Road to Residency: Oral Surgery

Omid R. Akramian, DMD 2023

I was born in Los Angeles and grew up nearby, in Upland, CA. I have a BS in Biological Sciences from UC Santa Barbara and completed a 1-year post baccalaureate program at CSU East Bay When I started dental school , I attended interest group meetings to see which specialties I was most interested in. After seeing the cases Dr. Elo had worked on at an OMFS interest group meeting, I became instantly fascinated with the positive impact he provided for his patients' lives. Dr. Elo demonstrated how oral surgery was able to resolve a patient's well being by providing life altering effects that improved these patients dental conditions such as function and appearance.

Around my second year is when I started to build up my resume and try to learn more about OMFS. My third year of school is when I went on externships to learn more about the life in OMFS residency programs and completed the CBSE, an exam required to apply to OMFS programs. I then applied at the end of my third year of school and successfully got accepted into an OMFS residency program during my fourth year.

My advice to other students who want to pursue OMFS is that the best way of finding out if this field is for you is to go personally experience it. Go on externships during your breaks to different programs, as it’s the best way to see what a week as a resident entails. It’s also beneficial to determine early on if you want to apply to this field because it allows you more time during your dental schooling to experience externships, successfully study for the CBSE, and construct a competitive application Most importantly, do what you think is best for yourself and let your passion shine.