It has been a little over two years since the inception of AccessOMFS and the posting of the first article. I have to admit I am surprised that I have kept up with it this long, but I find that it has been a really enjoyable outlet. Since the first day in July 2015, there have been around 16k visitors with over 60k page views (stats below). The most read article by far has been the CBSE Guide (~22k) with the fastest growing article being the 60-Day CBSE Study Guide (~2.5k). The traffic for the entire site has grown to about 2k visitors per month. Whether this is a lot or a little is irrelevent to me as long as it reaches the target audience of those applying to OMFS. Even more important to me is that the readers (you) find the information within AccessOMFS useful.
In total, there have been about 40 articles posted. I would like to sincerely thank those that have submitted guest posts and that have assisted me with other content. I expect that at a certain point the growth will plateau considering there are a finite number of dental students and an even smaller number among them considering OMFS. For those out there considering OMFS, it’s the best-kept secret in the medical world. The quality of life is great, compensation generous, and there is an ever-present ability to affect change in patients’ lives. It is a challenging track, and the training is rigorous. However, if you are determined to go this route, you will not be disappointed.
So, what are some of the updates and changes to the site? Since the last site update, the Applying to Residency page has been overhauled, a Table of Contents created, and an externship rating system implemented. Regarding the externship rating system, due to lack of participation I will be ending it. Shout out to Baylor and Parkland for receiving the only rankings (5 stars). I have also added a 60-day Study Guide for the CBSE. I mentioned at the end of the article that I would be releasing a 30-day guide. I have thought on this for sometime, and I decided against it. I feel that I would be cultivating a dangerous mindset by insinuating that the test could be approached after studying for only 30 days. I believe this time frame would be possible for some, but for the majority of applicants it would not.
Some other changes have occurred in the OMFS world outside of AccessOMFS. Among them are a longer CBSE (thank you for those that informed me of the changes), updates to the ADAT, and some program changes. As of the last CBSE (7/29/17), the exam now consists of four blocks of 50 questions with an hour and 15 minutes to complete each section. I am unaware if they notified applicants of this change beforehand, but on the AAOMS website it does mention that the amount of questions will range from 184-200. Test statistics for the July ‘17 exam should come out tomorrow or Friday. When received, they will be added to the CBSE Data page.
Moving forward, I have outlined some goals and ideas of the site below. I know I have previously mentioned some things that haven’t come to fruition yet, such as an overhaul of the program database. This, along with many other things, is still planned for the future, but it comes down to if I have the time and/or help to do it.
Goals include:
- Continue with ~monthly article posting (more frequent if possible)
- Reward plan for contributors (articles, stats, etc)
- Create better comment system
- Make site more mobile friendly
- Possibly expand to provide resident resources
- Build an externship study guide
Additionally, if you have any article requests or information you feel the site is lacking, please comment below or contact me via the contact page. The best way to facilitate this may be an AMA post, which I may be open to doing in the near future. Thank you for your readership, and as always good luck!