Specializing after doing general

[VladiAVB]

Hi, pre-dental student here. I was wondering if it’s possible to work as a general dentist for a few years and then pursue a speciality? For instance, if you don’t get high enough grades in dental school to be accepted into a speciality program right away, could you graduate from dental school and work for a few years as a general dentist and then apply for a speciality program?

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[AppalachianDentalBoy]

Seems like that’s the norm for endo

 

[2TH MVR]

Hi, pre-dental student here. I was wondering if it’s possible to work as a general dentist for a few years and then pursue a speciality? For instance, if you don’t get high enough grades in dental school to be accepted into a speciality program right away, could you graduate from dental school and work for a few years as a general dentist and then apply for a speciality program?

Yeah. I've also heard endo likes private practice experience. As for the other specialties ....... not sure that PP experience will amount to anything. Grades and rank seem to be at the top of the list. But anything is possible. During my time in ortho residency ... there was a 2nd yr resident who came from GP PP. Another resident was a Pedo who practiced for a few yrs and then decided to do Ortho.

Rather than think negative about your future DS grades .... just work hard. If your goal is a specialty ..... plan on it from the beginning. I've also stated that attending a traditional DS that offers those specialty grad residencies will give you better exposure to those specialities.

 

[schmoob]

If you are not competitive your first time up for specialty, it’s recommended you do a GPR/AEGD. This should significantly increase your chances of matching the next time you apply.

 

[VladiAVB]

Yeah. I've also heard endo likes private practice experience. As for the other specialties ....... not sure that PP experience will amount to anything. Grades and rank seem to be at the top of the list. But anything is possible. During my time in ortho residency ... there was a 2nd yr resident who came from GP PP. Another resident was a Pedo who practiced for a few yrs and then decided to do Ortho.

Rather than think negative about your future DS grades .... just work hard. If your goal is a specialty ..... plan on it from the beginning. I've also stated that attending a traditional DS that offers those specialty grad residencies will give you better exposure to those specialities.

Thank you for your response, I’m not that negative about my future grades as I fully intend to work hard. It’s just a question that came up when I was talking to a friend who told me that if you did poorly in dental school that there was pretty much no way to go back to specialize and I wasn’t sure if this was true but thank you for clarifying on this for me! I greatly appreciate it!

 

[dentalchamp98]

Yeah. I've also heard endo likes private practice experience. As for the other specialties ....... not sure that PP experience will amount to anything. Grades and rank seem to be at the top of the list. But anything is possible. During my time in ortho residency ... there was a 2nd yr resident who came from GP PP. Another resident was a Pedo who practiced for a few yrs and then decided to do Ortho.

Rather than think negative about your future DS grades .... just work hard. If your goal is a specialty ..... plan on it from the beginning. I've also stated that attending a traditional DS that offers those specialty grad residencies will give you better exposure to those specialities.

So I am a D1 who just started a month ago and already got a C and B's, no A's yet. Is It already too late to think about specializing?

 

[2TH MVR]

So I am a D1 who just started a month ago and already got a C and B's, no A's yet. Is It already too late to think about specializing?

Depends on alot of factors. My DS class size was around 56. I hadn't made a decision to specialize until my 2nd yr of DS. Up to that point .... I had mostly A's , but a few B,s. At least a 1/3 of my class were serious about specializing and had mostly straight A's. Those few B's made it impossible to catch those "gunners" who had all A's. If you are ranked in the top 5 .... you could probably get in any specialty. I "barely" made it to ortho residency and I was in the top 10 of my class.

As for those other factors. AEGD/GPR helps. Research (ortho) helps. I hung out and helped the ortho grad dept attendings and residents. Some specialties are more competative than others.
So ... it is never too late. Just get A's.

 

[dentalinthemental]

Depends on alot of factors. My DS class size was around 56. I hadn't made a decision to specialize until my 2nd yr of DS. Up to that point .... I had mostly A's , but a few B,s. At least a 1/3 of my class were serious about specializing and had mostly straight A's. Those few B's made it impossible to catch those "gunners" who had all A's. If you are ranked in the top 5 .... you could probably get in any specialty. I "barely" made it to ortho residency and I was in the top 10 of my class.

As for those other factors. AEGD/GPR helps. Research (ortho) helps. I hung out and helped the ortho grad dept attendings and residents. Some specialties are more competative than others.
So ... it is never too late. Just get A's.

I have a follow-up question on this. So I’ve read often that GPR’s/AEGD’s are good for increasing your chance of specializing/strengthening your application, but since those are also residencies, how competitive is it to be accepted to an AEGD/GPR? I’m assuming you couldn’t be bottom of your class.. right?

I’m a D1 and have no intention of specializing, but I’m interested in AEGD/GPR’s and am wondering what class rank is considered competitive/good standing for those.

 

[yappy]

I have a follow-up question on this. So I’ve read often that GPR’s/AEGD’s are good for increasing your chance of specializing/strengthening your application, but since those are also residencies, how competitive is it to be accepted to an AEGD/GPR? I’m assuming you couldn’t be bottom of your class.. right?

I’m a D1 and have no intention of specializing, but I’m interested in AEGD/GPR’s and am wondering what class rank is considered competitive/good standing for those.

Good AEGD and GPR programs are competitive. Poor quality programs are not very competitive.

 

[dentalinthemental]

Good AEGD and GPR programs are competitive. Poor quality programs are not very competitive.

I’m aware of that much, but by “competitive,” I’m assuming it’s not the same level of competitive as OMFS/Orthodontics. Would top 50% suffice for a good (not the best, but good) program? I read so little about GPR/AEGD’s on here so I’m just curious!

 

[PerioDont]

I’m aware of that much, but by “competitive,” I’m assuming it’s not the same level of competitive as OMFS/Orthodontics. Would top 50% suffice for a good (not the best, but good) program? I read so little about GPR/AEGD’s on here so I’m just curious!

Yes I would think so. It really depends on the school though. The more competitive ones like San Antonio are harder to get in to.

Anecdote, but my friend was ranked 122/140 in her school, applied the last day of admissions for 2 AEGDs last year and got in (but good PS, LORs, very little ECs though).