whats the difference between internship and externship

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joemario

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like title says, whats the difference?
how do dental school allow student to go different location during that time?

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Intership is more hands on, usually a full year (or extended period of time), often times there is payment.
Externship is more like 'shadowing' and can be from 1 day to multiple weeks.

At our dental school, externships were not allowed as time off so we had to do them during breaks/holidays.
 
You do an externship while you're a dental student, usually in your 3rd and 4th years. Externships last anywhere between 1 week and 4(sometimes even more). Externships give you an opportunity to see different programs and see what residency life is like. They are for the most part shadowing/assisting roles.

Internship can have 2 meanings. First year residents are called interns. They are admitted into the residency program and are at the bottom of the chain. The second type of intern is known as a non-categorical intern. They are NOT admitted into the residency and are serving a 1 year contract and at most programs act as a first year resident(the other kind of intern). Non-categorical interns often times did not match and are trying to beef up their application for the next cycle.
 
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You do an externship while you're a dental student, usually in your 3rd and 4th years. Externships last anywhere between 1 week and 4(sometimes even more). Externships give you an opportunity to see different programs and see what residency life is like. They are for the most part shadowing/assisting roles.

Internship can have 2 meanings. First year residents are called interns. They are admitted into the residency program and are at the bottom of the chain. The second type of intern is known as a non-categorical intern. They are NOT admitted into the residency and are serving a 1 year contract and at most programs act as a first year resident(the other kind of intern). Non-categorical interns often times did not match and are trying to beef up their application for the next cycle.
Thank you for your detailed explanation. Do you have to be selected to extern and be top of the class?
 
Thank you for your detailed explanation. Do you have to be selected to extern and be top of the class?

You do not have to be top of your class. But each program will have different criteria. Decide on the program you would like to visit, find a contact person on their website, then contact and ask what they require from you in order to extern. It's usually not that hard to extern.
 
You do not have to be top of your class. But each program will have different criteria. Decide on the program you would like to visit, find a contact person on their website, then contact and ask what they require from you in order to extern. It's usually not that hard to extern.
thank you @Eli Manning . What if I have three specialty, can I do all externship or I need to choose one? You know sometimes you gotta have a backup plan...:shrug:
 
thank you @Eli Manning . What if I have three specialty, can I do all externship or I need to choose one? You know sometimes you gotta have a backup plan...:shrug:

I'm not sure what you mean exactly. Are you saying you have three specialties you are interested in? If so you might want to extern in all three so you can make up your mind. I don't think many people apply to multiple specialties. Especially omfs applicants. You'll want to be able to dedicate your time to only omfs interviews if you are serious about matching.
 
thank you @Eli Manning . What if I have three specialty, can I do all externship or I need to choose one? You know sometimes you gotta have a backup plan...:shrug:

You can extern with different specialties. They may ask why you're interested in their specific one so be careful with how you answer. Maybe keep it quiet that you're looking into other specialties because the perceived lack of commitment can be seen as weakness.
 
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