What does it take to become an oral surgeon?

[postbacpremed87]

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Do you go to both medical school and dental school to become an oral surgeon?

I have heard of an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery residency. Are the people who complete this the oral surgeons "we" talk about?

If not, what residencies could one pursue out of dental school to become an "oral surgeon".

Thanks...

 

[MedDevil]

Undergrad --> Dental School --> 4 year certificate OMFS Residency or 6 year OMFS+MD Residency = Oral Surgeon.

There are also a select few programs that allow medical school grads to pursue a residency in oral surgery, but it's generally for d-school grads.

 

[AlbinoPolarBear]

If you really want to be a medical doctor, it's easier to get into med school than to get into an oral surgery residency. By far.

 

[Jackson-Ave-Dental]

I believe it has been said over and over but I will help reiterate it.

If you're going into dentistry, make sure that being a general practitioner is your number one choice 🙂

Everything else should just be the cherry on top when you've come to realize that you actually like doing it with your own hands along with the ability to attain it in the first place! We all like to ponder and fantasize about how that soup will taste like, which appears to have a horn and 3 arms in it but we will never actually know until we take the very first sip!

 

[Kahr]

Before posting a thread, a good thorough search of the forums will usually answer your question(s).

I highly recommend checking out this thread, by armorshell, an OMFS resident and one of our moderators, very helpful dude:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=777257

 

[brainache]

I believe it has been said over and over but I will help reiterate it.

If you're going into dentistry, make sure that being a general practitioner is your number one choice 🙂

Everything else should just be the cherry on top when you've come to realize that you actually like doing it with your own hands along with the ability to attain it in the first place! We all like to ponder and fantasize about how that soup will taste like, which appears to have a horn and 3 arms in it but we will never actually know until we take the very first sip!

I actually highly disagree with this. I don't think there is anything wrong with wanting to pursue a specialty over becoming a general dentist. Of course, a dental student should enjoy and be well practiced in general dentistry, but it shouldn't need to be his/her primary choice.

 

[321931]

I actually highly disagree with this. I don't think there is anything wrong with wanting to pursue a specialty over becoming a general dentist. Of course, a dental student should enjoy and be well practiced in general dentistry, but it shouldn't need to be his/her primary choice.

Oh boy, I disagree. My biggest piece of advice is go into Dental School being comfortable...knowing that you just may end up being a General Dentist.

Getting to the top of one's Dental Class is tough. Getting into the top 10 for Oral Surgery is near impossible unless you are A) Natural Genius in Hand Skills + Didactics, B) Really want it for the "sake" of specializing aka name/prestige (most of these guys drop out after realizing how incredibly difficult/time consuming it is) or C) Love it.

Usually a combination of all three gets you to the top, but even then, it MAY NOT be enough. Dental School is seriously a whole nother beast. The kids that are in your class are your equivalents. They are all Type A and all hard working. Some are all that PLUS a whole tier smarter then you just because they are natural geniuses. Even if you try your hardest and stay day in/day out of lab...you may never get to the top.

Who knows, maybe you are great at didactics, but hand skills is a whole nother story. Some people just are amazing while some have to stay day in/day out in lab and take hits in their didactic scores while barely struggling to pass lab courses.

You SHOULD go into dental school with the positive attitude of being a gen. dent. If you go in with the mindset of ONLY oral surgery/specialty and nothing more (aka look down on general dent), then most likely prepare to be disappointed and humbled by your peers.

I guess to draw a correlation to the whole specialty thing...Just imagine it's basketball. Everyone in the NBA wants to be like Mike or Lebron, but not everyone can. You have your basketball players who are more gifted, who perhaps work harder, or perhaps want it more. Everyone tries so hard with a combination of all three talents, but in the end, its not meant to be. They just end up as regular basketball players making a decent living and not being the superstar they dream to be. That's Dental School...hell, that's life.

 

[KittySquared]

GUNNA BE A ORAL SURG OR DIE TRYIN', BEACHES.

 

[Bereno]

Oh boy, I disagree. My biggest piece of advice is go into Dental School being comfortable...knowing that you just may end up being a General Dentist.

Getting to the top of one's Dental Class is tough. Getting into the top 10 for Oral Surgery is near impossible unless you are A) Natural Genius in Hand Skills + Didactics, B) Really want it for the "sake" of specializing aka name/prestige (most of these guys drop out after realizing how incredibly difficult/time consuming it is) or C) Love it.

Usually a combination of all three gets you to the top, but even then, it MAY NOT be enough. Dental School is seriously a whole nother beast. The kids that are in your class are your equivalents. They are all Type A and all hard working. Some are all that PLUS a whole tier smarter then you just because they are natural geniuses. Even if you try your hardest and stay day in/day out of lab...you may never get to the top.

Who knows, maybe you are great at didactics, but hand skills is a whole nother story. Some people just are amazing while some have to stay day in/day out in lab and take hits in their didactic scores while barely struggling to pass lab courses.

You SHOULD go into dental school with the positive attitude of being a gen. dent. If you go in with the mindset of ONLY oral surgery/specialty and nothing more (aka look down on general dent), then most likely prepare to be disappointed and humbled by your peers.

I guess to draw a correlation to the whole specialty thing...Just imagine it's basketball. Everyone in the NBA wants to be like Mike or Lebron, but not everyone can. You have your basketball players who are more gifted, who perhaps work harder, or perhaps want it more. Everyone tries so hard with a combination of all three talents, but in the end, its not meant to be. They just end up as regular basketball players making a decent living and not being the superstar they dream to be. That's Dental School...hell, that's life.

I don't think he was saying that its OK to only want to specialize and nothing else. Like he said, it is imperative to enjoy and be good at general dentistry so that you can enjoy your job if you cant get into a specialty. Everyone here knows its hard to specialize, but there is no problem with wanting/trying to.

On a side note, my top choice is OMFS because I work for three amazing surgeons, who have really taken me in under their collective wings if you will. However, I still really enjoy the general dentistry side of it as well. I'm not going to kill myself trying to become an OMFS, but I will try very hard to become one. If I don't make it, then I am reassured that I will have a rewarding and enjoyable career in dentistry. 👍

 

[brainache]

I don't think he was saying that its OK to only want to specialize and nothing else. Like he said, it is imperative to enjoy and be good at general dentistry so that you can enjoy your job if you cant get into a specialty. Everyone here knows its hard to specialize, but there is no problem with wanting/trying to.

On a side note, my top choice is OMFS because I work for three amazing surgeons, who have really taken me in under their collective wings if you will. However, I still really enjoy the general dentistry side of it as well. I'm not going to kill myself trying to become an OMFS, but I will try very hard to become one. If I don't make it, then I am reassured that I will have a rewarding and enjoyable career in dentistry. 👍

Bingo. I couldn't have put it better myself.