Dental school is a hell of a lot less onerous than medical school, which, frankly, is why my grandfather is a dentist (he didn't have the grades or credits to get into medical school when WWII rolled around, so he went into dental school instead, to avoid the draft. He ended up drafted for Korea, but as he was already a dentist by then, he spent his service in a comfy base in Tokyo working on teeth).
I don't know if "residency" is the right word for what dentists do, come to think of it, but I don't know what else you'd call it. There's a clinic they all work at, working on actual teeth for a year, often while still finishing up a final class or two. I think. I didn't pay too much attention to how my cousin's education actually worked.
But, yeah. Once the dental school puts the hood on a newly-minted dentist, that dentist already has experience treating patients, and is ready to go into practice for him or herself. For dentists who came to the US for school from second or third world countries, that's exactly what they'll typically do: go back home and immediately go into practice there. Dentists who come from dental families, like Todd, also have a role pre-made for them: he's going into practice with his father, grandfather, and Dr. Silvius, who's a family friend as well as partner.
I don't know what other dentists typically do. Buy a chair, a spit-sink, and a drill and hang out their own shingle is one possibility.
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Date: 2005-05-25 02:45 am (UTC)Dental school is a hell of a lot less onerous than medical school, which, frankly, is why my grandfather is a dentist (he didn't have the grades or credits to get into medical school when WWII rolled around, so he went into dental school instead, to avoid the draft. He ended up drafted for Korea, but as he was already a dentist by then, he spent his service in a comfy base in Tokyo working on teeth).
I don't know if "residency" is the right word for what dentists do, come to think of it, but I don't know what else you'd call it. There's a clinic they all work at, working on actual teeth for a year, often while still finishing up a final class or two. I think. I didn't pay too much attention to how my cousin's education actually worked.
But, yeah. Once the dental school puts the hood on a newly-minted dentist, that dentist already has experience treating patients, and is ready to go into practice for him or herself. For dentists who came to the US for school from second or third world countries, that's exactly what they'll typically do: go back home and immediately go into practice there. Dentists who come from dental families, like Todd, also have a role pre-made for them: he's going into practice with his father, grandfather, and Dr. Silvius, who's a family friend as well as partner.
I don't know what other dentists typically do. Buy a chair, a spit-sink, and a drill and hang out their own shingle is one possibility.