Congratulations!! If you are reading this, you must have decided to pursue the best specialty in dentistry. The rewards will be great, but so will the sacrifice. I’m not going to try to sugar coat this; Pros residency was the most challenging three years of my life. Despite the lack of sleep and minimal social life, I cannot imagine practicing dentistry without this knowledge.
1) Digital Dentistry:
Digital dentistry is here to stay and you want to check out the facilities of the programs you are considering. How you are trained and practice in residency will greatly influence how you treatment plan cases once you leave school. I do not wish to minimize the importance of having a solid foundation for conventional prosthodontics, but getting advanced exposure to a curriculum with digital dentistry will greatly benefit you.
2) Connection to Current Residents:
I highly recommend an on-site visit to the school you desire to attend, even if one was not required for a successful application. Assessing the chemistry of the residents is a crucial intangible to witness first hand. Many schools use a “vertical learning” model where you share offices with upperclassmen who are the primary teachers after hours when faculty leave for the day. Once you finish your preliminary classes and really get into working your cases, you will have many late nights and weekends in the lab. Lab time will vary from program to program but giving residents lab work exposure is an aspect of residency that is probably not going away for some time.
It is critical to be on your best behavior, not only while you are among the faculty, but while you interact with the residents as well. Residents usually give feedback back to their faculty on who they think would be a good fit into the family you are applying to. Pros programs spend so much time together, there is no need to accept an individual who is not a team player and whom no one would want to be around. Be yourself and don’t be fake, but understand that everyone you meet is probably evaluating you.
3) Program Director, Certificate or Master’s Program?
The program director affects many aspects of a given school. Do some research and see what composes their background. Are the residents encouraged and helped to achieve board certification? Are they involved with Organized Prosthodontics through organizations like the ACP?
A Masters’ program involves research and usually a thesis program. This is challenging and you should consider if this avenue is something you want to pursue. The Masters’ looks great if you want to go into teaching or research one day. If not, it is extra work that you may not utilize if you see yourself doing purely clinical patient based dentistry. You are still a Prosthodontist if you do a Certificate program.
4) Tuition:
I don’t need to remind this audience how expensive education is. The specialty is a great investment but please consider your debt levels that you may already have. Some students have loans from both undergrad, dental school and adding loans from residency can increase the stress. Unless you do a VA or military based program, most schools charge tuition, unlike many medical residencies that pay a stipend. My goal is not to discourage anybody; just be aware of the financial obligations you are signing up for.
5) Social Life:
This may sound like a silly “top 5” but life outside of school is very important. Married residents with families will want to check out the surrounding area and see if this your family would be happy in the prospective community. I say that spouses and children also “go through” the residency because the whole family makes the sacrifice when the student spends countless hours pursuing their craft in school.
For single residents, do you prefer an urban or rural setting for pursue your education. Is your residency part of a larger university complex that offers activities that you will find rewarding? You won’t have much free time, but having fun distractions outside of school is important to try to maintain a healthy work life balance.