I know there is no official ranking of canadian or american dental schools. It seems like there is a lot less information on the reputations/quality of the canadian dental schools. If any canadians can comment on their opinion of the school they are attending or their opinion of other schools this would be greatly appreciated.
Canadian Dental Schools
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I went to a Canadian school. Most will of course have a bias toward their own school but really I would not regard any of the Canadian programs to be any better or worse than the others. Where you set your goals and standards as well as your pursuit of CE after graduation will likely have more impact on how good you are as a dentist than the school you went to.
If I had to do it over again, and had a choice, I think location would be a big factor. Besides that, if you are paying your own way I would try to minimize debt. I understand one school is charging ~ 50k a year now and I would personally accept another program if there was significant tuition savings.
just my .02
If I had to do it over again, and had a choice, I think location would be a big factor. Besides that, if you are paying your own way I would try to minimize debt. I understand one school is charging ~ 50k a year now and I would personally accept another program if there was significant tuition savings.
just my .02
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have u taken dental osce if yes how did u prepared for that exam
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All Canadian schools are good. UofT is typically regarded as the best, but imho, the clinics at UofT are not that superb. UBC and UWO have much better clinics. But, overall, all universities provide quality education. I know for a fact that UWO starts clinical training from day 1 (because I've interviewed there twice in the past years). I'm not sure of the amount of depth their D1's get into clinically, though.
Process for each school is different, and so are the requirements, more or less. Some schools don't look at carving scores (UofT and UWO), some don't look at PAT (UWO), some only take two best years for calculations (UWO), some like high carving scores (UBC) etc etc.
If I had a kick ass gpa and could go to any dental school in Canada, I'd go to McGill. Great education, and one of the best college towns in the world.👍
Process for each school is different, and so are the requirements, more or less. Some schools don't look at carving scores (UofT and UWO), some don't look at PAT (UWO), some only take two best years for calculations (UWO), some like high carving scores (UBC) etc etc.
If I had a kick ass gpa and could go to any dental school in Canada, I'd go to McGill. Great education, and one of the best college towns in the world.👍
Ya mcgill would pretty sweet to go to. Combination of a good school with a great reputation and an awesome city. Ive have a tour of the UBC clinic and I couldnt imagine a nicer clinic in north america. Its all state of the art equipment from nobel biocare. Having said that its also 50 grand a year and I dont think having a nice lab is worth it. But you get to live in the #1(sometimes 2 or 3) rated city in the world( Im from vancouver so im a bit bias). Not to mention the fact that UBC is in one of the nicest areas in all of vancouver. Ive heard that Manitoba is a very good school and it is cheap!!
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I heard University of Western Ontario has the best dental school in Canada, followed by McGills, and the Univeristy of Alberta.
But i am not sure, as someone told me this and I did not read it any where.
But i am not sure, as someone told me this and I did not read it any where.
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Sounds about right 😉... but every single school will try to say they're the best. As long as you're competent after 4 years, that's all that matters.
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I say let's settle this issue like true men..
On the Ice with a Hockey Match.
On the Ice with a Hockey Match.
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As far as I've seen, none of the Canadian schools really stand out from one another for being the "best" or "worst" schools - they all have a great reputation. Of course there are some variations in the programs (I.e. McGill - first two years with Med students, therefore no specialized Dental training until 3rd year).
UBC has crazy high tuition (~$200,000/4 years) compared to the rest , Dal and McGill leave you in about $80,000 in debt after 4 years - and that's high-balling it. So that is a consideration for some.
The most important thing for me is the location of the school, but ultimately, I would be happy to go to any one of them.
Hope this helps 🙂
Mare
UBC has crazy high tuition (~$200,000/4 years) compared to the rest , Dal and McGill leave you in about $80,000 in debt after 4 years - and that's high-balling it. So that is a consideration for some.
The most important thing for me is the location of the school, but ultimately, I would be happy to go to any one of them.
Hope this helps 🙂
Mare
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mcgill's reputation comes from the name
the program itself is the "worst" (because it is not THAT bad) of the province... the only thing is that the 2 other universities are french university. mcgill does not offer you dental classes until your 3rd year (4th, if you count pre-dent/med) as for doing labwork of your cases, students don't have to do much, technicians do most of the work. mcgill is very strong on paper but when it comes to practice, they are quite bad.
as for the rest of canada, i've heard that UoT has a really good program and UBC has sick clinical facilities
the program itself is the "worst" (because it is not THAT bad) of the province... the only thing is that the 2 other universities are french university. mcgill does not offer you dental classes until your 3rd year (4th, if you count pre-dent/med) as for doing labwork of your cases, students don't have to do much, technicians do most of the work. mcgill is very strong on paper but when it comes to practice, they are quite bad.
as for the rest of canada, i've heard that UoT has a really good program and UBC has sick clinical facilities
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mcgill's program is 14 months of med, then starting in january of second year you start doing pre-clinical work...i don't know how mcgill compares to universite de montreal, but it is not bad by any standards...frankly i don't understand what the big deal is about having big and new facilities, do any of you honestly think that having bigger buildings and newer equipment will make you the better dentists when you graduate? sure it all looks great but every accredited dental school provides about the same standard of education...
here's why one might want to attend mcgill:
total cost of dschool at mcgill = 70000cdn for an out of province student, it's about 45000 for the in prov student (that's one year at ubc or some US schools)...and we get to keep our equipment at the end, i hear some schools you rent your handpieces and probes etc.
14 months (first year and 4 months into second year) of med is better than the full 20 months those at ubc or u of a get
mcgill only has the omfs residency program, so complex cases of all other disciplines can be treated by dental students, which makes a richer educational experience
no, those who don't speak french at all will have no problems getting through
obviously, mcgill's not perfect...its lecture halls aren't new, its preclin lab is not new, the clinic is not as fancy as most others, but everything is up to date and by no means run down, montreal is cold...but student life here is amazing, and faculty are extremely competent and willing to help...so you weigh the pros and cons yourself
here's why one might want to attend mcgill:
total cost of dschool at mcgill = 70000cdn for an out of province student, it's about 45000 for the in prov student (that's one year at ubc or some US schools)...and we get to keep our equipment at the end, i hear some schools you rent your handpieces and probes etc.
14 months (first year and 4 months into second year) of med is better than the full 20 months those at ubc or u of a get
mcgill only has the omfs residency program, so complex cases of all other disciplines can be treated by dental students, which makes a richer educational experience
no, those who don't speak french at all will have no problems getting through
obviously, mcgill's not perfect...its lecture halls aren't new, its preclin lab is not new, the clinic is not as fancy as most others, but everything is up to date and by no means run down, montreal is cold...but student life here is amazing, and faculty are extremely competent and willing to help...so you weigh the pros and cons yourself
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well i did say i was comparing mcgill to the other 2 dentistry faculties in quebec and it is the worst of the bunch
not only from its program on paper but also from other dentist's feedback.
i do live in the province and can tell you that when you apply for a job, your future boss will ask you where you graduated from and it will play in your application
ULaval does have OMFS too.
as for practice, you begin pre-clinical in 2nd year but in your clinical years, you don't do half the lab work you should be doing in dental school.
then you're probably going to say that you are studying to become a dentist and not a lab technician. from my point of view, a dentist should be able to judge the quality of labwork and the best way to do it is to have done it over and over, make mistakes and learn from them.
as for tuition, education in quebec is cheap, period. and your tuition is an investment you make for your future. whatever debt you accumulate, you should be able to pay back, wheter its 70K or 250K, it's only a matter of time. so instead of enjoying your summer in bora bora 2 years after you graduate, you're just going to have to wait a few more years.
and about facilities, in my opinion, newer facilities will incorporate newer technology. it is a question of working with what is new in school and having someone to guide you instead of trying it in private practice and be clueless about it
not only from its program on paper but also from other dentist's feedback.
i do live in the province and can tell you that when you apply for a job, your future boss will ask you where you graduated from and it will play in your application
ULaval does have OMFS too.
as for practice, you begin pre-clinical in 2nd year but in your clinical years, you don't do half the lab work you should be doing in dental school.
then you're probably going to say that you are studying to become a dentist and not a lab technician. from my point of view, a dentist should be able to judge the quality of labwork and the best way to do it is to have done it over and over, make mistakes and learn from them.
as for tuition, education in quebec is cheap, period. and your tuition is an investment you make for your future. whatever debt you accumulate, you should be able to pay back, wheter its 70K or 250K, it's only a matter of time. so instead of enjoying your summer in bora bora 2 years after you graduate, you're just going to have to wait a few more years.
and about facilities, in my opinion, newer facilities will incorporate newer technology. it is a question of working with what is new in school and having someone to guide you instead of trying it in private practice and be clueless about it
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this comment shows your lack of understanding of the finances involved in loan repayment. 70 vs 250 is a HUGE differences. i encourage you to do a search on here and you'll see.
i interviewed at mcgill and was thoroughly impressed (large op's with new clinic) with their clinic at montreal gen hospital, as well as their clinical requirements (esp. # of molar endo's and perio surgeries that are mandatory). compared to other schools i interviewed at it was well above average.
as i mentioned on here last year during my interviews for ortho i noticed a ton of mcgill grads. they must have the highest specialty rates among canadian schools. being so well known here in the states helps i'm sure.
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it's true that some quebec dentists have a preference for students coming from french universities/are fluent in french...outside of quebec however, dentists don't know much about ulaval and udm, and quite frankly i think few care much where you graduated from...i'll agree that a student planning to work in quebec is better off going to a french university, i'm paying 70k, and that's already the most expensive tuition you can find for dental school in quebec! but clearly i'm not looking only inside this province
it's not about having an omfs program or not, it's the lack of specialty programs that, in my opinion, make a dental school desirable
and i don't know how the amount of labwork done at mcgill compares to that of other schools...you're right when you said it's not something i myself am too concerned with
i think new technology in a dental school is great, but don't students need to learn the traditional way in dental schools? correct me if i'm wrong, i know some schools have the cerec3 machine for teaching purposes but it's not like students aren't taught how to make a crown the traditional way...otherwise how would the new grad be able to function in a not so up to date practice? in the end, it's not dental school that is responsible for teaching with new equipment and technology, it's the grad's responsibility to keep up to date, buy the new toys and figure out how to use it from CE courses...
and as s file pointed out, i don't think any dental school is truly worth 180k more than the other....that would take a decade to pay off!
it's not about having an omfs program or not, it's the lack of specialty programs that, in my opinion, make a dental school desirable
and i don't know how the amount of labwork done at mcgill compares to that of other schools...you're right when you said it's not something i myself am too concerned with
i think new technology in a dental school is great, but don't students need to learn the traditional way in dental schools? correct me if i'm wrong, i know some schools have the cerec3 machine for teaching purposes but it's not like students aren't taught how to make a crown the traditional way...otherwise how would the new grad be able to function in a not so up to date practice? in the end, it's not dental school that is responsible for teaching with new equipment and technology, it's the grad's responsibility to keep up to date, buy the new toys and figure out how to use it from CE courses...
and as s file pointed out, i don't think any dental school is truly worth 180k more than the other....that would take a decade to pay off!
Can any canadian dental students answer these questions about their school.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=401980
It will help pre-dents decide on which school to go to. Thanks
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=401980
It will help pre-dents decide on which school to go to. Thanks
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You might have better luck on the following forum:
http://www.premed101.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=7
http://www.premed101.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=7
