Preparing for specialty

[DMD-2-B]

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Hi Folks,

I'll be starting D1 this fall and I want to know what competitive dental specialty programs look for in an applicant. What should I do now in order to make myself competitve down the line for competitive specialties?


If anyone could provide information-references on the topic that'd be great as well!

Thanks...

 

[BDS-DMD]

How about you start with Disection, move onto Pharm, flirt with Path and end with pre-clinical lab?

Oh yeah, thats when you will probably start seeing patients......so you can post this question.....

 

[armorshell]

It's going to be all the same things that got you into dental school in the first place: good grades, test scores, letters of rec and extracurriculars. When you get to school, talk to the people in the department you're interested in for more specific information.

 

[gryffindor]

1. Class rank as high as possible
2. Board score as high as possible
3. Get in good with your home specialty department to try and secure a spot at "home"
4. Do some research & extracurriculars that interst you
5. Do some externships at other programs (more applicable for OMS and maybe pedo than the other specialties)
6. Have some interests outside of school
7. Be a nice person to your faculty and classmates and care for your patients

If #1 and #2 are high enough, there is a chance that all of the other factors will be overlooked and you will get invited to interview based solely on numbers that make the committee swoon (seen this in ortho for sure). But getting an interview doesn't mean you get in, that where all the subjective and personality judgements come into play.

 

[Jone]

with boards going to pass/fail, i don't think anyone really knows the answer to this one.
get published D1 year, take the CPA, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT, SAT, and ACT?

Hi Folks,

I'll be starting D1 this fall and I want to know what competitive dental specialty programs look for in an applicant. What should I do now in order to make myself competitve down the line for competitive specialties?


If anyone could provide information-references on the topic that'd be great as well!

Thanks...

 

[jackbauer!]

How about you start with Disection, move onto Pharm, flirt with Path and end with pre-clinical lab?

Oh yeah, thats when you will probably start seeing patients......so you can post this question.....

👍

 

[DMD-2-B]

Thanks for the responses! Basically I'm hearing that I have to focus on my grades (obviously), I should start with research right away in D1, get involved in extra-curriculars and be personable in my academic community.

Those of you who did research in D1, did you find that you had difficulty keeping up with the rest of your studies?

 

[reapply2007]

Research should not be a problem during the first year, if you can live on three hours of sleep a week.

But then again, maybe your situation is unlike all the other dental students at your school; unlike the rest of the stoner deadbeats in your class -you have taken all of these classes at the graduate/professional level, you are bright, you are motivated, you have a photographic memory, and it is impossible for you to lose focus while listening to someone read powerpoint for eight hours a day.

 

[stdmufin27]

I know it's a repeated question but you guys are a bunch of jerks! No reason to be so damn sarcastic.

 

[bigstix808]

I know it's a repeated question but you guys are a bunch of jerks! No reason to be so damn sarcastic.

I may only be a predent, but something has dawned on me. I’ve been on SDN for roughly a few months now and I have seen the OP’s question MORE than a number of times. And needless to say, the responses are always the same (sarcasm aside).

Now about my epiphany - with hopes of defending that of the sarcasm sensed here in this thread; I have read on these boards about people posting how their prof’s in d-school are **** heads and generally very stand-off-ish when students ask them lots of dumb questions that most D1’s need not be worried about, and if that student were to simply seek out alternative resources (such as someone that IS a specialist) or even RESEARCH their question BEFORE presenting, they would probably reach a general consensus to their rather trite inquiry amongst their predental cohort (including some D1-D2’s) well before an internet-forum response would be delivered.

Now I’m sure the OP of this thread (and all others alike) mean well, while trying to gather information on their potential endeavors as a dental specialist, but I don’t think that asking a group of dental students, with the occasional dentist thrown in the mix, is the best place to seek such advise such as what the OP is asking as it has been covered a NUMBER of times before (I still think this is a great forum with tons of useful advise so no flaming please). The sarcasm, I believe, is just a reflex as the dental students, for whom the OP is asking advise, are simply projecting their own personal bereavement woes from their school work and are feeling a bit hostile at the moment - sans ill-will I’m sure😎. If anything, I would think that if one really believes themselves to be the next big “specialist”, they would have already researched (or even used the search function on SDN) the path to becoming that specialist, and would have come to the same conclusion found in THIS particular thread: good grades, good boards, good EC’s, good LOR’s, ETC…

No offense needs to be taken here, so just remember…be cool, stay in school👍

 

[jackbauer!]

No, I think the sarcasm stems from pre-dents obsession with getting into a specialty program. These pre-dents are the kind of students that generally transform a class into non-cohesive group.

You need the same kinda things to get into a post-grad program that you needed to get into dental school: good grades, high board scores, research, interest in the specialty (i.e. externships), community service, and LOR's. If you can't figure this out, then you're going to have a hard time getting in.. end of story.

If you're entering a specialty for "prestige", then I feel awfully bad for you.

jb!🙂

ps- i'm not directing this post towards the OP because he/she asked a legitimate question and wants to do well to keep options open. Good for you.

 

[bigstix808]

No, I think the sarcasm stems from pre-dents obsession with getting into a specialty program. These pre-dents are the kind of students that generally transform a class into non-cohesive group.

ok, fair enough

bygones from here then. i'll let this thread be 😀

 

[pietrodds]

Since you're in college, I'll try to relate it to you....

You're asking what you need to get ready to specialize. It's the same as a college freshmen who hasn't started a single class asking about what they need to do to get into this or that med school. I don't know about your school but at penn state the pre-med major started with like 130 and finshed with less than 40 when I was there many moons ago. It's pretty obvious that you just need to get really high grades to even think about specializing for most specialties. Dental school is such a slap in the face that it's almost comical having someone ask about the what happens after when they haven't started. You'll be so consumed by just trying to get through those years.... Yet, the question just keeps getting asked like a broken record.