Question about OMS residency

[OpenReduction]

I am sure each program offers a unique experience, but I am curious how the experiences of the residents differ from dental school based programs and hospital or med school based programs in general.

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[SilkyJ]

I’d recommend going on a few 1-2 week externships to different programs, that will likely give you a proper perspective on the differences between individual programs. That said, to answer your question, you will find that all OMFS programs are “hospital-based” and that their involvement with dental schools varies pretty widely. Some programs are also involved with VA hospitals, which can again be a little different experience. Essentially all OMFS programs will keep you very busy during residency with a workload that is in the 70-90hr/week range, which does not include academics or studying/reading at home. Exposure to different areas of the specialty (oncology, trauma, implants, orthognathics, cosmetics, etc.) will vary quite a bit depending on the program’s hospital and faculty, and usually has very little to do with that program’s connection to a dental school. The caveat to this is that dental schools often provide many implant cases to their associated OMFS programs.

 

[OMSDoc]

I have experienced both, and I find that dental specialty residency programs associated with dental schools can be burdened with the academic mindset...whatever that is...teacher/student...RULES...publishing...etc.

I graduated from the Medical College of Georgia School of Dentistry (which had an excellent OMS residency program under Ed Joy). I then went to Atlanta and did my pre-residency internship at Emory Dental School.

It was the last year of the Emory undergraduate dental school (they continued with specialty residencies). So, I was fortunate to cover clinic for the senior dental students. They were a great bunch, and it was lot of fun. We had a deep mutual respect.

However, I found the non-oral surgery faculty to be profoundly academic, and I am sure part of that was my maturity level. I took it upon myself (without talking to my seniors...my bad) to send out a memo (on paper...preinternet...this is an aside, but NEVER write anything down) saying that they had to bring a current radiograph of the tooth that they wanted to remove when they came to the undergraduate oral surgery clinic. All hell broke loose, and the faculty came down on me like a ton of bricks.

Then I went to the Mayo Clinic for my residency, and there is no dental school affiliated with that institution. I thank God for our program director, who told us on the first day that we existed to keep the referring general dentists and specialists happy, and that we should always strive for that. I think about this man every day and ask myself, "What would he do about this?"

This was the best training for being in private practice as a specialist who depends on referrals from general dentists and orthodontists. Granted, Mayo is unique.

And one more thing, because the story is pretty much over, but years later, I went to a CE course given by my alma mater dental school. I like to sit in the back, so I picked the last available chair in the back.

At the first break, the course director came up to me. He was a professor who was probably a little younger than me and came to the school years after I left. I did not know him at all.

He told me that the back row was reserved for faculty, and I heard him say it in that academic dental school professor voice of which I was so familiar...like he was talking to a dental student. So, of course, I put out my hand and introduced myself. He shook my hand and smiled...totally oblivious to the fact that I had paid A LOT of money to come to his course.

I got up and moved to a different seat.

 

[slowthai]

I have experienced both, and I find that dental specialty residency programs associated with dental schools can be burdened with the academic mindset...whatever that is...teacher/student...RULES...publishing...etc.

I graduated from the Medical College of Georgia School of Dentistry (which had an excellent OMS residency program under Ed Joy). I then went to Atlanta and did my pre-residency internship at Emory Dental School.

It was the last year of the Emory undergraduate dental school (they continued with specialty residencies). So, I was fortunate to cover clinic for the senior dental students. They were a great bunch, and it was lot of fun. We had a deep mutual respect.

However, I found the non-oral surgery faculty to be profoundly academic, and I am sure part of that was my maturity level. I took it upon myself (without talking to my seniors...my bad) to send out a memo (on paper...preinternet...this is an aside, but NEVER write anything down) saying that they had to bring a current radiograph of the tooth that they wanted to remove when they came to the undergraduate oral surgery clinic. All hell broke loose, and the faculty came down on me like a ton of bricks.

Then I went to the Mayo Clinic for my residency, and there is no dental school affiliated with that institution. I thank God for our program director, who told us on the first day that we existed to keep the referring general dentists and specialists happy, and that we should always strive for that. I think about this man every day and ask myself, "What would he do about this?"

This was the best training for being in private practice as a specialist who depends on referrals from general dentists and orthodontists. Granted, Mayo is unique.

And one more thing, because the story is pretty much over, but years later, I went to a CE course given by my alma mater dental school. I like to sit in the back, so I picked the last available chair in the back.

At the first break, the course director came up to me. He was a professor who was probably a little younger than me and came to the school years after I left. I did not know him at all.

He told me that the back row was reserved for faculty, and I heard him say it in that academic dental school professor voice of which I was so familiar...like he was talking to a dental student. So, of course, I put out my hand and introduced myself. He shook my hand and smiled...totally oblivious to the fact that I had paid A LOT of money to come to his course.

I got up and moved to a different seat.

More posts, please. I love your style and content

 

[PatsMan1]

I am sure each program offers a unique experience, but I am curious how the experiences of the residents differ from dental school based programs and hospital or med school based programs in general.

Good question. Lots of differences:

1) time in service (mostly for 6years). Some programs have 40+ months on service (I.e. LSU Shreveport, Rutgers), while others are much closer to 30 months on service. Case Western is a 5 year combined MD program.

2) how much ACGME credit you get from General surgery for 6yr programs (1 or 2 years depending)

3) med school cost (for 6yr programs): from totally free (NYU) to paying for 4 years of tuition (Pitt). Some programs pay you to take call during med school years (I.e. Penn) to help offset med school costs, others don’t.

4) location - to some this doesn’t matter, to others this is very important.

5) how many full time faculty are there/what are the full time faculty’s specialties. Faculty is one major source of OR cases (others being what comes into ED, and what cases residents can get from resident clinic). For example, certain programs have faculty that do a lot of cancer (I.e. Michigan, BU), some have 0 faculty that do cancer. Some programs have faculty that are active in craniofacial team in the hospital system, others do not. Penn has some big time TMJ faculty, other programs don’t. So In general (doesn’t apply 100% of the time), the more full time faculty you have — more faculty cases & what they specialize in will Partially dictate what type of cases you operate on.

6) are there Non categorical interns- if so how many (some places have 0 like Columbia, other places have 7 like Rutgers). This will have impact on your intern year and also when you are senior/chief because they will be part of your team. Intern year is approx 33% of your OMFS experience so it definitely matters.

7) being associated with dental school vs not. If associated with dental school:
- how often are you in dental school when on service
- how many implants do OMFS place vs Perio vs Prosth (some dental schools perio runs implant game whereas others OMFS do). Implant turf war is a real thing in some schools!
- where are the referrals coming from (predoc dental students or GPR/AEGD/Prosth)
- what is the OMFS department’s relationship with perio/Prosth/AEGD/GPR -> better relationship means more collaboration means you can learn more stuff
- are OMFS residents responsible for help teaching predoc students (some places yes, some places no)
If not associated with dental school:
- is there associated GPR -> how active is this GPR program/do they place implants/ what is OMFS relationship with GPR
- is there hospital Prosth or not (I.e. montefiore has hospital Prosth residency)
- is there associated VA -> if so, when do you go during residency, how active is this VA, are there associated Prosth/perio departments. More you go to VA, more implants you place.

8) #of cases vs # of categorical residents per year (more cases and less residents = you operate more and vice versa).

9) culture: do you fit in with the residents/faculty? Is the residency more resident driven or faculty driven? Pay close attention to the interns and the senior residents. The senior residents will be your chiefs and the interns will be your chiefs when you are a senior. Do you get along with these people? Do you see yourself working with them?

10) how is your 6year residency structured: do you do intern year then 2 years of med school then go back on service, or do you start in med school then be on service afterwards? I imagine a 2-2.5year gap between your intern year and when you go back on service isn’t as good as if it is all together.

11) how trauma heavy is your program? Some places do not have a lot of trauma, others do.

12) what is the politics of the hospital: do plastics completely run craniofacial? Any opportunity for facial cosmetic procedures? Is trauma split between ENT/Plastics/OMFS?

13) does the program treat jail inmates? Some places yes, some places don’t. If they do, that is potentially an extra source of trauma, 3rd molar exo cases, dentalveolar cases, pathology cases, etc.

14) how old are the full time faculty? If there are old faculty, do you think they will retire within next 4 to 6 years? If so, it can greatly affect your experience. Is the program top heavy—meaning one faculty member brings in a large amount of OR cases—if that faculty member leaves how can that affect your experience?

15) is there a dental anesthesia program at the hospital? If so, what cases do they do? How does it affect your sedation experience?

16) are there fellows? If so, for what? What cases do the fellow do? What is the relationship between the fellow and the residents?

 

[Dr__DDS]

Hi all! Sorry if this has been asked already, I'm applying this cycle to OMFS and have started going through PASS. There is no place to give a score for the CBSE, and when I emailed them they said that you just submit scores directly to programs. My question is 1. is that true and 2. are you all waiting to submit your PASS apps to match up with getting and sending your August CBSE or just sending in the PASS apps as you finish them? Thanks so much!

 

[PatsMan1]

Hi all! Sorry if this has been asked already, I'm applying this cycle to OMFS and have started going through PASS. There is no place to give a score for the CBSE, and when I emailed them they said that you just submit scores directly to programs. My question is 1. is that true and 2. are you all waiting to submit your PASS apps to match up with getting and sending your August CBSE or just sending in the PASS apps as you finish them? Thanks so much!

Attach to personal statement document and upload it together to personal statement

I also put CBSE score report on back of my CV

 

[Dr__DDS]

Attach to personal statement document and upload it together to personal statement

I also put CBSE score report on back of my CV

Those are really good ideas, but don't you need to send official scores in anyway to the programs, if you can't submit them through PASS?

 

[PatsMan1]

Those are really good ideas, but don't you need to send official scores in anyway to the programs, if you can't submit them through PASS?

NBME doesn’t send your score to programs. You take your PDF score report and upload it to PASS

 

[Dr__DDS]

NBME doesn’t send your score to programs. You take your PDF score report and upload it to PASS

Got it. Thanks so much!

 

[deleted913442]

NBME doesn’t send your score to programs. You take your PDF score report and upload it to PASS

That sounds sketchy af... I'd assume AAOMS has to confirm that the score report is accurate since they collect our scores before sending them out?

 

[PatsMan1]

That sounds sketchy af... I'd assume AAOMS has to confirm that the score report is accurate since they collect our scores before sending them out?

Not sure