specialties

[japolloniac09]

how difficult is it to get into certain specialties? will be harder to get into one over another? On average, is it easier to get into a prostho program than an endo program, for example?

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[Supernumerary]

Yes, there are huge differences in competition to get into specialty residencies. The level of competition seems to go through cycles, but right now ortho, endo, and oral surgery seem to be really hot. Pros is not nearly as difficult as other specialties to get into. Some of the reasons I have heard for this are:

1. it doesn't pay a whole lot better than GP
2. it can be hard to limit a practice to pros as they do many of the same things as GPs - no dentist is gonna be referring many crowns or bridges out of his office
3. most people never want to see another denture once they leave dental school much less forego three years wages to study them in excruciating detail

 

[ULTRON]

Hi,

Is it possible for a DDS to get into a general surgery residency/M.D.........and then into plastic surgery?
Is that different from getting into an O.M.S/M.D. program leading to plastic surgery speciality?

Still a pre-dental student, I want to become a plastic surgeon of the face....what route should I take?

thanks

ULTRON

 

[Yah-E]

Ultron:

Not to cut your dreams short here, but lets get ourselves into a dental school first, maintain a 3.5 dental GPA second, earn a respectable score on NBDE Part 1 third and THEN worry about how you can get into Plastic Surgery!

Heck, if Plastic Surgery is what you want, try the MCAT not the DAT! Don't think one bit that going through the dental route will be any less competitive to get into OMS/MD residency than medical school.

General Surgery Residency.....this is a medical residency! If and when you earn a DDS or a DMD, you will never have the qualifications or the requirements to even APPLY to a general surgery residency because you'll need a MD degree to apply to general surgery residencies.

You've asked the same question in the OMS thread and it was answered and now you're inquiring about the same thing again and then some. If you are absolutely, extremely interested in Facial Cosmetic Surgery AND you enjoy Dentistry, then OMS/MD is the ONLY way!

Bottom line, to do a medical residency, which Plastic Surgery is, a person must have a MD degree. How does a DDS/DMD get a MD degree?

1) apply to medical school just like everyone else
2) apply to OMS/MD residency

Please don't humor me any longer with your "lack of research" questions! I beg of you!

No more:

Can I be an Cardiothorasic Surgeon if I go through Endodontics first?

Can I apply to OMS if I failed out of dental school?

 

[dudelove]

If you want to become a plastic surgeon go to med school. Why would you tack on another 4 years of dental school, and 4 years of OMFS(not including the 2 for the the MD). Even if you didn't tack on the 4 for dental, and you did the 4 for omfs, you would still be 4 years behind because you have to do a residency in surgery and then plastics which is something like 3+2 years I believe. So you will be in school for 4+6+3+2 vs 4+3+2. Wait, I guess that's another 6 years.

Plastic residencies are one of the most difficult to match to and they are kept artificially low in terms of spots and graduates, like orthodontics. I would concentrate on school, get a high gpa, get into a kick butt med school after acing the mcats and then do really well in med school and get tops scores on your baords. Of course you will have to do a lot of research,kiss butt,etc,etc....

Good luck!

 

[Supernumerary]

I agree with Yah-E. You need to decide what you really want to do. If you want to be a plastic surgeon, you should go to med school. The odds of getting into plastics via OMS are slim to none. First of all, only 2-3% of dentists can get into oral surgery; that's all there's room for. Of those that do get into oral surgery, only a percentage get the joint M.D. And then... if you've been lucky enough to make it that far, you still have to compete with general surgeons for the plastics spots. Remember, most program directors are going to be inherently biased towards the general surgeons, and leary of the oral surgeons whose training they are unfamiliar with. I would guess that the frequency of OMS getting into plastics is on the order of one every several years.

If you know plastics is your goal from the get-go, dentistry is definitely the wrong way to get there. It's called dental school for a reason.

 

[groundhog]

OK I'm going to think outside of the box here. What if some big celeb like Julia Roberts decides to have her feet redone and it catches on big time with the population. DPM's who are prepared do foot and ankle plastics could be in for a big bonanza. We never know what will suddenly come into fashion.

 

[Supernumerary]

foot and ankle plastics

Outside the box, Groundhog? This is outside of ... I don't know... but it's waaaaay out there. Is there some other conversation going on here that I'm missing?