Army Army Oral Surgery Applicant Timeline

[PaulC]

Hello Everyone,

I'm interested in applying for oral surgery and was wondering if someone would give me a general outline of what I should be doing for the next few years. I am currently a D1 and am aware that it is too early to know for sure but I like to plan ahead . An example of what I'm looking for would be:

D1: Study hard
End of D2: Take NBME
End of D3: Apply...etc.

Also when do you find out whether or not you've matched? End of D4?

Thank you

Edited for typos...posting on forums using my iPad never ends well.

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[krmower]

Applications will be due by November of your senior year. Make sure you are ranked in the top 20% of your class. Specialty board meets in December. Announced end of December/first part of January.

 

[AirborneDentist]

I would also focus on good letters of recommendation and a good letter of intent. These are especially important if your school does not do a class ranking, as it will be one of the few things to separate you from the others.

 

[PaulC]

krmower is always coming to the rescue. I hope I will have the pleasure of meeting you someday sir. When would be the best time to do an ADT at an oral surgery residency location? I wouldn't have enough knowledge after D1 to really be getting the most out of the ADT so would you recommend requesting it for my summer after D2 & D3?

Thanks again,
PaulC

 

[AirborneDentist]

Paul,

You will be required to do an ADT each summer that you school allows. If you are 100% set on Oral surgery, I would do one in an OS location for each year you can do an ADT...

 

[coolslugs]

Applications will be due by November of your senior year. Make sure you are ranked in the top 20% of your class. Specialty board meets in December. Announced end of December/first part of January.

Is top 20% only for OS or all specialties?

 

[krmower]

No. Top 20% would be my recommendation for the most competative specialites (OMSF, Endo, Ortho - maybe Perio). The others you may not need to be quite as high in, although it will always be determined by the number fo people that apply. Once in the Army your class rank plays less of a role, but as a dental student with boards going to pass/fail...there's not much else the board can rate you on when they see your application. I would still encourage anyone to apply for a specialty even if they are not top 20% in their class because it will familiarize you with the application process if you need to apply the following year again.

 

[toothfixeralex]

From what I've gleamed with Army Residencies also is that facetime with the course directors helps more than you can imagine. If you can work with Ms. Flores to get an ADT at an OS Residency location you'll be helping yourself out. I know this can be difficult as it's hard to get at least 21 days off of school to do the ADT but if you can take the time off of clinic do so. Remember that your classmates that are applying for civilian spots are usually taking almost a month off to do interviews, so it's no different.

I'll also echo the other two Army docs that have posted in regards to your letters. Your letter of intent and letters of rec are HUGE, especially if you come from a school like I did (USC) that doesn't do rankings and has a grading system that is broken. These are what set you apart from your fellow applicants.

Good luck and stay focused