Oral Surgery Institute (OSI)

[RavenclawMD3]

Oral surgery institute (OSI Nashville TN) is where oral surgery applicants’ dreams go to die (or at least postponed a year). I am writing this to hopefully save people a year of their life. For those who are not aware of this joke, it is an oral surgery practice that runs a pretend oral surgery “internship” to take advantage of recent dental graduates. It is NOT associated with a residency program. The hope is that you do this “internship” and in return you match into an oral surgery residency. In reality, you work for ~50k a year (about 100k less than you are worth) and make the OSI a ton of money and will likely not match anywhere. It is my humble opinion that if you cannot find a legit non-cat spot you would be better served just working as a general dentist and studying for the CBSE than being taken advantage of here. Their last couple year track record of not matching their “interns” supports this.

It should be said that I have no first-hand knowledge of what it is like actually being there and this is all my opinion. It could be a great place where you learn a ton, although I’ve heard rumors that it is not. In my opinion, all you need to know is that people do not tend to match out of here. I also believe that we should lend a helping hand to those who want to get into the dental/OS field and not take advantage of them to turn a profit. Go to a real non-cat, work hard, learn a ton and contribute to an actual program and people will have your back and help you be successful.

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[nade0016]

Oral surgery institute (OSI Nashville TN) is where oral surgery applicants’ dreams go to die (or at least postponed a year). I am writing this to hopefully save people a year of their life. For those who are not aware of this joke, it is an oral surgery practice that runs a pretend oral surgery “internship” to take advantage of recent dental graduates. It is NOT associated with a residency program. The hope is that you do this “internship” and in return you match into an oral surgery residency. In reality, you work for ~50k a year (about 100k less than you are worth) and make the OSI a ton of money and will likely not match anywhere. It is my humble opinion that if you cannot find a legit non-cat spot you would be better served just working as a general dentist and studying for the CBSE than being taken advantage of here. Their last couple year track record of not matching their “interns” supports this.

It should be said that I have no first-hand knowledge of what it is like actually being there and this is all my opinion. It could be a great place where you learn a ton, although I’ve heard rumors that it is not. In my opinion, all you need to know is that people do not tend to match out of here. I also believe that we should lend a helping hand to those who want to get into the dental/OS field and not take advantage of them to turn a profit. Go to a real non-cat, work hard, learn a ton and contribute to an actual program and people will have your back and help you be successful.

My program took an "intern" from the OSI and they are an excellent PGY1 resident and really honed their dentoalveolar skills during their time with OSI. While it is true that there is no hospital call and the "intern" does not learn hospital etiquette or take trauma call. All experiences in OS have learning potential. I have a issue with someone posting an opinion with no firsthand knowledge of the situation. Was you goal in posting this to prevent someone from applying to this internship? Should that not be that persons decision based on needs and situation? Seems as this "internship" is not what you are looking for but it might be a great fit for another person who has a great CBSE but minimal experience.

 

[RavenclawMD3]

My program took an "intern" from the OSI and they are an excellent PGY1 resident and really honed their dentoalveolar skills during their time with OSI. While it is true that there is no hospital call and the "intern" does not learn hospital etiquette or take trauma call. All experiences in OS have learning potential. I have a major with someone posting an opinion with no firsthand knowledge of the situation. Was you goal in posting this to prevent someone from applying to this internship? Should that not be that persons decision based on needs and situation? Seems as this "internship" is not what you are looking for but it might be a great fit for another person who has a great CBSE but minimal experience.

I certainly put more stock in your opinion than mine and I appreciate the input from a program director. My goal was absolutely to prevent people from applying or at least to prevent people from choosing it over a non-categorical spot. The trend as of late from this "internship" is that their "interns" do not match or if they do it is after completing another more traditional non-categorical spot on top of it. It sounds like you value it the same as a traditional non-cat spot and I was wrong. Certainly not the first or last time I will be wrong. I was just rubbed the wrong way from a private office using dentists to make them money while paying them pennies. When residencies pay ~50k its with the expectation that there will be an OS certificate at the end, or in the case of noncats its with the expectation that there will be help in matching. Taking advantage of someone's desire to pursue OMFS by only paying them 50k when you're a private office seemed wrong from the outside. Im happy to know that is not the case.

 

[omfsing]

I certainly put more stock in your opinion than mine and I appreciate the input from a program director. My goal was absolutely to prevent people from applying or at least to prevent people from choosing it over a non-categorical spot. The trend as of late from this "internship" is that their "interns" do not match or if they do it is after completing another more traditional non-categorical spot on top of it. It sounds like you value it the same as a traditional non-cat spot and I was wrong. Certainly not the first or last time I will be wrong. I was just rubbed the wrong way from a private office using dentists to make them money while paying them pennies. When residencies pay ~50k its with the expectation that there will be an OS certificate at the end, or in the case of noncats its with the expectation that there will be help in matching. Taking advantage of someone's desire to pursue OMFS by only paying them 50k when you're a private office seemed wrong from the outside. Im happy to know that is not the case.

So, just for clarification purposes, this is not a residency program with a noncategorical position?

This is a private practice that employs dentists who wish to pursue a career in OS?

I can see both sides but ultimately what are the stats? How many of their workers have matched into OS? The practice should provide these details otherwise I agree with the OP

 

[RavenclawMD3]

So, just for clarification purposes, this is not a residency program with a noncategorical position?

This is a private practice that employs dentists who wish to pursue a career in OS?

I can see both sides but ultimately what are the stats? How many of their workers have matched into OS? The practice should provide these details otherwise I agree with the OP

Correct. This has 0 affiliation with any residency. It is a private practice who employs dentists who wish to pursue OS. In the last few years they have very poor match rates (looks like ~25%). I found their website a little confusing because they will list legacy interns as going on to residency even if that is a noncat spot, or even non-oral surgery dental faculty positions lol.

 

[ddsdoc123]

Are there other private practice OMFS internships?

 

[nade0016]

Are there other private practice OMFS internships?

None that I am aware of.

 

[deleted1047421]

My program took an "intern" from the OSI and they are an excellent PGY1 resident and really honed their dentoalveolar skills during their time with OSI. While it is true that there is no hospital call and the "intern" does not learn hospital etiquette or take trauma call. All experiences in OS have learning potential. I have a issue with someone posting an opinion with no firsthand knowledge of the situation. Was you goal in posting this to prevent someone from applying to this internship? Should that not be that persons decision based on needs and situation? Seems as this "internship" is not what you are looking for but it might be a great fit for another person who has a great CBSE but minimal experience.

I 100% support what Nade said.
“All experiences in OS have learning potential”.

It’s been so long since I’ve interviewed candidates, but I have come across one or two individuals who did internships there and did end up getting into omfs residency.
If I’m not mistaken one of them even told me he had experience running sedations. I’m not sure how that worked given anesthesia rotations etc, and supervision, but both sounded like they really enjoyed their internship and had passion for omfs.

This practice, again, from what I’ve heard runs a high volume dental alveolar clinic running a lot of sedations in their clinic.

I have no problems with this internship and I think their graduates have done well in the past. I know one person who did it and he’s been doing very well (ended up getting into omfs).

 

[nade0016]

I certainly put more stock in your opinion than mine and I appreciate the input from a program director. My goal was absolutely to prevent people from applying or at least to prevent people from choosing it over a non-categorical spot. The trend as of late from this "internship" is that their "interns" do not match or if they do it is after completing another more traditional non-categorical spot on top of it. It sounds like you value it the same as a traditional non-cat spot and I was wrong. Certainly not the first or last time I will be wrong. I was just rubbed the wrong way from a private office using dentists to make them money while paying them pennies. When residencies pay ~50k its with the expectation that there will be an OS certificate at the end, or in the case of noncats its with the expectation that there will be help in matching. Taking advantage of someone's desire to pursue OMFS by only paying them 50k when you're a private office seemed wrong from the outside. Im happy to know that is not the case.

I don't disagree with your assessment that this OS uses these individuals as a sort of "mid-level provider" and it is certainly ripe for abuse. It is not a true internship, but neither is a GPR or AEGD but we are somehow OK with those as it is in a "hospital". Sadly, I do think this will be more common with the slow creep of corporate dentistry. Large corporate dental offices are looking for ways to increase revenues and decrease paying doctors. I have a feeling we will be seeing more of these "internships". My resident states he learned a lot, got good experience but certainly did not get all the experiences he would have wanted. He did state it was worth it in the end. In the OMS profession we will also begin to see general dentists start to be used for sedation and thirds at these large corporate groups as financial pressure mount. I have already seen it here in Minnesota with Pacific Dental unable to hire an OMS they are now interviewing general dentists who perform sedations and surgical thirds. We shall see what happens long term.

 

[MDR1993]

Oral surgery institute (OSI Nashville TN) is where oral surgery applicants’ dreams go to die (or at least postponed a year). I am writing this to hopefully save people a year of their life. For those who are not aware of this joke, it is an oral surgery practice that runs a pretend oral surgery “internship” to take advantage of recent dental graduates. It is NOT associated with a residency program. The hope is that you do this “internship” and in return you match into an oral surgery residency. In reality, you work for ~50k a year (about 100k less than you are worth) and make the OSI a ton of money and will likely not match anywhere. It is my humble opinion that if you cannot find a legit non-cat spot you would be better served just working as a general dentist and studying for the CBSE than being taken advantage of here. Their last couple year track record of not matching their “interns” supports this.

It should be said that I have no first-hand knowledge of what it is like actually being there and this is all my opinion. It could be a great place where you learn a ton, although I’ve heard rumors that it is not. In my opinion, all you need to know is that people do not tend to match out of here. I also believe that we should lend a helping hand to those who want to get into the dental/OS field and not take advantage of them to turn a profit. Go to a real non-cat, work hard, learn a ton and contribute to an actual program and people will have your back and help you be successful.

I thought I would share my perspective, given my firsthand experience as an intern at OSI. I've had an overwhelmingly positive experience, learning extensively and engaging in clinical activities that even some interns in residency programs might not have the chance to. Beyond being fantastic to work with, my attendings at OSI have been incredibly supportive throughout the match process, assisting with letters, personal statements, interview tips, etc. They were accommodating as far as allowing me to attend interviews. I applied to 35 program, secured 26 interviews, attended 16, and successfully matched with my top choice. It's an internship where you truly get out of it what you put into it. Despite initial hesitations from seeing this post last year, I'm grateful I pursued it. I wanted to make sure no one was dissuaded by this post like I almost was. Feel free to DM me if you have any questions.

 

[Contach]

Why would anyone think this is a real oral surgery internship? It is in a private practice...
My hunch is that people who go there think they are taking an easy shortcut.... well... we know what happens to people who take shortcuts.

OSI Legacy Interns | Oral Surgical Institute

Oral Surgical Institute & Oral Surgeon Adam S. Pitts, MD, DDS, F.A.C.S and Joseph R. Zacharias, MD, DDS in Nashville TN offers Oral Surgery, 615-329-4401

www.oralsurgicalinstitute.com

Their list of previous "interns" shows that a fair number of them ended up doing general dentist, and they don't list what the people after 2018 did.
Pretty transparent in my eyes of what they are offering.

 

[osteotomy01]

Why not just call it a poorly paid associate gig with dentoalveolar and an OMS available who can bail you out?