Question about externships for orthodontics

[New_Vegas]

Posted this and it got no bites on the other forum, so I figured I'd post here. All I could really find about this was old or incomplete information. So I figured I'd ask here. I have 3 questions.

• How important are externships for ortho applications?
• How long do orthodontic externships usually last (1-2 days, or more?).
• How do you go about setting these up with schools? It doesn’t seem like there are a ton of schools out there who advertise externships. Does emailing random schools yield results?

Thanks in advance.

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[e00z]

You'll find different opinions on this but here's what I've heard from someone on an ortho admissions board: Anything helps. Being able to put a face to a name in a stack of applications can help. So yes, externing might just give you that extra push to the interview stage.

With that said, many people match into ortho without doing externships.
Also, 1 day is fine. I wouldn't do more personally. Email or call the school's ortho dept.

 

[New_Vegas]

Thanks, this is kinda what I heard too. Just was hoping for a little confirmation I guess. Sometimes I feel all alone on an island or something trying to figure this out. I know one other classmate that's thinking about ortho, and he's kinda on the fence about it. Seems like specializing can kinda be a taboo subject in dental school.

 

[yipsterthehipster]

Hey there!

I agree with what was said above! I would try to do an externship at your top 3 schools you'll be applying to. During this time focus on meeting faculty and talking to residents. Between 1-3 days would be good enough in my opinion. The schools that I had externships at I felt I interviewed better at - perhaps I had comfort in knowing some residents and already expressed my interest in that school. I contacted the schools through e-mail to set the externship up.