Alejandra
How does the residency work for this field? How do you get one?
#orthodontist #med #premed #dentist
2 answers
Lindsay Kim
Lindsay’s Answer
I actually disagree with David's answer. Residency is NOT a part of dental school. How it works is you HAVE to get a DDS/DMD degree at an accredited dental school. If you want to get a residency at all, you need to be top of your class and excel in your studies, especially the first two years where most of your learning is didactics. Some residencies require that you take exams in order to see if you're academically adept at being part of the program. For example, I believe this mostly applies to oral surgery residency, but you need to take the NBME CBSE exam and score well in order to be considered for the residency. To get into a dental residency, you have to study hard, do externships, be involved, have leadership, etc, but you should only do those things if you really are passionate about them. Orthodontics is one of the hardest residencies to get into. Only a handful of students get into dental residencies at all. You don't need to "prepare" for dental school by reading books. Just talk to dentists and shadow them and you'll get a good enough look into their lives.
David George
David’s Answer
Alejandra, my bff, is a DDS. He told me that his residency was a part of dental school. Unlike MD, or DO, where you residency is after medical school. If you want to be a dentist, go to a dental school book store and start reading the same books dental students and dentists read. That puts you one step ahead of everyone else. I tell people who want to be Navy Seals. Practice hell week at home, long before it starts. If you have to lay in cold water for an extended period of time at BUDS camp, lay in the bath tub filled with cold water. If you have to swim four miles a day at camp, swim five miles a day at home. If you have to stay awake, for a week, stay awake, for as long as you can before camp starts. Another really good prep. for dental college, is dental assistant. You’ll be the Navy Seal, of dentists, when it’s all over.