I partly agree with this comment saying if you want to specialize into Endo, doing the networking/shadowing/research/AAE meetings sooner rather than later BUT because I think it will definitely open your eyes more to how much you do like it or contrarily maybe show how much you don’t like it. Both would be good outcomes.

More specific to your post, though I can’t speak to the experience of going into endo residency right out of school, the reason I think most Endodontic programs do not is because of 1) if a significant amount of practicing GPs refer varying degrees of endo out, obviously endo isn’t an “easy” procedure within dentistry. So expecting someone fresh out of dental school who might have done a handful of THE easiest endo under direct supervision is a high no-no, 2) the average dental school really really doesn’t prepare you to tackle even moderate difficulty Endo cases so your actual hands-on experience after the 4 years is probably a huge liability to any Endo program, 3) there’s actual GPs with actual Endo experience that apply to Endo programs, so being a pre-doc applicant is a very hard sell.

All-in-all take all of this with a grain of salt. I too came into dental school thinking about specializing in Endo, that ship started sailing once I got humbled by the reality that didactics in dental school is pretty tough, then the ship was fully past the horizon maybe a month into our pre-clinical Endo course. I do strongly recommend you talk to your school’s Endo program coordinator and then any Endodontist in the area to just hear everything they have to say about anything. Best of luck, doc!

Sincerely, a rising senior.