Applications

The application process will probably not be like anything you've done.

It will be a great help to your husband if you are able to assist him with the application process.  It is long, and complicated and, to be frank, a big pain.

Every program requires different information and sometimes in different forms.  There is conflicting information between their program website and the PASS site.  What we did was contact the specified person in each program we were applying to and verified what information they wanted (after comparing the two sources).  There was an OMFS wife that helped her husband apply the year before we did and put together a great spreadsheet to keep track of everything they had done through the application process.  She was kind enough to share the format with me (and YOU).  You can find it here.

I'm not sure what everyone else's experience was, but we applied to about 50 programs.  Being able to write down what we had to do for which program and what they required was so helpful. 

Different programs have different deadlines as well.  When we applied I think the soonest deadline was the beginning of September.  It is a long process to gather all the information, so you probably need to start around May or June.



Notes about spreadsheets:
Please copy and past the spreadsheet into your own document.  You will definitely need to make adjustments based on where you decide to apply.

It is not complete.  Just something to start with.  I've only put in the information for 4 year programs (and only some of them) because we only applied to 4 year programs. 

Programs will change from year to year so you'll have to verify information but I found it easy to adjust an existing document than to start from scratch. 

There are two spreadsheets when you follow the link.  One is the programs contact information and the other is to keep track of the application information.

If you have any questions you're welcome to email:
oralsurgerywives@gmail.com

Deciding to Apply

My husband started talking about Oral Surgery his second year of dental school.  He was concerned about the strain a residency would put on our family, but he also wasn't sure if he would be competitive enough to even get in.  Despite his concerns he didn't want to ruin his chances of getting in if he decided to go that route.  He knew Oral Surgery was extremely hard to get into and wanted to give himself the best possible chance, so he began getting involved in as many things as possible. 

He was already involved in running the schools Veteran's clinic but also got involved in research, indexing, ASDA, grading, and more.  All of this made him super busy which meant he wasn't around much.  It was hard for me, but it was a good introduction of what to expect during a residency and to see if I could handle it. 

Next he began his externships.  He did an externship during almost every week he had off during his entire third year (some schools are more supportive and will allow your husband to do this during the school year, but ours didn't).  He did an 80 hour emergency externship at the trauma center in town during his spring break.  He did a week long externship during one of his semester breaks in the spring and during his summer break he did two, week long externships in the Midwest and East coast.

All of this was very taxing on our family but it was good for us to evaluate and see if a residency was something my husband would love and something we would be willing to sacrifice together.  It was extremely important that we figured this out BEFORE we applied.

As we've gone through this process I've realized a few things.

1- Yes, residency life is hard, but everyone has hard things that go on in their life.  I've known people whose husbands work almost as many hours as a resident with no monetary reward to look forward to in the future.  If you decide residency life is right for you, remember: It's just 4-6 years and it will be worth it in the end.

2- Sacrifice is good.  M. Russell Ballard said, "Sacrifice is a demonstration of pure love...The principle of sacrifice should be taught in every Latter-day Saint home and should be practiced in many simple yet important ways. " (April, 1992).

As your husband sacrifices his time and energy to provide a good life for your family in the future and as you sacrifice your time and energy to allow your husband to focus on his job (hopefully something he loves), you are expressing pure love to one another and showing your children what pure love is. 

3- Even though residency life can be tough on the family and its not an ideal choice for a family, it HAS been done before.  Elder Russell M. Nelson is an internationally renowned surgeon and medical researcher. 

I found this link about Elder Nelson and loved what it said about his dedication to family:

"But no matter how involved Elder Nelson has been in important activities, his top concern has always been his family. His children say that he has always made it a priority to be at home when he is at home, and over the years, his devotion has repeatedly reassured them of their father’s love for them.  Even with a difficult schedule, he made time to establish a lasting relationship with each one."

4- Lastly.  Someone always has it harder.  I have a friend who is wonderful, has two young children under the age of 7 and has been a widow for almost two years.  Whenever I think my life is hard, I think of her and her challenges and more importantly, her strength.  Then I know I have strength to move forward.

Residency life isn't an easy road, but if you decide together that you want to pursue that route, you can do it and it will be worth it.

Connections

Right before we started the application process my husband and I were fortunate to talk to a couple that had just gotten into a program.  They came over for dinner and we chatted about the process they took and what to expect as well as any tips they had. 

 

Some couples may start the omfs process with more information readily available, but no one in our families are in the medical field and we felt completely blind to the process.  They were so helpful all along the way. And not just the first night we talked to them.  One thing the wife mentioned to me was to make as many connections as possible.  I have tried to do that and it has helped a lot! 

 

One thing I learned is that there are a lot of similarities with the programs, but that each program is unique.  The advice from one person may not apply to a program you get in to.  For me, I still appreciated knowing the different possibilities that our future could hold.  In my experience, every resident's wife was very willing to answer questions about their specific program.  It is a busy lifestyle though so it is good to give someone plenty of time to respond.

 

Have a list of questions ready about anything and everthing.  You can't know too much about the program and the area when you are deciding how to put together your rank list.

 

I hope you will take advantage of this blog to make some connections and ask questions you have.  And if you come across more connections, please feel free to direct them here if they want to particiapte.