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How does Medical School work?

How did it work out for people who have entered medical school after finishing dental school?

  • I heard from a family friend that someone she knows had the experience of entering dental school first (because he didn't get into medical school) and then entering medical school later. Curious about people who had this kind of experience.

  • Answer:

    There were two people in my medical school class who did this and it was part of an oral surgery program. They worked very hard because things were a little out of order for them and so they had to study while on the wards. The first 6 months of my medical school  (USC) was mainly basic science stuff that is covered in dental school. The only thing different was gross anatomy lab. So they would spend time on the wards during those 6 months and only come to anatomy lab with us. During the head/neuro section, they had already done that in dental school so it was really easy for them. Then they spent the next 18 months with us, as regular med students. after that I kind of lost track of what they did. Their residency was included in the program (it was a total of 6 years after dental school), so they were fully licensed with an MD and DDS. This is a pretty good deal if you can get into it. Oral surgery is a great surgical field and it pays well. 6 years of training is not bad (it's what I did to be a retina surgeon) and 18 months of it is just studying like a regular medical student (which is easier than residency). The other 54 months is more akin to a surgical residency (because it is one), so it is a lot of work and long hours.

Mitul Mehta at Quora Visit the source

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Some people specialize in oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS), which requires one to be both an MD and dentist. However, this doesn't necessarily mean that the dentist did not get into medical school initially. It might just be a specialty they found interesting during their rotations. By the way, it doesn't seem very efficient to me to do 4 years undergrad+4 years dental+6 years residency (total 14 years) just to become and MD. If a person doesn't get into med school after undergrad, it's probably more advisable to do a postbacc program or go abroad, then to undergo the previously mentioned convoluted process.

Sid Ra

That is exactly my case. Coukd not enter med school September 1973 (no entrance exams, admission only by high school results). Graduated dentistry Sept 1978. Med school Oct 1978 - graduated Nov 1984 (served army 1982–1983). Belgrade, Serbia. Dental school is much more hands-on experience. All subjects are somewhat reduced in scope and depth in non-head and neck departments and very detailed in head and neck. Clever people took first dental index, then, after the first year, medical index. So they woud pass internal medicine in medical school and dental school would accept and confirm that. Other way round was not possible like in my case. New DDS knew a lot: teeth extractions, fillings, basic prosthetics etc. Only basic knowledge in the scope of general medical management. New MD knew how to give an injection and maybe suture a small wound, other than that, nothing practical. However, extensive knowledge in diagnosis and treatment of various diseases. On the personal level, it was tough in dental school and joy in med school because iin med school I just have to extend my knowledge while my colleagues had to do it from scratch.

Predrag Maksimovich

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