS application process recently and am currently an OMFS resident. I think the chances are extremely slim you will be accepted to an OMFS program, but if you feel you want to try, the only thing you will lose is some time and money. I say all this not to discourage you, but because I am being honest. It would not be right to give you false hope.

 

[nade0016]

Heck, give it a try right?? who knows, maybe you will click with a certain program. Like some above said, all you will lose is a bit of money and time.

 

[Saad Hayat]

Hello all,

I'm a prosthodontist who has been practicing for some years now. I'm thinking of doing OMFS because it was my dream specialty that I have never fulfilled, and I have been feeling guilty for not pursuing my dream or at least trying.

The reason for that is my dental school GPA of 2.9 and my class ranking, which was last among the international dentists that did the two-year program with me (24/24).

I had a strong reason for my low GPA and my ranking.
My school was involved, supportive, and understanding back then; however, my transcripts reflect my poor performance.

In my prosth residency, I graduated with t a GPA of 3.4, and my master's degree GPA was 3.5. I also had a GPA of 3.2 from my first international dental school.

Let's say I aim for a decent score in the CBSE exam (not sure how decent is decent in my case). Do you think I have a chance to get in? Would medical schools consider my application?

I would appreciate any feedback/tips!

Thank you

Can international students take CBSE exam while they are studying BDS? OR Do they have to complete DDS OR BE in the DDS to apply for that?