Specializing

[peerless218]

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Ok so this is my very first post in the dental section, it's kinda cool in the fact that I get to ask questions on here from now on starting from ground zero as a future dental student.

Anyway, I am going to start Pacific this fall and I am really interested in perio and protho as the possible specialties I want to do in the future. Since I don't really know anything about applying to specialty programs at this point, what are some of the things I should be paying attention to? How does the application work for applying to specialty programs? Do I apply after I take both part I and II of the board or when should I get everything set and send in that application? 😕

 

[bigstix808]

search before you post. this has been covered ad nauseum

congrats on gettin in though.

 

[KinKs]

Yea Op - if you search you will find some answers.

The other thing is, I personally would advise all 1st years to do some dentistry before you choose a specialty. At the very least, do Removable first, set some teeth and make some dentures before you decide Prostho is for you.

In any event, Perio and Prostho are not the most competitive specialties so if you do good work and show some interest, you should be good.

 

[peerless218]

thanks guys, and search I will. Not trying to sound like an arrogant fool but I have seen pretty much everything in dentistry except for the facial surgeries in dentistry that's why I am hooked on perio and protho. Of course, seeing them is a lot different then actually doing them so I might change my mind later.

 

[armorshell]

The other thing is, I personally would advise all 1st years to do some dentistry before you choose a specialty. At the very least, do Removable first, set some teeth and make some dentures before you decide Prostho is for you.

I disagree with this at some fundamental level. The sooner you can make a decision that you're going to specialize, the better your outcome will be. Wanting to specialize is a fat carrot that can lend motivation to get excellent grades, engage in CV building extracurriculars, etc... Regardless of what you end up doing in the end,none of these things could possibly hurt you.

Also, anyone who agrees with this, I pose you these questions: How much dentistry did you do before you decided dental school was right for you? Did you get observational experience in medicine, podiatry, chiropractics, physical therapy, biomedical research, massage therapy, nursing, etc... before you made your final decision?

In my opinion, there's absolutely nothing wrong with having in interest in specializing before entering dental school.

 

[Envision]

I disagree with this at some fundamental level. The sooner you can make a decision that you're going to specialize, the better your outcome will be. Wanting to specialize is a fat carrot that can lend motivation to get excellent grades, engage in CV building extracurriculars, etc... Regardless of what you end up doing in the end,none of these things could possibly hurt you.

Also, anyone who agrees with this, I pose you these questions: How much dentistry did you do before you decided dental school was right for you? Did you get observational experience in medicine, podiatry, chiropractics, physical therapy, biomedical research, massage therapy, nursing, etc... before you made your final decision?

In my opinion, there's absolutely nothing wrong with having in interest in specializing before entering dental school.

I don't disagree, but that sounds kind of like the premise of my personal statement. I circulated through all the different healthcare professions before coming to the conclusion that dentistry fit me best. Having said that, to the OP, I would work hard and TRY to specialize. In fact, I would say, just have the go ortho mentality. After you get the grades/board score/EC/ leadership that is competitive for ortho, you can take a step back at that point and evaluate what specialty interest you most, or if general is the direction for you. a few years back, a wise man once told me, "work hard until it comes time to specialize. Its better to have the option to specialize and decide not to, then to get there and realize you want to specialize, and cannot." Gl.

 

[peerless218]

I don't disagree, but that sounds kind of like the premise of my personal statement. I circulated through all the different healthcare professions before coming to the conclusion that dentistry fit me best. Having said that, to the OP, I would work hard and TRY to specialize. In fact, I would say, just have the go ortho mentality. After you get the grades/board score/EC/ leadership that is competitive for ortho, you can take a step back at that point and evaluate what specialty interest you most, or if general is the direction for you. a few years back, a wise man once told me, "work hard until it comes time to specialize. Its better to have the option to specialize and decide not to, then to get there and realize you want to specialize, and cannot." Gl.

That's a clever way of twisting the saying "It's better to be prepared when not needed then not be prepared when you're needed." Well, something like that.....but ya, it's gonna brutal try to specialize at Pacific, being that it's already an accelerated program. I just gotta mentally prepare myself starting day 1.

 

[omaralt]

I disagree with this at some fundamental level. The sooner you can make a decision that you're going to specialize, the better your outcome will be. Wanting to specialize is a fat carrot that can lend motivation to get excellent grades, engage in CV building extracurriculars, etc... Regardless of what you end up doing in the end,none of these things could possibly hurt you.

Also, anyone who agrees with this, I pose you these questions: How much dentistry did you do before you decided dental school was right for you? Did you get observational experience in medicine, podiatry, chiropractics, physical therapy, biomedical research, massage therapy, nursing, etc... before you made your final decision?

In my opinion, there's absolutely nothing wrong with having in interest in specializing before entering dental school.

+50. i went into my first year with no real goal, and passed everything with a pretty crappy gpa and class rank. luckily i didnt want to specialize but had i wanted to i would have shot myself in the foot from the beginning. it's very difficult to climb up from a crappy gpa and rank.