Specializing from Creighton University

[2thDoc11]

Just curious how prepared students attending Creighton are for specializing? I have seen a lot of threads that mention how great Creighton is for providing clinical experiences for its students but then when compared to other programs, isn’t as great when wanting to specialize. I know you can specialize from any program but was curious about how current/past students have felt coming out of this program?

As of now, I am drawn to omfs due to the medical aspect and find a lot of those types of cases/procedures really interesting. How prepared are students for CBSE? Or will that be pretty comparable to other programs with the exception of the ivy leagues which incorporate the medical curriculum?

i‘ve also heard that when wanting to specialize, private programs are better as state schools tend to teach the very minimum to pass the boards and they want to push out general dentists as quick and efficient as they can.. any truth to this?

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[ESPN907]

I think their website says something like 15% of students specialize, that should be all you need. Those that want to and put in the work will.

 

[PerioDont]

Just curious how prepared students attending Creighton are for specializing? I have seen a lot of threads that mention how great Creighton is for providing clinical experiences for its students but then when compared to other programs, isn’t as great when wanting to specialize. I know you can specialize from any program but was curious about how current/past students have felt coming out of this program?

As of now, I am drawn to omfs due to the medical aspect and find a lot of those types of cases/procedures really interesting. How prepared are students for CBSE? Or will that be pretty comparable to other programs with the exception of the ivy leagues which incorporate the medical curriculum?

i‘ve also heard that when wanting to specialize, private programs are better as state schools tend to teach the very minimum to pass the boards and they want to push out general dentists as quick and efficient as they can.. any truth to this?

IMO Creighton is probably one of the best schools as far as being a GP in the country. You get to do so much as there are not residencies at the school.

That being said, you can specialize from any school, but imo for OMFS specifically you may be better off going to one of those combined med/dent classes schools as your CBSE may be easier. as always though, go to the cheapest school you get into.

I have never heard that private vs state schools want to teach the 'minimum' to pass the boards. I go to a state school, my sister went to a private - neither of our schools were teaching the minimum to any degree. Her private school and my state school had about the same number of people specialize from each class - about 7 or so from the class.

 

[2thDoc11]

IMO Creighton is probably one of the best schools as far as being a GP in the country. You get to do so much as there are not residencies at the school.

That being said, you can specialize from any school, but imo for OMFS specifically you may be better off going to one of those combined med/dent classes schools as your CBSE may be easier. as always though, go to the cheapest school you get into.

I have never heard that private vs state schools want to teach the 'minimum' to pass the boards. I go to a state school, my sister went to a private - neither of our schools were teaching the minimum to any degree. Her private school and my state school had about the same number of people specialize from each class - about 7 or so from the class.

Thank you! I’ve been accepted to Loma Linda, MWU-AZ, and Creighton.. waitlisted at UNMC and nova.. being a ND resident, I’m really hoping for MN but idk what the future will bring

 

[schmoob]

i‘ve also heard that when wanting to specialize, private programs are better as state schools tend to teach the very minimum to pass the boards and they want to push out general dentists as quick and efficient as they can.. any truth to this?

This is not true. Look at schools like Stony Brook, UCLA, UCSF, and UCONN - Pretty high specialization rates.

 

[PerioDont]

Thank you! I’ve been accepted to Loma Linda, MWU-AZ, and Creighton.. waitlisted at UNMC and nova.. being a ND resident, I’m really hoping for MN but idk what the future will bring

I know one of our perio residents went to Creighton, I know someone who matched OMFS and prosth from MWU-AZ, and I'm sure people have specialized from Loma Linda. I don't know much about Loma Linda, but both Creighton and MWU-AZ are gonna prep you really well to be a great GP, and you definitely can specialize from either. I would pick the cheaper one in between the two, though I think the costs are fairly similar.

Perhaps COL in nebraska is slightly cheaper though than AZ? not sure about that one.

 

[2thDoc11]

I know one of our perio residents went to Creighton, I know someone who matched OMFS and prosth from MWU-AZ, and I'm sure people have specialized from Loma Linda. I don't know much about Loma Linda, but both Creighton and MWU-AZ are gonna prep you really well to be a great GP, and you definitely can specialize from either. I would pick the cheaper one in between the two, though I think the costs are fairly similar.

Perhaps COL in nebraska is slightly cheaper though than AZ? not sure about that one.

Definitely would prefer the Arizona climate but Creighton's CoA is estimated 103k-107k a year where MWU is ~130k a year.. which is why I’m leaning towards Creighton as my future financial situation gives me anxiety lol

 

[PerioDont]

Definitely would prefer the Arizona climate but Creighton's CoA is estimated 103k-107k a year where MWU is ~130k a year.. which is why I’m leaning towards Creighton as my future financial situation gives me anxiety lol

go to Creighton. you really never know about specializing - you may end up not wanting to.

In my D1 year, most people said they did. Now in my D4 year about 7 of us ended up applying out of almost 80. for some their stats did not allow for it, and for some they realized they just like general dentistry.

 

[2thDoc11]

go to Creighton. you really never know about specializing - you may end up not wanting to.

In my D1 year, most people said they did. Now in my D4 year about 7 of us ended up applying out of almost 80. for some their stats did not allow for it, and for some they realized they just like general dentistry.

Thanks for the advice! I appreciate it

 

[MrThirsty12]

Thank you! I’ve been accepted to Loma Linda, MWU-AZ, and Creighton.. waitlisted at UNMC and nova.. being a ND resident, I’m really hoping for MN but idk what the future will bring

Go to Creighton. I didnt go and I regret it.

 

[2thDoc11]

Go to Creighton. I didnt go and I regret it.

What year are you, where did you end up and what are you pursuing?

 

[MrThirsty12]

What year are you, where did you end up and what are you pursuing?

Im a 4th year going into Peds (hopefully). I didnt always want to specialize but my advice would be to go somewhere that gives you the broadest experience. From there you can decide what you enjoy and what you want to pursue. Having specialties at the school doesn't really help IMO, might make things worse for the DDS/DMD students.

 

[2TH MVR]

Im a 4th year going into Peds (hopefully). I didnt always want to specialize but my advice would be to go somewhere that gives you the broadest experience. From there you can decide what you enjoy and what you want to pursue. Having specialties at the school doesn't really help IMO, might make things worse for the DDS/DMD students.

I have a different viewpoint. I attended a traditional public university midwest inexpensive DS that had most of the specialty residencies. The undergrad DS did not help my acceptance into ortho residency. The ortho graduate program helped 100%. I made many contacts with the ortho attendings including the ortho program director. I involved myself with helping the ortho attendings and an ortho resident with their research. Having my name on their research publications was priceless. LORs from everyone in the ortho residency dept.

I cannot imagine not having graduate specialties available for undergrad dental students. This exposure gives the students a FULL appreciation of the tx scope of general dentistry and specialties. Going to a DS with only general dentistry and no specialities fails to teach dental students which procedures they can do "successfully" and those which should be referred.

Undergrad dental students. You're just learning the basics. You have literally no experience. No hand skills. So you want to do molar endos, implants, aligners, impacted thirds, etc. etc. in undergrad? 1st learn to do basic dentistry at a high level. Then .... with proper CE ..... spread out to more complicated procedures.

 

[MrThirsty12]

I have a different viewpoint. I attended a traditional public university midwest inexpensive DS that had most of the specialty residencies. The undergrad DS did not help my acceptance into ortho residency. The ortho graduate program helped 100%. I made many contacts with the ortho attendings including the ortho program director. I involved myself with helping the ortho attendings and an ortho resident with their research. Having my name on their research publications was priceless. LORs from everyone in the ortho residency dept.

I cannot imagine not having graduate specialties available for undergrad dental students. This exposure gives the students a FULL appreciation of the tx scope of general dentistry and specialties. Going to a DS with only general dentistry and no specialities fails to teach dental students which procedures they can do "successfully" and those which should be referred.

Undergrad dental students. You're just learning the basics. You have literally no experience. No hand skills. So you want to do molar endos, implants, aligners, impacted thirds, etc. etc. in undergrad? 1st learn to do basic dentistry at a high level. Then .... with proper CE ..... spread out to more complicated procedures.

I agree with that but I guess it depends on the school and how they use the specialties to expose predoctoral students to different things. I assume a school like Creighton would still have specialist that can mentor students

 

[schmoob]

Undergrad dental students. You're just learning the basics. You have literally no experience. No hand skills. So you want to do molar endos, implants, aligners, impacted thirds, etc. etc. in undergrad? 1st learn to do basic dentistry at a high level. Then .... with proper CE ..... spread out to more complicated procedures.

This cannot be stressed enough.

 

[PerioDont]

I agree with that but I guess it depends on the school and how they use the specialties to expose predoctoral students to different things. I assume a school like Creighton would still have specialist that can mentor students

I believe they do have specialists on site to help with all different things.

I think having specialties at the schools definitely helps you get into a residency. I pretty much did exactly what @charlestweed did for perio and matched. However, I think you can also match without that, its gonna be slightly more difficult though.

for someone that is 100% set on going GP, I think a school like Creighton is a great idea where they do have the ability to do all sorts of things.

 

[2thDoc11]

thanks for all the insight! Creighton is the front runner right now, but I have an interview with MN coming up this week. Being a ND resident, MN is my first choice but we will see how it goes!