BDS in medical can refer to two different things: Bodily Distress Syndrome and Bachelor of Dental Surgery.

• Bodily Distress Syndrome (BDS) is a medical condition that involves experiencing daily bothersome physical symptoms without a clear explanation for them. Patients with BDS may have gone through numerous examinations by their doctors without finding a good explanation for their symptoms. BDS is a new research diagnosis and is unfamiliar to many doctors. It is a genuine disorder, and the symptoms are not imaginary. The diagnosis of BDS is based on somatic symptom patterns, and no emotional or behavioral symptoms are needed for the diagnosis.

• Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) is a degree in dentistry that is equivalent to Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) and Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) . Students in all three degrees must complete four years of undergraduate coursework in pre-med sciences, get accepted to an accredited dental school, complete two years of dental school, and then take and pass various board testing. The difference between these degrees is essentially nothing, and all three take similar courses and testing but from different schools.

It is important to note that BDS should not be confused with Bis die sumendum, which is a Latin abbreviation that means "two times a day".