CHOOSING DENTAL CAREER PATHS BY ASSESSING COMPETITIVENESS OF MATCH PROGRAMS

CHOOSING DENTAL CAREER PATHS BY ASSESSING COMPETITIVENESS OF MATCH PROGRAMS Dental school graduates have many options following graduation. Many are pursuing additional education and training by doing a residency program. As more graduates consider this career path, these programs have become more competitive. This study evaluates the competitiveness of match programs in dental residency programs by assessing data over a 9-year period for programs in the National Matching Service. The number of applicants participating in the match, number of positions offered, number of positions filled, and number of positions unfilled were analyzed for General Practice Residency (GPR), Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD), Oral Maxillofacial Surgery (OMS), Pediatric Dentistry (PED), Orthodontics (ORTHO) and Dental Anesthesiology (ANES). The result has been an overall increase in number of applicants for these programs. Based on positions offered, ORTHO, PED, and OMS are the most competitive programs. PED programs were the most competitive due to the increase in applicants and relatively unchanged available positions