I graduated from dental school with low grades and low board scores. Since then, I finished an AEGD residency and have a few months worth of experience in private private.
I never cared about specializing back in dental school, hence the low grades. But I'm now starting to have some interest in specializing.
I want to specialize in orthodontics. I'm incompetitive for all the civilian residencies but I've heard that military-based ones are relatively more forgiving of lower grades.
On a personal note, I don't care about relocation. I can live practically anywhere. Also, I prefer not to be in a war zone.
What should I do? Am I looking in the right place? What does it take for all this to happen?
Although it is true that you can have lower scores to get into residencies in the military, the scores aren't that much lower. You still have to meet the same criteria as civilian residencies. You still have to meet certain criteria the residency programs set to get accepted.
You seriously need to be realistic. Since you have graduated from d-school, you obviously know that Ortho is the most sought after residency. Do you not think that in the military that there will be plenty of people shooting for the couple of slots each year? There are plenty of people who enter the military after d-school who have excellent scores. They know it and will also be applying for these slots. If you have low grades and low board scores, you chances are extremely low of even getting an interview let alone a slot. But, then again, until you speak to the residency director, you will never know for sure!
Another thing you have to look at is that there are also people who are interested in the residency who might not have the highest scores, but have a lot of time in the military who have proven themselves and have shown they are more likely to stay in the military an benefit the military compared to a person who has not been in.
You wouldn't even be allowed to apply for a residency until after you joined. At that point, you would probably find out you probably won't get an ortho slot. Meanwhile, you are going to get stationed somewhere where your services are needed. Although it is possible to get a good place to be stationed, there is no guarantee you will not be stationed somewhere where you will be deployed. If you do not want to be deployed, DO NOT join the military. That is the risk that every one of us who join face. I have been deployed twice myself. Do I like being deployed and away from my family and friends? HELL NO!!!! But, it is the sacrifice my family and I made so I could serve our country and the sacrifice we will continue to make after dental school. Please, DO NOT join the military only because you feel it is the easiest way to get into Ortho. You probably will not get it with low grades and board scores. If you are unhappy with that, you face the risk of making those around you unhappy and I can speak from experience that it sucks to work with a disgruntled military member who has nothing better to do than bitch and moan about how they hate the military. PLEASE, do not be one of them!
