A new oral and maxillofacial radiology program has just been announced at Stony Brook University School of Dental Medicine. The program will begin July 1st, 2017. What does this mean?
Typically this means that the school sees an increased demand for the field. If my personal experience hasn’t been convincing enough… this is basically a good sign. I believe this is the third or fourth new program since my initial enrollment.
The program is accepting applications through the ADEA PASS application system.
Thank you so much for writing this blog, quick question, since it seems like one could work at home would it also be possible to say travel abroad as an oral and maxillofacial radiologist and read scans from another country? how feasible is this?
Very. I’ve done it myself. You need a computer, your software, and a great internet connection.
that’s amazing! Could this be done over long period of time? Also, what kind of job setting would this work in? Like are you in a private practice of OMR or teleradiology service?
I haven’t done long term myself but I really can’t see why you couldn’t. You will obviously still need to be licensed in the US and will still need to carry malpractice. I imagine the hardest part would be having to call and speak with the referring clients, especially if there’s a time zone difference.
The other thing you would have to look into is what the legalities are. Do you have to be in the US to be able to practice or does tele radiology have an exception here?
I’m a dentist contemplating a career as a OMFR. Your blog is fantastic. I was hoping I could PM you with several questions?
Hi,
I’m happy to help but I don’t really have private messaging. The comment section is a great area to post questions. I’m sure most of the questions you have are on other people’s minds as well.
Thanks for your info. How many board certified OMFR are in the US? It’s also interesting to note that nearly all imagining modalities in the medical world require a reading by a licensed medical radiologist. Yet in dentistry advanced images can be used and interpreted without such from an OMFR. Seems odd. I’m wondering if in the future it will be required. I have a good friend who is a ridiculously successful orthodontist who takes a full skull CBCT on all new patients. He captures a huge field of view and I always wonder if he wouldn’t be held accountable for what it might pick up. If standard of care becomes the norm on cases like this, it would be a HUGE market for an OMFR. I think a lot more people are becoming more interested in this field, but worried about the finances of it as a career. You’ve been very forth coming on this front and it is very appreciated.
That’s a good question. I am honestly not sure how many are in the US. The field overall is relatively small in size. So I really can’t imagine that many.
Regarding medical radiology. The insurance companies in the medical world require a over read by a radiologist to pay. Unless I have been mislead, I don’t think there’s any law in effect that requires that. So theoretically if you don’t care about insurance paying for the scan then you can probably get one and not have it reviewed. The standard of care is for a radiologist to read it, so it would still be difficult to do.
You friend would absolutely be accountable. Without a doubt, no matter what the patient’s parents sign.
I think the standard of care will be that a radiologist read the scan. When I first started I only got cases doctors had questions about. Now most of my clients send me every scan they take. More than anything they don’t want to spend 20 minutes reading each scan. In that time they can make a lot more money than they lose if they’re seeing patients. They also want their liability covered. So if you use that as any sort of indication, as anecdotal as it is, I imagine over the next five years the SOC will change.
Regarding finances, things have been pretty good for me. Purely from a financial point of view, it makes more sense to just stick with dentistry. But if you include the lifestyle, for me it’s a no brainer. I’m a lot less stressed, my schedule is my own, there are no concerns of infection control, transmitting disease, etc…
Thanks. I really appreciate your reply.
Hi again, I was wondering if you could comment more on private practice omfr, both joining existing practices or starting up your own. Thank you
Woah, I just read your whole blog in one morning. I’ve been looking through the internet trying to find information on OMFR. Thank you so much.
I assume working from home is good in that it’s less stressful but how did you work out how to seperate work form home life? for instance, if you were to take a couple of weeks holiday somewhere would you let referrals keep coming through and do them while on holiday?
Working from home has its ups and downs. I control my schedule and traffic is amazing. But also work is ALWAYS there. My rule is I only work from my office. If I’m not in my office, I’m not working. If I’m in my office then I’m working. My household knows that. Basically if I’m in my office I might as well be driving to work and being in an office there. There’s really no difference.
As far as holiday it depends on the holiday really. If I’m taking a couple of weeks off then it’s usually for good reason and I plan on spending them relaxing. If I’m going for a seminar or CE courses somewhere, then I’ll take a few cases to keep me busy on my down times.
I think mostly it’s about discipline and setting a boundary between work and personal.