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Mentor ship for OMFS
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For most, but not all. Puerto Rico, Tufts, and more. I won't make a list, it is not the purpose of this post.
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Yes I should have said *most*, but lets be real here, matching as an international is so slim that I think 99% of the time its throwing money away.
Here is my evidence, according to match statistics for 2019, only one international student matched. And only 12 matched from Canada.
https://natmatch.com/dentres/stats/2019applstats.pdf
12 out of 226 is not that bad. Frankly, I think 5% of spots going to international applicants is more than enough considering that federal and state funding (aka taxes) supports most of those programs in some way.
I know, and probably everybody here who have been on the forums knows. But he doesn't. He deserves an accurate reply, regardless how unlikely it is he or any international candidate will get into a program.
Anyway. Here is a link to a webpage who summarizes the topic.
Applying to OMFS as a Foreign Trained Dentist | AccessOMFS
I agree that is a potential waste of money and time.
To summarize. Your chances in the US are close to zero. Possible, but improbable.
The requirements are basically the same in most of the countries (UK, Australia, Spain, whatever). Good scores, good letters of recommendation, good cv.
Best of luck.
I appreciate you response!! I am starting to see that the road might be a bit longer than I expected. In terms of improving my chances, would it help to do 2 years of International Dentistry program? Considering the extra cost and debt.
It’s definitely a long road, but if you’re wanting to specialize in OMFS as a international student in the US, you’ll most likely need an advanced standing degree here. Even with that, your choices of programs greatly decreases as the majority of programs require at least an American green card. You will have to blow a program away if you want to have any chance of matching. This includes making your applicant spotless, including nailing the CBSE (80+), research, great gpa/class rank, leadership etc. And even after all that, you may not match, and do internships to prove yourself.
Not saying there’s no chance, but... guess start by doing well in second year dental school.
Not saying there’s no chance, but... guess start by doing well in second year dental school.
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I'm a foreign trained dentist who just matched into a OS residency this year, as mentioned above it is a long road and quite costly. That being said it's obviously possible; however without doing a 2/2.5 year advanced standing program to get your US license your chances are well below 1% (probably closer to 0), I don't want to discourage you, but the number of programs that will accept an international student with a US degree is minimal (the most foreign country that ever matches is Canada, and even that is tough).
Once you do a 2 year degree your chances increase, but you'll still be fighting an uphill battle as a majority of programs wills till prefer a traditional 4 year national student; but it's doable! My advice would be to take the NBDE as soon as you can, crush the TOEFL and apply as early in the cycle as you can (for the advanced standing). Then once you begin your US dental school introduce yourself to the US faculty, show interest, shadow, on externships and take the CBSE early and as many times as you need to get a good score (70 or above). And when it's time to apply for schools apply far and wide, sure it costs a lot but it's cheaper than wasting a year doing a non-cat year and re-applying.
(P.S. that being said your chances diminish even more if you're applying for a 6 year program as the medical schools will often want a US undergraduate degree, so my advice would be to aim for a 4 year program). Best of luck!
Once you do a 2 year degree your chances increase, but you'll still be fighting an uphill battle as a majority of programs wills till prefer a traditional 4 year national student; but it's doable! My advice would be to take the NBDE as soon as you can, crush the TOEFL and apply as early in the cycle as you can (for the advanced standing). Then once you begin your US dental school introduce yourself to the US faculty, show interest, shadow, on externships and take the CBSE early and as many times as you need to get a good score (70 or above). And when it's time to apply for schools apply far and wide, sure it costs a lot but it's cheaper than wasting a year doing a non-cat year and re-applying.
(P.S. that being said your chances diminish even more if you're applying for a 6 year program as the medical schools will often want a US undergraduate degree, so my advice would be to aim for a 4 year program). Best of luck!
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