Integration of the medical degree in oral and maxillofacial surgery: A 10-year follow-up

Purpose: Ten years ago, the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons membership was surveyed to evaluate the influence that integration of a medical degree might have on oral and maxillofacial training. The int ent of the current survey was to reassess the influence a medical degree ha s had on the specialty over the past 10 years. Patients and Methods: The effects of a medical degree on privileges, referr al patterns, and its role in the office, hospital, and academic settings we re studied. Biographical data was collected and responses were evaluated fo r the following groups: 1) the nation as a whole, 2) MD versus non-MD oral and maxillofacial surgeons (OMS), 3) geographic regions of practice, 4) pop ulation, 5) number of years in practice, and 6) involvement in academic pro grams. Results: The results of this survey were similar to the previous one. Subst antially different responses were seen between the dual-degree and single-d egree OMS as well as differences between geographic locations, years in pra ctice, and academic involvement. MD-DDS and academic OMS again possessed a broader spectrum of privileges than their colleagues. Recently trained OMS again possessed a greater number of privileges than more experienced surgeo ns. Conclusion: overall there has been a trend toward increasing surgical privi leges over the past 10 years for both single- and dual-degree OMS. The resu lts presented emphasize the need to continually assess the influence that a medical degree has on the specialty. (C) 2001 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.