Dental residency programs for foreign trained dentists in USA

Finding good dental residency programs for foreign trained dentists in the USA can be daunting. Not because there are no good schools around the country for international students, but finding schools suitable for your needs.

If your relocation plans are still in the works, now is the right time to find the right school. First, your proposed school must be in the same state or city you plan to reside in and take foreign trained students.

The program’s tuition fees must also be within your budget so that you can study without experiencing mental health issues.

Therefore, this article will help you with good programs and pathways to achieve your residency program goal. However, you can check out these schools; dentistry schools in New Jersey, dentistry schools in Arizona, and dentistry schools in Hawaii.

Dental Pathways for foreign-trained dentists

Coming to the U.S. for your dental residency requires you to follow a pathway that aligns with your certificate, plans, and what works.

See Also; Tips to choosing a dentist

The United States government has created two major pathways for people in this health field to choose from. They include:

The Advanced Standing Program Pathway

Going through this route means you must repeat the two final years of dental school and graduate as a dentist who studied in the United States. After graduating, you will be qualified for a U.S. dental license and eligible to take the board of dentist exam in any state.

We consider this pathway more advantageous because you can gradually adapt to the system and how the country runs the dentistry industry at your pace with the two years of study. You can also practice dentistry in all the states of America.

Direct residency program for internationally trained dentists pathway

Unlike the Advanced Standing Program, the direct residency program for foreign-trained dentists allows you to focus your training on specific courses. However, because of the admission method, you should be ready for some high-end competitions and a few slots.

The other limitation you will experience if you follow this pathway is that your dentist’s license to practice will not be eligible in all states in the U.S., hence placing a limit on where you can work. You may also not get accustomed to the United States method of practice on time.

Schools that offer dental residency programs for foreign-trained dentists

With the knowledge of these two pathways, you can decide or cross off schools that offer these routes for foreign-trained dentists.

Columbia College of Dental Medicine

Columbia College of Dental Medicine has some programs for foreign-trained dentists whose duration ranges between a month and at least one year. The programs are hospital-based and affiliated with the New York Presbyterian Hospital.

The school allows students to take part in the challenging courses they wish, which go from the basics to the clinical part of study. These programs are all independent of each other in admissions, academics, and fees. The courses you can find here include:

General Practice Residency
Pediatric dentistry residency
Oral and Maxillofacial pathology residency
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery/M.D. residency
Advanced education in general dentistry certificate program

University of Michigan School of Dentistry

The University of Michigan School of Dentistry has a well-organized program for internationally trained dentists. The program is outlined in a way that will cushion the effect of the lecture of foreign-trained students with the United States teaching method and the one they had back in their home countries.

The program also requires a dedicated 28 months of learning, a full-time program. Application and other things about getting into the program must go through the ADEA Centralized Application For Advanced Placement for International Dentists (CAPIID).

Boston College of Dentistry

Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine offers a 2-year Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) program for internationally trained dentists. At Boston University, this program is called the DMD Advanced Standing Program.

The program is designed to help international students understand the foundation of foreign dental medicine, get mentorship, experience state-of-the-art patient facilities, and prepare to practice in the United States upon graduation.

University of California, Los Angeles

UCLA School of Dentistry is one dental school with various flexible and comprehensive advanced programs for internationally trained dentists. The program in the University’s international standard academic facility covers courses on patient care, community service, and research.

More so, this program for foreign trained dentists begins every year in late May and lasts for 25 months, which is two years. After graduation, the students will become eligible for a DDS degree.

Indiana University Dental School

The Indiana University School of Dentistry, among other programs, offers foreign dentist programs for certified dentists who are schooled in other countries.

These well-curated programs will get the dentists their license to practice certificates in the United States of America.

The University of Southern California School of Dentistry

It is known as the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC and offers the Advanced Standing Program Pathway for internationally trained dentists.

These internationally trained dentists will study for two years except you need more time to grasp things. USC Dentistry School divided the program into two stages.

The first stage will see the students learning the fundamentals of the program, the academic procedures, and the technical parts of the study. The second stage follows up with much focus on the clinical part of the training.

After completing the two stages successfully, the students will become eligible to obtain the Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree. License to practice comes after the dentists sit for the Clinical Board Exam in their preferred state in the United States of America.

The University of Pennsylvania Dental Medicine

The University of Pennsylvania Dental Medicine offers an advanced standing degree program. It opens the door to students willing to own a degree in a dental school in America.

This program runs for two and a half years, and students graduate with a DMD degree. With this degree, the graduates can sit for the license exam in any state they wish to reside in.

Foreign trained students can qualify for a Master of Oral Health Sciences (MOHS) and add it to their degrees. It is a one-year program that exposes students to patients during clinical rotations.