I’m just about to graduate with a bachelors in environmental science. I’ve taken a STEM route. Taken bio 1 & 2, chem 1 & 2, orgo.
I’m wondering how many more years would it take to complete medical school, for those who chose a different degree without starting over?
I’m interested in oral surgery. Will my path be made easier having completed a degree already, or will I be making my life harder? Is it difficult to transfer?
I may not decide to do it and just stick with my current degree.
You just have to complete the prerequisites, in terms of course work for entry. People can major in anything and go to med school. You have already taken a lot of science classes. Have you checked the prerequisites? (Those who need to do a lot of prereq’s do a post-bacc…offered at a lot of schools)
You don’t have to do an expensive post bacc at some college. You can do a self crafted one, taking the required courses for medical school admissions at a four year college. @WayOutWestMom
You can major in anything as an undergrad and still apply to medical school…as long as you have taken the required courses for medical school applicants. Medical school is four years long regardless of what your major was in undergrad (although there is some discussion about this number of years happening). You should be asking how long it will take you to complete the required courses needed BEFORE you apply to medical school. You need to look those up.
Maybe I’m wrong…but I think my oral surgeon is a DMD…has a medical degree in dentistry.
@BenKlesc what is your GPA? From previous posts, there is some concern you expressed about grades at a CC from years ago.
Go to your school’s pre-health advisors and have them work thru your transcript to see if you meet all the required courses to apply, and have a strong enough GPA. If so, great…then you have to get patient facing experience…whether via a job and/or volunteer work. Think things like working as a CNA, in a hospice, as a caretaker, EMT, hospital scribe, physician shadowing, etc. You aren’t behind at all, average age at med school entry is 24.
If you need to take more classes, there are many ways to do that and the pre-health advisors can help you with that too.
You need to figure out which classes are required to apply to medical schools, which of these you have taken, and what classes you are missing. It does sound like you have at least taken multiple of the required classes. There should be medical advisors at your current university who can help you.
You will also need quite a bit of experience in a medical environment. You can get this after graduating with a bachelor’s degree.
One daughter graduated university one class short of what she needed to apply to DVM programs. She completed that course the following year while working at a veterinary clinic. She actually liked the class so much that she took the next in the sequence the following semester. This was before applying to any DVM programs. Right now she is studying for her DVM after getting multiple acceptances.
I do not know whether an oral surgeon needs a DMD, or MD, or both. I did just get an implant (it was successful and now looks and feels just like a tooth) and the doctor who did the oral surgery part has both a DMD and an MD, from different universities.
I will be 27 when I get my bachelors. I know it’s taking a big leap, but very interested in the dental field. Sort of inspired by my own doctors I’ve gone to for my life.
You will also need quite a bit of experience in a medical environment. You can get this after graduating with a bachelor’s degree.
So even though I graduated with a different degree, I can still apply to volunteer or work in a medical setting. I guess I could explain to them I’m switching degrees.
Start researching here: Prerequisites
The degree/major isn’t as important as the classes you have taken. Students of all majors can go on to med/dental school as long as they take the required classes of the med/dental schools one is applying to. So, students who were English, History, or music majors routinely apply to professional health degree programs.
There are many paying and non-paying (volunteer) jobs in healthcare that do not require any degree. My daughter is currently a college sophomore. In high school and college she has volunteered with various health-related organizations to determine if it is indeed a field she will enjoy.
Volunteer at a free health clinic or nursing home, for example. Shadow a doctor or dentist (network with personal connections or ask your undergrad advisors to help… alums are often resources for this). Get an entry level-job as a medical assistant, medical scribe, CNA, EMT. Some of these require training and/or a certificate but not a degree and will allow you to earn some income while working on your additional medical school prerequisites.
In addition to a strong GPA/sGPA and MCAT score, you will need clinical experience and volunteering with the underserved for your medical school application anyway.
Oral surgery as in oral and maxillofacial surgery? Or something different like otolaryngology?
Oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) is specialized 4 year post doctoral program (hospital-based residency) that requires a dental degree (DDS or DMD) for entry.
OMFS residency includes 1 year of general surgery training alongside MD residents, followed by 3 years of specialized OMFS surgical training.
More information about the pathway here: https://www.aaoms.org/images/infographics/path_to_oms.pdf
Dental school admission requirements are more variable than med school admission requirements are so knowing what coursework you’ll need to qualify for admission will require some research on your part.
Otolaryngology (aka ENT, short for Ears, Nose and Throat) is medical specialty that specializes in head and neck surgery. ENT is a 5 year, hospital-based post graduate training program that requires a MD or DO for entry.
More information about ENT pathway here: So You Want to Be an Otorhinolaryngologist (ENT) | Med School Insiders
Both OMFS and ENT are extremely competitive specialties with no guarantees that an applicant will match to a residency.
A visit to your undergrad’s health professions advising office is a good place to get help assessing what coursework you’ll need to take for admission to professional school.
Both dental school and medical school have a number of unwritten EC expectations for applicants. Your HP office can help you figure out that too.
Thanks for writing this up…
Oral surgery as in [oral and maxillofacial surgery]
The kind of professional doctor that would perform a wisdom teeth extraction. So in that case oral and maxillofacial.
OMFS is a dental specialty.
You may get better advice in the Pre-Dentistry & Dental School - College Confidential Forums
BTW, most dentists can perform a simple tooth extraction. But OFS is required if the tooth is impacted and a more complicated surgery is required.
Well…on your other thread, you claim to have taken all the courses required for admission. So…now you need to prep for the MCAT if you want medical school, or whatever the test is that dental schools require.
You still need to shadow a doc, do some kind of hands on patient contact work or volunteer work. These don’t go away just because you have the courses done.
I have completed all of the STEM premed courses so far that would allow me to attend dental school. My biggest concern is jumping into this career at a much older age to be honest, and finding internships as you point out. I sort of have a large career gap where I wasn’t working. Besides the point though, I think my best route is speaking to a college. I’m actually interested in Boston University.
Have you taken labs with your necessary prerequisite classes?
Yes. Orgo 1 & 2, bio 1 & 2 microbio, chem 1 & 2, calc 1 & 2 etc
Oral surgeons first go to dental school. Then they apply for OMFS residency training. This involves getting an MD degree as well as surgical training. So they will often have DDS/DMD + MD degrees. This is incredibly selective. You’ll need to be at the top of your class.
I also once knew a head/facial plastic surgeon who first started got a dental degree, then went and got an MD and finished plastic surgery training. More than a decade of training.
OP- your problem is a structural one. In the US you do not declare a specialty before getting your medical degree… so whether it’s an MD or a DMD, you’ve got to complete all the requirements, the testing, the qualifying, the rotations first.
It’s great you are interested in OMFS but honestly- for the purposes of your education, it’s irrelevant right now.
Why not arrange some shadowing of a variety of health care professionals first? Spend some time in a general dentistry clinic. Spend some time volunteering in a mobile health care clinic (these are the vans outfitted to provide primary care, they drive around low income/health desert neighborhoods) so you can see the oral care needs of a variety of populations.
You aren’t too old for anything- but you are trying to jump the gun a bit. Get a sense of what cleft palate surgery involves; see what the mouth of an unhoused adult who hasn’t had preventative dental care in 10 years looks like; shadow the professionals who do this work.
You’ll need the hours to put forth a credible application anyway, and this will help you figure out which direction you want to go in.
Reason I ask… I’m trying to determine if I want to pursue med school or dental school, depending on what speciality I choose. Deciding on which college to attend.
Different topic, but was also curious how I would apply for these shadowing positions in my situation where I am in an unrelated field with a work gap. If it’s volunteer work, I would definitely be interested in looking into that.
Now the reason I was interested in pursuing OMFS, is because I heard it was less competitive or selective than ENT. Perhaps I would end up doing general dentistry.