As an OMFS hopeful, i often think about how well prepared dental students are to function as a medical residents. Even though our didactics are "theoretically" the same as med school counterparts (we all know most of our curriculum is a bit watered down), we dont have medical rotations. So how can a dental student handle being on medicine and trauma rotations in OMFS residency? Do you have the knowledge/clinical skills necessary to treat medically complex patients? Or is it alot of self learning? Just wanted to get some perspective from a resident, and any advice you have to better prepare for residency
Question for OMFS residents/interns- were you prepared for residency?
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I'm pretty sure depending on the length of the program they make you either do all of med school or at least some portion of med school before you get into the true part of your OMFS specific training
But also I think that's why pre OMFS people do externships/internships and have to do well on the CBSE, you have to go out of your way to show your level of preparedness to some extent
But also I think that's why pre OMFS people do externships/internships and have to do well on the CBSE, you have to go out of your way to show your level of preparedness to some extent
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Ill summarize it like this, going into Intern year I had a lot of OMFS experience from working for one for 6 years and having a very solid experience in dental school. With this being said, there is A LOT to learn and the scary part is dental school just hits the cherry on top of what you will learn as an intern alone. Study hard in DS, everything builds on itself. There is a lot of self learning in residency, you have to take it upon yourself learn in OMFS residency. You get pimped a lot during rounds and in the OR a lot of times and it behooves you to read and be ready for these situations as much as possible.. You certainly won't know it all but being prepared goes a long way in residency. Keep studying hard!
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I will only echo what was already said....you will do a lot of reading and preparation. If you do not, you will be ridiculed and not taken seriously.
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This questions is not very simple to answer, as what role you play and what is expected from you differs on what hospital service you are on, and what is the amount of training you've received prior to going on that rotation.
In general, you'll be rotation through OMS, General Surgery, Anesthesia and Med school (6-year), or Medicine (4-year). Some rotations are longer than others, but there are expectations from every rotation that you should be performing at or above a typical medical resident.
When you are on OMS service, you are expected to be the facial trauma/infections expert, as you will get consulted by a variety of specialities including surgery trauma, ED, medicine, etc. For this service, every program should have some "buddy call" arrangement where you're paired up with a senior level resident that will teach you how to deal with certain situations.
You will also be on general surgery rotations, with most 4-year programs having you complete 4-6 months, while 6-year programs completing 6 months - 2 years. Most of the OMS residents have already completed an intern year prior to doing a general surgery year, so we actually look like rock stars compared to the typical interns coming straight out of medical school.
Anesthesia - 5-8 months rotation. Usually the first 2-4 weeks will be observation, and after that, if the attendings are comfortable with you, will put you in your own room, running the entire case. Anesthesia is extremely repetitive, but once you learn the basics of setting up a room and dealing with random complications that run your way, it's not too bad. OMFS residents generally enjoy this rotation a lot since it gives them a lot more time for other hobbies.
Med school - The 6 year guys go to med school, which can be as short as 12 months (Case Western), to as long as 4 years (UCSF). Since you've completed dental school and already a "doctor", this part of training isn't that bad. It used to be that USMLE Step 1 was the soul crusher, as it was a test that required 3+ months to prepare for, while med students studied 2 years for it.. and OMS residents had issues passing it.. but with the introduction of the CBSE, which is a condensed version of the USMLE Step 1, OMS residents now know what to expect, and those who scored 70+ on the CBSE have no issues passing it now. You are expected to perform above the typical med student.
Medicine - the 4 year guys get thrown into dealing with complicated Medicine patients with medical knowledge that is severely lacking. Dental school and CBSE did not prepare them for this. This is where reading is paramount. Some programs actually have their 4-year guys rotate as a medical student instead of a medical resident because the knowledge curve is too steep. But there will always be upper level residents helping you throughout this process, and as long as you don't ask a lot of questions you can look up yourself, you'll be fine.
Depending on the residency program you are in, you may be rotating through Plastics, ENT, Neurosurgery, Emergency Medicine, and others. As stated above by Setdoc7, you have to be willing to read a lot. Read up on your patients and their conditions. Be ready present for rounds and have tentative plans. Your plans will not always be correct, but your upper levels and attendings can always steer your reasoning in the correct way. If you come unprepared, not only will you look bad, but it will make the entire OMS service look bad.
In general, you'll be rotation through OMS, General Surgery, Anesthesia and Med school (6-year), or Medicine (4-year). Some rotations are longer than others, but there are expectations from every rotation that you should be performing at or above a typical medical resident.
When you are on OMS service, you are expected to be the facial trauma/infections expert, as you will get consulted by a variety of specialities including surgery trauma, ED, medicine, etc. For this service, every program should have some "buddy call" arrangement where you're paired up with a senior level resident that will teach you how to deal with certain situations.
You will also be on general surgery rotations, with most 4-year programs having you complete 4-6 months, while 6-year programs completing 6 months - 2 years. Most of the OMS residents have already completed an intern year prior to doing a general surgery year, so we actually look like rock stars compared to the typical interns coming straight out of medical school.
Anesthesia - 5-8 months rotation. Usually the first 2-4 weeks will be observation, and after that, if the attendings are comfortable with you, will put you in your own room, running the entire case. Anesthesia is extremely repetitive, but once you learn the basics of setting up a room and dealing with random complications that run your way, it's not too bad. OMFS residents generally enjoy this rotation a lot since it gives them a lot more time for other hobbies.
Med school - The 6 year guys go to med school, which can be as short as 12 months (Case Western), to as long as 4 years (UCSF). Since you've completed dental school and already a "doctor", this part of training isn't that bad. It used to be that USMLE Step 1 was the soul crusher, as it was a test that required 3+ months to prepare for, while med students studied 2 years for it.. and OMS residents had issues passing it.. but with the introduction of the CBSE, which is a condensed version of the USMLE Step 1, OMS residents now know what to expect, and those who scored 70+ on the CBSE have no issues passing it now. You are expected to perform above the typical med student.
Medicine - the 4 year guys get thrown into dealing with complicated Medicine patients with medical knowledge that is severely lacking. Dental school and CBSE did not prepare them for this. This is where reading is paramount. Some programs actually have their 4-year guys rotate as a medical student instead of a medical resident because the knowledge curve is too steep. But there will always be upper level residents helping you throughout this process, and as long as you don't ask a lot of questions you can look up yourself, you'll be fine.
Depending on the residency program you are in, you may be rotating through Plastics, ENT, Neurosurgery, Emergency Medicine, and others. As stated above by Setdoc7, you have to be willing to read a lot. Read up on your patients and their conditions. Be ready present for rounds and have tentative plans. Your plans will not always be correct, but your upper levels and attendings can always steer your reasoning in the correct way. If you come unprepared, not only will you look bad, but it will make the entire OMS service look bad.
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Step 1 is pass fail now. I am interested to see if they are still keen on high CBSE scores. I would imagine yes since it is their only way to determine competitive candidates. Know many people that didn't go this route because they aren't good test takers but magicians in surgery.
Preparing for the CBSE will help shore up some of the medical knowledge you don’t get in dental school. Realistically though, you end up doing a ton of reading outside of work to keep up and pull your weight on rotations. If you don’t study outside of work, it will be very obvious.
In general, most OMFS programs want you to excel on rotations to help maintain our status/reputation in the hospital (we don’t want to be seen as just “general dentists”, we want to be viewed and treated as solid surgical residents by other departments). This means you’ll need to learn a lot in a short amount of time if you want to function well as a resident on your rotations.
Your level of responsibility will vary depending on the particular rotation, your hospital’s culture, and also the faculty’s (other departments attending‘s, not your OMFS ones) confidence in you. If you are well prepared and competent on your rotations, you’ll find that you get more opportunities and will learn more than if you just skate by and do the minimum.
Bottom line, expect to do a lot of reading outside of work if you want to do well. Dental school does not prepare you for your rotations, you need to do that for yourself to be successful.
In general, most OMFS programs want you to excel on rotations to help maintain our status/reputation in the hospital (we don’t want to be seen as just “general dentists”, we want to be viewed and treated as solid surgical residents by other departments). This means you’ll need to learn a lot in a short amount of time if you want to function well as a resident on your rotations.
Your level of responsibility will vary depending on the particular rotation, your hospital’s culture, and also the faculty’s (other departments attending‘s, not your OMFS ones) confidence in you. If you are well prepared and competent on your rotations, you’ll find that you get more opportunities and will learn more than if you just skate by and do the minimum.
Bottom line, expect to do a lot of reading outside of work if you want to do well. Dental school does not prepare you for your rotations, you need to do that for yourself to be successful.
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UCSF residents go to Med school for 25 months which is pretty standard for most 6yr programs. How long is this misinformation going to last lol
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Apologies. I just checked their website. Looks like they changed their curriculum recently. 2 months off to study for Step 1 and 2 in their 3rd year is nice.
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They were paying for 4 years of tuition.
On their old curriculum, they took a few months of medical school every year.
First year would have 9 months, second year 9 months, third year 9 months, 4th year a few months.
Good for them though, for getting more OMFS months on there. Their old curriculum had 28 months of OMFS. UCSF is an extremely competitive and desired program, and with a top 3 medical school, you'd have to be among the most competitive applicants to have a shot at matching.
The 4th year of medical school is probably the easiest year a medical student will ever have in their life. A lot of elective rotations that are P/F. Plenty of time to study for Step 2 CK and CS. A lot of interviews to go to. It used to be a true sub-internship, where you went to your desired specialty and worked extremely hard. Before EHR, the 4th year medical student would go to the hospital early, gather up all the labs and vitals, read up on all the notes, and be a very active part of the medical team. You were responsible for passing on these findings to the residents, who will pass it on the attendings. Now, with EHR, anyone can sit at home and review all that stuff while having a coffee.
My 4th year of medical school? 3 months of med school electives... and 9 months of being on OMFS service, on call every 3-4 days.
