So one more week has passed! This is the start of medical school. My first year of residency is actually spent like this: I start off on OMS service (meaning I work in the clinic, surgical suites, operating room, and take my turn with being on call) I do this until the medical school starts. Then I am in medical school only and do not work in the OMS service until winter break. During winter break, I am back to the OMS clinic or wherever the chiefs want me. Usually the upper residents want a vacation during this time so that means the lower levels work over the holidays taking call at the hospital. At the end of the school year, I will take the USMLE step 1. That is part 1 of 3 of the medical boards. So that is how the first year of my residency is run at this program.
As an OMS resident, the medical school accepts my dental school education to cover the basic sciences that were done in the 1st year of medical school so they only require the 2nd and 3rd year of medical school to be completed and then they will count the rest of the OMS service of residency as 4th year of medical school and my intern year for medical licensing. Right now, I am just starting the medical school portion. So I am in year 2 of medical school (1st year of OMS residency)
I am in my dental residency which includes 2 years of medical school to get the MD training as well as my certificate in the specialty of OMS. Does this make sense? Because this does not make sense to most people I encounter at the medical school: medical students, staff, faculty, and admin. I try to explain it in as few words as possible but it is just difficult.
I get comments like, "So you are in dental school AND medical school?"
----No, I graduated from dental school, now I am a resident in oral and maxillofacial surgery.
"Wait, you are starting your residency and treating patients before finishing medical school? That is impossible. You are not allowed to do that."
----I know it sounds confusing; I am in a dental residency and going to medical school as part of the residency.
"No that is not allowed, you must be mistaken. Come back when you know your case better."
----It's ok, the medical school dean and I have spoken and the associate deans as well know about my situation now. Every year you have OMS residents do this. The dean sent me to you to take care of my registration, enrollment, financial aid, and schedule. They said you can call them with questions."
*Phone call made.
"My boss says to help you with what you want."
"So you are taking medical school classes so you can prescribe drugs...?"
----No, I can already do that. I already had the pharmacology and pathology.
"What is it that you do?"
----Right now, I am a medical student, when the school is off for breaks I do oral and maxillofacial surgery at the clinics and hospital.
"Oh so you do like chipped teeth, root canals and fillings."
----No we don't do that stuff. That is for general dentists and endodontists"
"...???..."
----Someone who specializes in root canals will do that. At the hospital, we treat traumatic patients with fractures of the orbital bones, midface and mandible. For soft tissue, we do any lacerations of the head and neck including ears, scalp, tongue, nose, lips, eyes, cheeks, chin... anything on the face, head and neck. We also do infections that have progressed into the fascial spaces that come from the teeth. But in our clinic we mostly do the scheduled stuff like wisdom teeth, dental implants, tooth extractions, orthognathics, cosmetic surgery and a lot of consults and follow-ups.
"Do you take call?"
----Yes.
"But not like a real doctor..."
----Hahaha...Yes like a real doctor.
So this is the conclusion that I have come to embrace: OMS is somewhere in between Dentistry and Medicine. I believe it has a foot in both realms and we can pick and choose when to play either card. When fully trained, an OMS can do cosmetic surgery like face lifts, skin peels, and augmentations of the lips, nose, chin, eyelids and cheeks. But an OMS can do more of the traditional dental treatments of extractions of teeth including wisdom teeth, benign pathology of the head and neck, and dental implants. The list of procedures that an OMS can do is long and is partly in medicine and partly in dentistry. Instead of narrowing down what I can do like most specialties, OMS opens me up to a bigger, wider spectrum of surgeries. It is wonderful.
While in residency I have 3 cards to play: med student, doctor, and resident. This allows me benefits from all three areas. For example, parking: I get resident parking at the hospital which is covered and way closer than the student parking which is uncovered. I am a doctor when I walk into a private hospital and doctors eat for free! Private hospitals have great food and I can eat as much as I want. Medical students get great discounts on books, organizations, and they even get a free membership to an awesome gym which is open all of the time at any hour and has everything a gym could offer.
So in the end, hardly anyone knows what I do. This allows me to do as I please.
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