Pre-Oral Surgery anyone?

[Yah-E]

Are any of you considering Oral Surgery, the six year program (OMS/MD) like me (there are two types of ORAL SURGERY post-doctoral programs, a 4-year [OMS] and a 6-year program [OMS/MD])? I contacted six OMS/MD graduate directors to express my interest and this is what some of them have replied:

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Dr. James Swift from Univ. of Minnesota (4 year program - OMS):

Dear Andy,

It is good to see that you are interested in OMS. It is a truly rewarding and interesting profession.

Many programs look at NDBE and GPA as a screening mechanism to determine if you have the intellectual skills to perform well as a resident. As a general rule, you should look at the 90th percentile on NDBEs as a benchmark on both Part I and II. I do know that some programs use that mark as a minimum for acceptance into medical school. I think it is arbitrarily determined however.

We do keep data on residents applying to our program. We generally have 100 applications for our 3 positions. Realize that does not mean that only 3 of those 100 will train in OMS. Most candidates apply for about 10-20 programs. There are just under 2 qualified applicants per position in the US.

The dental school GPAs of our interviewees last year was 3.76 on a 4 point scale. The NDBE Part I score was 92%. The Part II score was 85%. 4% of our interviewees were female.

As far as research is concerned, I would suggest that you get started early with aspirations of presenting at the AAOMS annual meeting (deadline is April 1 for astracts for its fall meeting) and/or the AADR/IADR meeting held in March of each year with abstract deadline in the fall. The research experience will be looked upon with great favor.

Lastly, get to know the OMS faculty at Nova. Look for opportunities to do externships outside at other programs, generally offered in the summer.

If you have other questions, please contact me.

Regards,
JQS
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Dr. Remy Blanchaert from Univ. of Maryland (6 year program - OMS/MD):

3.5 GPA or greater
90 or better 95 is best (NBDE Part I)
top 10% of class - in small class size (less than 50)
best to be #1 or #2 in your class
Work closely with faculty on anything - that makes them a good judge of your character, work ethic and stability - all great things to include in a letter of recommendation.

Most of all learn general dentistry as a priority - these others are just plusses.

RB
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Dr. Eric Carlson from Univ. of Miami (6 year program - OMS/MD)

Andy -

Your enthusiasm is appreciated. I wish every applicant to our program would be similarly interested in proper preparation. My basic criteria for offering an interview to the program include excellent grades, part I board scores of at least 90% ( preferably > 95%), and excellent letters of recommendation. Aside from these, I would recommend research activities according to your interests.

Best wishes.

Eric R. Carlson, DMD, MD
Director, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Residency Program
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Wow, looks like I have A LOT of work to do in dental school! The biggest thing for me, in my opinion, is the research part. I personally don't like research too much, but this is something that I must do if I want to be competitive and applying to OMS/MD program. WOW! Overwhelming? Not really, actually really excited to attempt to reach my goal. Are any of you that are starting dental school next year planning on building you dental resume for a SPECIALTY of your choice right from the "get-go"?

From what I've heard, ENDO and ORTHO are the toughest to get into followed by ORAL SURGERY! PROSTHO, PERIO, and PEDO are pretty easy specialties to get into! The Oral Surgeon that I shadow (he's a double degree guy OMS/MD) said that General Practice Residencies (GPRs) are great stepping stone to specialties, especially to ORAL SURGERY, because GPRs are hospital orientated. He suggests that if your GPA and NBDE scores are not up to par, then get into GPRs and not Advanced Education General Dentistry (AEGDs)! AEGDs are dental school orientated and not affliated with hospitals.

Pre-Oral Surgery rocks!!!

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[cusp of carabelli]

thanks for the info yah-e....i was planning on maybe doing oms, endo, or pedo....we'll see though...maybe we'll be classmates in 4 years...=o) good luck to you!

 

[Big_Poppa DDS]

actually aegd's are mainly one year programs, half my class is doing one next year. The OS applicant in my class who was accepted had less than 90 on both part 1 and 2 and was only ranked 12 / 75 in my class.

I wouldn't say that all the other specialties are easy to get into, I think that if you have drive to continue your education after 4 years of dental school you should be applauded, not demeaned by saying that specialty is easy to get into.

Maybe it would help to get some experience in dental school in each facet of dentistry before making such decisions. It looked like 10 people in my class wanted OS in our sophmore year, but by senior year only 1 applied.

 

[Buckyball]

Hey Yah-E,

I'm actually looking into doing OMFS myself. Thanks for the info. I guess dental school will be tough work! But, I'm sure it'll be fun also!

Bucky

 

[makebuleeve]

hey people according to the ASDA newspaper.....76% of the applicants who apply to specialities get in and that's not counting gpr and aegd......if counting grp and aegd then it's 90%.

 

[Yah-E]

Couple of things:

Big_Poppa: I don't want to give the people the impression that specialties are "EASY" to get into, I'm simply stating that PERIO, PEDO, and PROSTHO are not as competitive as ENDO, ORTHO, and OMS are. By the way, are you excited to be done, when's graduation? Another thing, why is it that so many MUSoD graduates decide to do AEGDs after graduation? Do Marquette not prep you guys enough or do students just simply want more practice?

Makebuleeve: Those stats you provided are encouraging. But what I really get from those stats is that graduating dental students who do apply to specialty programs, the majority of them have outstanding academic numbers. That formula only leads to a high success percentage of people applying and getting into a specialty residency of their choice. As far as GPRs and AEGDs, my ORAL SURGEON tells me that they're not tough to get into at all, this is what I just heard.

Bucky and Cusp: I'm glad to see both of you interested in OMS or perphaps OMS/MD post-doctoral programs. Looks like we'll have a long exciting road a head of us if we continue to have this "OMS" interest.

I just want you guys to know these email advice are directly from the OMS or OMS/MD program director's mouth from the around the country. Obviously some OMS applicants may get in with less academic numbers than mentioned, but I think it's no coincidence that ALL 3 directors stated the same criterion to seek from their applicants. I mean, my main focus now is to do well and have fun with my 4 years of dental education, but I will ALWAYS have OMS in the back of my mind. If I have any opportunity to do anything affliated with the OMS department at my school, you bet, I'll be getting my feet wet to gain exposure.

Anything can change during my 4 years of dental education, but it is always good to know right off the bat what do OMS directors really want from their applicants.

 

[Hope7]

I'm interested in orthodontics. And 76% of those that apply to specialties get in. But what percent of those that apply to ortho get accepted?

 

[waiting]

Hope7....I also plan on getting into ortho. I know the program here at UNC--arguably the top ortho program in the country--had 250 applicants last year for their 5 spots. But, again, much of that has to do with the fact that most people apply to 15-20 programs, so the odds aren't actually quite that high (but still very competitive).

 

[gryffindor]

Here are some more oral surgery stats: There are currently 100 programs in the US - 49 are 4 yr programs and 51 are 5 - 7 yr MD programs. Each yr, 192 oral surgeons complete their training. (This is from a presentation from a current resident who belongs to the Amer Assoc of OMS that I attended).

Of course the programs want the best and the brightest, but not every #1 and 2 out of each dental school applies to OMS. So mathetmatically it would seem like there are spots available to more than just those at the very top. Don't get discouraged, just be prepared to work hard from the very beginning of dental school. Besides dental schools, many med schools and hospitals also have OMS training programs.

As far as the research goes, there are all kinds of research going on, basic science and clinical. There has to be something you will find interesting. Just talk to lots of professors and find out from the students which profs take on students each year. If you publish an abstract for the Amer Assoc of Dental Research, you may get funded from your school to attend their annual meeting - 2003 - San Antonio, Texas. 2004 - Honululu, Hawaii (that should be incentive enough to do research in dental school!)

Here is a contact. They can send you a packet of info about OMS training.

American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
Advanced Education and Resident Affairs
9700 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue
Rosemont, IL 60018
(800) 822-6637 ext. 4315
e-mail [email protected]