Pediatric Dentistry Residency (2024)

Hey everyone. Hoping to get some insight about applying into Pediatric Residencies. I graduated 3 years ago and have been practicing pediatric dentistry in a low-income/medicaid health clinic as a general dentist. Ive taken a ton of CE on peds but its just not enough and I have to refer away a lot of the patients I see and they never do get seen. I have gone back and forth about applying into peds and have decided to just apply this year. The reason for this is cause I was not top 30 of my class. Heck I wasnt even top 50. I was probably top 80. closer to top 90? haha! in dental school i was only looking to survive, never thought about specializing like the other gunners... i guess its biting me in the butt right now. I was hoping for some insight about my situation. I realize my application is not very competitive so to be blunt, should I just select all? and hope someone gives me an interview? are there some residencies I should not even bother with and save some money. Also I dont get paid very well since I work in a clinic so it would be nice to save some application fees

Don't not go for something you want because you don't think you have a chance. The thing about Pedo residencies that differs from many other residencies is you don't need to be in the top of the class. Personality and commitment to the underserved or special need populations carries its own weight. You have worked for three years with the pediatric population, your motivation to go back to school is not only to continue to serve the population you already treat, but to serve them even better. Go for it. I don't think you need to select all, but include a variety of places you could actually see yourself living and learning. Ask yourself what you want from the education. Then select the programs that offer that. Not all programs offer the same things. Where one program may be great in volume of patients it may lack academics and board prep. I don't think you need to build up your speed because you already have work experience, so I don't think the number of experiences will matter for you as much as the quality of experiences. I'd apply to a variety of programs and see if you get any offers for interviews. If you want to DM me, I would be happy to discuss this further and help you with your application process and program selection. Best of luck, and always chase your dreams, dentistry related and otherwise. You have to live your life for you, no one else.

Top of your class to get into Pedes? GTFOH. When did pedes become ortho? Listen if you want to apply to pedes, just go for it. You don't need to be top 10 etc. The fact you are a working dentist and you work with kids will shine through on your app. It will show the directors that your are not applying on a whim like most dental graduates. I applaud you for having an honest reason to apply. 80% of the dental graduates choosing pedes are doing it because they hate general dentistry, and they think pedes will less work procedure wise. They also do it because many of the programs pay you a stipend and are tuition free, so its a double plus, you get paid to get a speciality, because everyone is sooooo afraid to just be a generalist.

If you are not selective on where you want to go for Peds, apply broadly. You'll have a chance to match somewhere.