Specialty School? Like applying from undergrad to grad?

[dentalman85]

Question about applying for specialty programs.

Is it just like undergrad to grad applications?
like you have to get involved in a gazillion clubs, be president of this and that, do this club and that club, brown nose all the professors for brownie points?

Maybe it's just me, but at least at my school (a UC school), everybody was really fake. It might be because of the big class sizes, but everybody was trying to outdo another person, backstabbbing and plotting to become president of this or coordinator of that while taking up all of the professor's time and acting like he/she was interested in their research just for letters.

Is it all of that bs again in dental school? I'm not too social and I just don't want to have to go through all that fake crap again.

And through how much of your dental school do you have to rely on other people?

Thanks

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[PDizzle]

Question about applying for specialty programs.

Is it just like undergrad to grad applications?
like you have to get involved in a gazillion clubs, be president of this and that, do this club and that club, brown nose all the professors for brownie points?

Maybe it's just me, but at least at my school (a UC school), everybody was really fake. It might be because of the big class sizes, but everybody was trying to outdo another person, backstabbbing and plotting to become president of this or coordinator of that while taking up all of the professor's time and acting like he/she was interested in their research just for letters.

Is it all of that bs again in dental school? I'm not too social and I just don't want to have to go through all that fake crap again.

And through how much of your dental school do you have to rely on other people?

Thanks

Some of that you will have to do but "ass kissing" is not necessary. Legitimately show your interest in a specialty and spend a lot of off school hours learning as much as possible about it and all the rest will fall into place.



...oh yeah....rock Part I (if it doesnt go P/F by the time you take it).

Your final question: Very little in most schools. Some PBL schools (e.g. USC) it's more.

 

[dentalman85]

hahah damn it. that's where I'm going. USC.

I hope they reduced the amount of PBL. But from my class list for this upcoming semester, all 4 classes are PBL.

Not looking forward to it.

 

[PDizzle]

hahah damn it. that's where I'm going. USC.

I hope they reduced the amount of PBL. But from my class list for this upcoming semester, all 4 classes are PBL.

Not looking forward to it.

My fellow resident went to USC and he said they are scaling back their PBL some,..so....that's good!

 

[dentalman85]

thanks for the info man!

i wish sdn had some system for +1 or rep,
like reddit or slickdeals
if you guys know what i'm talking about

that way we can keep out the trolls with bad reps, and boost the ones that know what they're talking about

 

[PDizzle]

thanks for the info man!

i wish sdn had some system for +1 or rep,
like reddit or slickdeals
if you guys know what i'm talking about

that way we can keep out the trolls with bad reps, and boost the ones that know what they're talking about

That would be nice but a lot of the stuff on SDN is opinion and not fact. How many people do you know that went to more than one dental school? Ask 10 different dentists about something and you will get 11 different answers!...see what I'm get'n at? If someone answers a question to the best of their knowledge it is still not the "facts" because that is coming from one source.


...but in general, I think they should have something like that.

 

[charlestweed]

Question about applying for specialty programs.

Is it just like undergrad to grad applications?
like you have to get involved in a gazillion clubs, be president of this and that, do this club and that club, brown nose all the professors for brownie points?

Maybe it's just me, but at least at my school (a UC school), everybody was really fake. It might be because of the big class sizes, but everybody was trying to outdo another person, backstabbbing and plotting to become president of this or coordinator of that while taking up all of the professor's time and acting like he/she was interested in their research just for letters.

Is it all of that bs again in dental school? I'm not too social and I just don't want to have to go through all that fake crap again.

And through how much of your dental school do you have to rely on other people?

Thanks

Just like undergrad applications, most post grad dental program directors like to accept a well-rounded candidate who does not only have to have strong academic performance but also have to have strong leadership and social skills. Nobody wants to accept a bunch of anti-social nerds who can’t get along with other co-residents and faculty members.

I find nothing wrong with trying boost the resume by trying to be a president of this club or the coordinator of that organization. I actually admire these people because like you, I am not a very sociable person and I am too lazy to do volunteer stuff. I am the antisocial nerd. This was why I didn’t apply to the top notch ortho programs because I knew the chance of getting the acceptance at these programs would be zero.

I’ve practiced ortho for 10+ years. Because of the lack of leadership and people skills, I still have to work for a dental chain. I still have to work on weekends. I still have to work 5 (and sometimes 6) days/week. I increase the treatment acceptance from patients by charging lower fees than my competitors. Most of my ortho colleagues who graduated the same time are doing much better than me and they take vacations all the time. In short, you can’t be a successful dentist or specialist if you lack leadership and people skills.

 

[shiftypoptart]

Question about applying for specialty programs.

Is it just like undergrad to grad applications?
like you have to get involved in a gazillion clubs, be president of this and that, do this club and that club, brown nose all the professors for brownie points?

Maybe it's just me, but at least at my school (a UC school), everybody was really fake. It might be because of the big class sizes, but everybody was trying to outdo another person, backstabbbing and plotting to become president of this or coordinator of that while taking up all of the professor's time and acting like he/she was interested in their research just for letters.

Is it all of that bs again in dental school? I'm not too social and I just don't want to have to go through all that fake crap again.

And through how much of your dental school do you have to rely on other people?

Thanks

I'm so glad someone else acknowledged the extreme fakeness that is college politics/research. Yeah some legitimately do it because they like it but ima say almost all the people I knew and saw were all just backstabbers and liars (also went to a UC =D). Definitely learned my lesson in college about responsibility of academics (too much world of warcraft...) and had to put it into turbo my last 2 years of college. But luckily was able to get into dental school (so excited start on monday!). I'm definitely gunna give it my all here and start strong. Definitely hope I can get into an ortho specialty program in the future without having to go through the fakeness again but this time ill definitely have good academic scores to back me up (hopefully haha).

 

[DrJeff]

I'm so glad someone else acknowledged the extreme fakeness that is college politics/research. Yeah some legitimately do it because they like it but ima say almost all the people I knew and saw were all just backstabbers and liars (also went to a UC =D). Definitely learned my lesson in college about responsibility of academics (too much world of warcraft...) and had to put it into turbo my last 2 years of college. But luckily was able to get into dental school (so excited start on monday!). I'm definitely gunna give it my all here and start strong. Definitely hope I can get into an ortho specialty program in the future without having to go through the fakeness again but this time ill definitely have good academic scores to back me up (hopefully haha).

One thing that you do have to remember for the vast majority of residency programs out there that is different than say the original premise of this thread, is specialty school applying like undergrad to grad applying, is that for a specialty program, the faculty has a much greater amount of direct contact with you during your residency than they would with you during say undergrad or dental school. And as such, what often becomes a factor is how you interview as a person and also the recomendations that the faculty give you. If you come across as a jerk, or the faculty at your current program either put something in their letter of recomendation or call/talk to the program director of where you're applying (and yes they often do that) that can often wiegh more on a descision (both good or bad) than what one's board scores are. If you're a GREAT candidate with poor board scores, a phone call from the department head of where your going to d-school to a residency director of another program can make all the difference in getting you in. So in that sense, there certainly is some politics that goes on, since the faculty of the residency has to "deal" with you during all the years of the program