Which school to specialize from?

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soxinabox90

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I'm fairly certain that I would like to specialize in either ortho or OMFS. I have heard that as long as an applicant is determined to get into a specialty then they can. However, are there any schools here that may allow for a better or worse chance to specialize from? These are the schools I applied to:

UCSF
UoP
Western
Colorado
Michigan
Mercy
Florida
Nova
LECOM
North Carolina

I've been to the Nova and Mercy interviews. Western and LECOM interviews are in November. Still waiting to here back from the rest of the schools.
 
Be in the top few % of your class (+ research, involvement + good letter from your dean) and you should have a good chance to specialize from wherever you want.

Also don't say you want to do ortho or omfs at your interviews please. Ad come will roll their eyes at you.
 
You want the best advice? Go to the cheapest school!

Hear me out.

You're motivated, and you'll get into speciality from anywhere; that's not your issue. What will be an issue is money. I think a lot of people realize specializing is out of the question when they start looking at their financial situation after 4 years of private school tuition. Students more in debt are less likely to specialize. There becomes a pressing need for an immediate incomes, especially when there is a spouse/kid/house to take into considering. Are you an older applicant? Then you may not get a substantial income until 35-40. Did you take a private loan for the lower interest rate? You may not be allowed to defer payments through residency. Did you only get into programs that cost tuition? By this point, you're well over 500k in debt.

I think we see an increasing number of students going into general dentistry (even from big name schools) because of the financial burden of dental school.

Of your list, UCSF looks good. It's relatively cheap (assuming you switch to in-state tuition) and (I think) it is P/F/H. UNC also looks like a great choice if you can get in-state tuition for part of it. If you are a Michigan/Colorado/Florida resident, go there! Those are great schools at in-state prices you cannot beat.
 
Forgive me as I know very little about the field of dentistry in terms of specializing or post dental school education, but aren't a lot of general dentist taking courses (I think they were referred to as "CE") to put in implants and the likes rather than specializing 100%?
 
A lot of D1s during the first semester are also "fairly certain" that they would like to specialize in ortho or OMFS too.

If you are motivated, any of those schools can get you where you want to be.
 
Nearly everyone else in your class is probably going to want to do ortho or OMFS as well, you better be ok with being a general dentist.
 
gfs6 said:
You want the best advice? Go to the cheapest school!

Hear me out.

You're motivated, and you'll get into speciality from anywhere; that's not your issue. What will be an issue is money. I think a lot of people realize specializing is out of the question when they start looking at their financial situation after 4 years of private school tuition. Students more in debt are less likely to specialize. There becomes a pressing need for an immediate incomes, especially when there is a spouse/kid/house to take into considering. Are you an older applicant? Then you may not get a substantial income until 35-40. Did you take a private loan for the lower interest rate? You may not be allowed to defer payments through residency. Did you only get into programs that cost tuition? By this point, you're well over 500k in debt.

I think we see an increasing number of students going into general dentistry (even from big name schools) because of the financial burden of dental school.

Of your list, UCSF looks good. It's relatively cheap (assuming you switch to in-state tuition) and (I think) it is P/F/H. UNC also looks like a great choice if you can get in-state tuition for part of it. If you are a Michigan/Colorado/Florida resident, go there! Those are great schools at in-state prices you cannot beat.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the sound advice! My plan at this point is to go to the cheapest school that I get accepted to. At this point, LECOM is the cheapest school I have an interview at. I have heard that even though they are accredited, the school doesn't have a great reputation for quality of overall academic and clinical rigor. That worries me because 1. I want to be prepared for speciality or general dentistry if need be and 2. Specialty programs may not respect the school as much as a higher quality institution. Of course this is all hearsay. Do you have any input on specializing from LECOM?
 
I would not attend LECOM over Nova or UDM, especially if wanting to specialize. Yes, cost is a top choice in decision making, but Lecom is not significantly cheaper and has less of a reputation.
 
fogorvostan said:
I've been going back and forth between "I just wanna pass" and "I'll just be a general dentist" :laugh:. I almost got back up to the "I'll do endo" but then we had midterms week
Click to expand...

Advance said:
Dental school is an emotional roller coaster.😕:laugh:
Click to expand...

Do you guys think it is easy to establish a good support structure with your classmates at your respective schools?
 
Incis0r said:
Do you guys think it is easy to establish a good support structure with your classmates at your respective schools?
Click to expand...
I think it depends on the individual person. Personally, I'm an introvert so it takes me awhile to get comfortable around people. I have a pretty solid group of people that I talk to, but it took me a couple of weeks to find people that I actually connected with. It seems like most people have stuck with the groups that they formed during orientation.
 
Incis0r said:
Do you guys think it is easy to establish a good support structure with your classmates at your respective schools?
Click to expand...
It was pretty easy for me. My classmates are all pretty close. We have lots of social events and everyone is really friendly and willing to help you out with personal and academic things. @fogorvostan is right about the orientation thing though; most people just stick with the groups formed during orientation. I found an awesome group of people willing to put up with my antics and that's all I can really ask for. 👍
 
soxinabox90 said:
Thank you for the sound advice! My plan at this point is to go to the cheapest school that I get accepted to. At this point, LECOM is the cheapest school I have an interview at. I have heard that even though they are accredited, the school doesn't have a great reputation for quality of overall academic and clinical rigor. That worries me because 1. I want to be prepared for speciality or general dentistry if need be and 2. Specialty programs may not respect the school as much as a higher quality institution. Of course this is all hearsay. Do you have any input on specializing from LECOM?
Click to expand...

I would avoid LECOM if you could, but I'm a pre-dent so take my opinion with that in mind. It's a brand new school, and new schools do not tend to have good reputations. First, do your interviews and see where you get in come December. If you're still considering LECOM come acceptances, post on SDN and i'm sure the others on here can help you out.
 
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