Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Externships are two to eight week rotations for Dental Students on the UTHSCSA Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Service.

OMS Externships are primarily intended for those Dental Students who are seriously considering specialization in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.

Externs are scheduled with OMS Residents in OMS clinics, operating rooms, and academic sessions and also take on-call duties with OMS Residents at the University Hospital.

The UTHSCSA OMS Externship provides Dental Students an opportunity to:

• Develop a more complete understanding of the full scope of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.
• Evaluate the structure of OMS training at the UTHSC and understand the academic and clinical duties of OMS residents and the functions of all the members of the OMS faculty-resident-supporting staff team.
• Observe the spectrum of services and cases treated in the OMS Program.
• Acquire more experience in outpatient surgical procedures and the evaluation of patients with acute problems or major craniofacial disorders.

Although OMS Externships include practical experience in patient assessment, minor trauma surgery and dento-alveolar surgery, involvement in major surgery is generally limited to 1st or 2nd assistant roles.

The Externship is not intended to lead to formal surgical credentials. An Externship should not be used by Students who simply want to acquire a larger set of minor surgical credentials for use in a general dental practice. AEGD or GPR Residency Programs would be more appropriate for that purpose.

During the primary Dental School training year many UTHSC Junior Dental Students rotate on the OMS Service. For this reason the best time for Dental Students from UTHSC or other Dental Schools to seek an Externship is during December or from May through August of each year.

• In order to avoid diluting the Externship experience, only two Externs are accepted at any one time.
• The recommended length of the Externship rotation is four weeks. Periods of as little as two weeks or longer than four weeks will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
• The best time to serve in Externships is in the summer following the junior year of Dental School, since minimal clinical skills have been acquired by that time. However, the summer after the sophomore year may be considered for outstanding students.
• Applications should be made between September and December in the year preceding the desired rotation date. Applications are considered on a first come-first serve basis. Most openings are filled by February prior to the rotation.

The request to fill an Externship position, once accepted, represents a serious commitment. If an applicant withdraws without sufficient notice to the UTHSC Program Director he or she is essentially robbing other applicants of an Externship opportunity.

All UTHSCSA Dental School externships, including the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery internship, are handled through the office of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Detailed information on the application process, all internships offered, and the common application form are available at the Dental School Externship - Application Form page.

Additional information on OMS Externships or the application process may be obtained through the Administrative Coordinator of the OMS Program, Ms. Lynn Mendoza, at 210-567-3460, or via e-mail at mendozalb@uthscsa.edu.