Moldova Dental School - Ask your Questions

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Familiar

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Hello,
I am currently a student at the California accredited dental school in Moldova, Nicolae Testemiţanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy.

I remember when I was looking for dental schools I couldn't find much about it online, so for anyone out there who wants to know more about this school, ask away. I will give you the unfiltered truth.

Their website can be found here: Moldova university | Dental School of the Moldova State University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Nicolae Testemiţanu” ( | Universitatea de Stat de Medicină și Farmacie "Nicolae Testimițeanu" din Republica Moldova <-- Romanian & official school website)
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California accredited school in Moldova? Im assuming its like the University in Mexico where you graduate and you can practice in California only? Sounds pretty fishy...like California needs more dentists!
 
With the number of newer private dental schools in the US, why would anybody need to go to some obscure Eastern European country to become a dentist (in the most dentist-saturated state in the country).
 
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ElCubanito said:
California accredited school in Moldova? Im assuming its like the University in Mexico where you graduate and you can practice in California only? Sounds pretty fishy...like California needs more dentists!
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You know, I thought the same thing. They gave me about 2 weeks after I was accepted to pay tuition. It sounded like a scam to me as well. But no, it is legitimately accredited within the state of California - until 2023 that is where it will need to renew it's accreditation.

Also I am worried about an over saturation of dentists within California but I can not say no to this school because of it's economic cost.
 
Svart Aske said:
With the number of newer private dental schools in the US, why would anybody need to go to some obscure Eastern European country to become a dentist (in the most dentist-saturated state in the country).
Click to expand...
1. Economics - The price of attending these schools is high - ~250k-300K + interest.
2. Time - 4 years spent as a pre-dent + 0 - 2 years applying + 3-4 years of dental school.
3. Competitiveness - I find that most of the students here in the 5 year program are under achievers when compared to the average dental student.
- It's a great option for pre-dents who are struggling to get into a dental school as it is currently a 100% acceptance rate. (plenty of open spots, not enough applicants)
I can not say much about the 2 year program however I do know that most of these dentists have been trying to practice in California for a while.
- It's a great option for international dentists trying to practice in California who could not get accepted into other Californian schools(Californian IDP are very competitive)
 
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Familiar said:
1. Economics - The price of attending these schools is high - ~250k-300K + interest.
2. Time - 4 years spent as a pre-dent + 0 - 2 years applying + 3-4 years of dental school.
3. Competitiveness - I find that most of the students here in the 5 year program are under achievers when compared to the average dental student.
- It's a great option for pre-dents who are struggling to get into a dental school as it is currently a 100% acceptance rate. (plenty of open spots, not enough applicants)
I can not say much about the 2 year program however I do know that most of these dentists have been trying to practice in California for a while.
- It's a great option for international dentists trying to practice in California who could not get accepted into other Californian schools(Californian IDP are very competitive)
Click to expand...

So this school churns out practitioners who couldn't cut in an American dental school. 100% acceptance is a joke. This is the kind of thing that hurts the profession. Why is the California board allowing this nonsense?
 
Svart Aske said:
So this school churns out practitioners who couldn't cut in an American dental school. 100% acceptance is a joke. This is the kind of thing that hurts the profession. Why is the California board allowing this nonsense?
Click to expand...

Well, after attending this school myself I believe that the education & materials here are fine and high quality(assuming no corruption), however the issue is that a 3rd party company is in control of the admissions and has an economic interest in enrolling as many students as they can. I believe UMSF's international tuition fee for the school is ~ $6000 however the company charges ~$20,000-21,000 for each student to attend - keeping the difference as their profit.

I do not know if the California board knows about this "nonsense" however this school is set for another review in 4 years so things will change or they will lose their accreditation just as they lost their accreditation with Israel(medical and dental).

Yes - the acceptance is a joke and hurts the profession as a whole. I have always held the dental field in such high regards and to see my school plagued with unmotivated individuals who are just - and I QUOTE "trying it to see if they like it" - is infuriating.

I like to be hopeful though. This is only the first year so for many students this school was somewhat a leap of faith. More dental students will find out about this program and they will come for the opportunity here. We will have capable dental students studying here and competent dentists graduating.
 
Is this essentially the dental version of the Caribbean Med School system?
 
Svart Aske said:
So this school churns out practitioners who couldn't cut in an American dental school. 100% acceptance is a joke. This is the kind of thing that hurts the profession. Why is the California board allowing this nonsense?
Click to expand...

California board has no teeth....if you knew how many dentists are actually practicing out there with NO LICENCE, let along offices owned by managers who in turn just hire international dentists to work with no licence. 53 dentists around where I live (2 mile area). No one is doing anything about it...how can they? Word is that a lot of these institutions have people that are involved directly with the Board.
 
ElCubanito said:
California board has no teeth....if you knew how many dentists are actually practicing out there with NO LICENCE, let along offices owned by managers who in turn just hire international dentists to work with no licence. 53 dentists around where I live (2 mile area). No one is doing anything about it...how can they? Word is that a lot of these institutions have people that are involved directly with the Board.
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That is terrifying, which region of California are these license-less dentists practicing and from which country are they from?

I do not know if these institution is directly involved with the Board or not as I have no insider information but I can see that as a possibility as corruption runs rampant in Moldova

But I am pretty close with some of the teachers here and I can see that they are making changes.
 
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What degree do you graduate with? And how is the patient pool? What kind of procedures do you do and how is the clinical experience?
 
We graduate with a DDS, and I haven't started clinical work yet. But from what I hear is that we are supposed to be more hands on than clinics in America. I believe we are supposed to find our own patients.
 
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any information for idp program. anybody got accepted this year
.
 
Familiar said:
Hello,
I am currently a student at the California accredited dental school in Moldova, Nicolae Testemiţanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy.

I remember when I was looking for dental schools I couldn't find much about it online, so for anyone out there who wants to know more about this school, ask away. I will give you the unfiltered truth.

Their website can be found here: Moldova university | Dental School of the Moldova State University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Nicolae Testemiţanu” ( | Universitatea de Stat de Medicină și Farmacie "Nicolae Testimițeanu" din Republica Moldova <-- Romanian & official school website)
Click to expand...
Hello!
I'm currently applying to this school for 2 years IDP program. May I please contact you with some questions, because I don't want to waste 120000 if anything is wrong with it.
Appreciate in advance!
 
Yulia2805 said:
Hello!
I'm currently applying to this school for 2 years IDP program. May I please contact you with some questions, because I don't want to waste 120000 if anything is wrong with it.
Appreciate in advance!
Click to expand...
hi did u get accepted to the program
 
drddsdv said:
do u know how many seats are there and how is the program
Click to expand...
I'm learning about it right now. I have heard that they teach nothing..
Seats available -40. They already have taken 22 of them, and its about 200 applications right now for the remaining 18.
 
Familiar said:
Hello,
I am currently a student at the California accredited dental school in Moldova, Nicolae Testemiţanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy.

I remember when I was looking for dental schools I couldn't find much about it online, so for anyone out there who wants to know more about this school, ask away. I will give you the unfiltered truth.

Their website can be found here: Moldova university | Dental School of the Moldova State University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Nicolae Testemiţanu” ( | Universitatea de Stat de Medicină și Farmacie "Nicolae Testimițeanu" din Republica Moldova <-- Romanian & official school website)
Click to expand...
since the school approves by a board of California, does that mean you can only practice in Cali but no other states???? Are you US citizen and attend school over there?
 
How is this school get approved by California with minimum requirements? In the past, a lot of us including myself bursted our ass just to get in Dental schools. We had to do postbach program, masters program, and score extremely well on the DAT just to get interviews and acceptance letters. Now there is this school that requires nothing, but a high school diploma and an entrance exam to get in. This must be a joke and such a disgrace to the profession.
 
Sounds sketchy...

1. According to the website, the "application fee" is mailed to "17777 Ventura Blvd. Ste.220, Encino, CA 91316 "
Which is the address of a dental practice: Encino Dental Group - Encino - Encino, CA

2. The email you send all your documents to is a gmail account: " [email protected] "
Untitled.png
 
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This makes me question if the Encino Dental Practice has any involvement to this scam. If so why are they still operating? There are also many rumors stating that this school is accredited by California Dental Board. Where did this rumor come from when there is no actual link?
 
this is posted by DBC:

Dental License Applicants - Dental Board of California

www.dbc.ca.gov www.dbc.ca.gov

MOLDOVA:
The State University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Nicolae Testemitanu” of the Republic of Moldova (SUMP) – Faculty of Dentistry (Next Approval: 12/2023)*

*Graduates of the two-year international dental program are not eligible for licensure in California until August 2020

it looks legit but only practice in California and 5 yrs in Romania and far away from home. hmmm.... not sure if worth it
 
Familiar said:
Hello,
I am currently a student at the California accredited dental school in Moldova, Nicolae Testemiţanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy.

I remember when I was looking for dental schools I couldn't find much about it online, so for anyone out there who wants to know more about this school, ask away. I will give you the unfiltered truth.

Their website can be found here: Moldova university | Dental School of the Moldova State University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Nicolae Testemiţanu” ( | Universitatea de Stat de Medicină și Farmacie "Nicolae Testimițeanu" din Republica Moldova <-- Romanian & official school website)
Click to expand...
Hi,
I am planning to apply for 2 years International Dental Program in this year. I am giving my NBDE part 1 in the first week of October and planning to submit my application during third week or by the end of third week of October. How many seats are open for international dentists?
 
Yulia2805 said:
I'm learning about it right now. I have heard that they teach nothing..
Seats available -40. They already have taken 22 of them, and its about 200 applications right now for the remaining 18.
Click to expand...
Hi,
I am planning to apply for this program by the end of third week of October. Where did you get the above mentioned statistics regarding the applicants numbers? I need some information regarding the program. Can we get in touch? This is my Whatsapp number 2246221483
 
Familiar said:
I believe UMSF's international tuition fee for the school is ~ $6000 however the company charges ~$20,000-21,000 for each student to attend - keeping the difference as their profit.

I do not know if the California board knows about this "nonsense" however this school is set for another review in 4 years so things will change or they will lose their accreditation just as they lost their accreditation with Israel(medical and dental).
Click to expand...

Yes. The board knows. See Page 4 https://www.dbc.ca.gov/about_us/meetings/materials/20190515_16mm.pdf

In short for those who have no idea about this school I can offer some info as I've heard a bit about it.

The program has it accreditation linked to political ties in CA from a few years back. Backers of the program are dentists themselves who have either graduated from the US or Moldova. Moldova has yet to graduate a class (Year 4 of 5 right now) and no board results from what I've last heard. Dive deep into the board meeting and they stated they want a progress report of students so far.

Admission process is interesting. It basically goes as the site shows, transcripts, passport stuff, etc.
If you hold a US college degree in a science, you don't take their entrance exam. Simple as that.
If you are coming from a US High school, then you do take their entrance exam. Admission exam
The Encino location acts as an interviewing / processing / advertising center for potential students. The handle most in person recruitment at some local CE seminars. To which the Dental Dean and Vice Rector come and "Interview" students on location around May... at least they did this year when they went to visit the board


If you have excellent google translate skills, here's the curriculum https://stomatologie.usmf.md/sites/...les/PLAN_CADRU_FACULTATEA_DE_STOMATOLOGIE.pdf
 
danchoi03 said:
How is this school get approved by California with minimum requirements? In the past, a lot of us including myself bursted our ass just to get in Dental schools. We had to do postbach program, masters program, and score extremely well on the DAT just to get interviews and acceptance letters. Now there is this school that requires nothing, but a high school diploma and an entrance exam to get in. This must be a joke and such a disgrace to the profession.
Click to expand...
Hmm.
There are a number of dental schools in the US that offer accelerated dental programs, albeit with limited numbers.
 
Hi. As you said above, you are close with some teachers and things would be changing. My question is do you think things will change for the better in time before they will need reaccreditation? Also, what exactly do you mean by “changing”? Thanks
 
Yulia2805 said:
Hello!
I'm currently applying to this school for 2 years IDP program. May I please contact you with some questions, because I don't want to waste 120000 if anything is wrong with it.
Appreciate in advance!
Click to expand...
Hello, Yes of course. I do not know very much about this 2 year program however I do know that during 1 of the dental boards meeting there was an issue with the 2 year program. The board has accredited the 5 year program NOT the 2 year program.
 
drddsdv said:
any information for idp program. anybody got accepted this year
.
Click to expand...
Yes, there are over 50 new incoming dentists for the IDP program - I believe there was somewhere around 60 last year. I do not know the exact numbers
 
Doctorishere12345 said:
since the school approves by a board of California, does that mean you can only practice in Cali but no other states???? Are you US citizen and attend school over there?
Click to expand...
Yes, I'm an American citizen. Completion of this school allows us to take the California boards exam and be licensed in California. You are not permitted to take other tests like the Western Regional Boards Exam so yes you will be limited to California at the start - however each states have different ways to become licensed, so it is possible to apply to other states through Licensure via Credential.
California for example has 4 different ways to become licensed. You can see them here.

Dental License Applicants - Dental Board of California

www.dbc.ca.gov www.dbc.ca.gov
 
danchoi03 said:
How is this school get approved by California with minimum requirements? In the past, a lot of us including myself bursted our ass just to get in Dental schools. We had to do postbach program, masters program, and score extremely well on the DAT just to get interviews and acceptance letters. Now there is this school that requires nothing, but a high school diploma and an entrance exam to get in. This must be a joke and such a disgrace to the profession.
Click to expand...
I agree. I too also went through 4 years as a pre-dent before stumbling on this school, and for there to have been such an easy entrance to such a prestigious carrier, I feel cheated. But as I already wrote earlier, we will have higher quality students eventually. I believe the greatest problem with this program is that there is a third party company who is in control of the admissions. They have an economic interest in filling all the admission seats, as they keep the majority of the "tuition." My current tuition is ~$20,000 however only $8,000 goes to the school, the remaining $12,000 is pocketed by the other company. So the reality is that it's not the school itself, as they aren't in charge of admissions.
 
Typical Average Student said:
Sounds sketchy...

1. According to the website, the "application fee" is mailed to "17777 Ventura Blvd. Ste.220, Encino, CA 91316 "
Which is the address of a dental practice: Encino Dental Group - Encino - Encino, CA

2. The email you send all your documents to is a gmail account: " [email protected] "
View attachment 278329
Click to expand...
You know what. When I first saw their website and their payment methods, I thought it was a scam too. Right after they admitted me they gave me 1 week to decide and pay - which is ridiculous.
 
danchoi03 said:
This makes me question if the Encino Dental Practice has any involvement to this scam. If so why are they still operating? There are also many rumors stating that this school is accredited by California Dental Board. Where did this rumor come from when there is no actual link?
Click to expand...

Dental License Applicants - Dental Board of California

www.dbc.ca.gov www.dbc.ca.gov
The California Dental Board is not always up to date with their website. There was no mention of this Moldova school last year and so I had to call them to verify their authenticity
 
Doctorishere12345 said:
this is posted by DBC:

Dental License Applicants - Dental Board of California

www.dbc.ca.gov www.dbc.ca.gov

MOLDOVA:
The State University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Nicolae Testemitanu” of the Republic of Moldova (SUMP) – Faculty of Dentistry (Next Approval: 12/2023)*

*Graduates of the two-year international dental program are not eligible for licensure in California until August 2020

it looks legit but only practice in California and 5 yrs in Romania and far away from home. hmmm.... not sure if worth it
Click to expand...
I think it's a great opportunity. I got to travel Europe and explore a different culture while studying for my future.
Financially it's very worth it. I'm estimating a total investment of 150K for all 5 years vs 500k+ for American schools after loans
 
Familiar said:
Yes, there are over 50 new incoming dentists for the IDP program - I believe there was somewhere around 60 last year. I do not know the exact numbers
Click to expand...

IDP has 39 students. I believe around 33 will be admitted in January.
 
How's living in Chisinau? Nightlife and food?
 
Root beer said:
I too am a student here and I warn you DO NOT COME! They do not care about you and will brush off any complaint you have about the administration, staff, or school. All they care about is your money, they see ATM thats all. They don’t care if you become a proper dentist or learn and you can see it on how they don’t teach you a single thing. In fact they don’t believe in teaching, some teachers even say “ Our job isn’t to teach, that’s your job we just answer questions,” so um what are we paying you for ? They have no logic! They will make you pay for classes you missed even though you are already paying 20K for those classes, so basically you are paying them to recover classes that you already payed for. Yes they allow multiple opportunities to take exams, cool right? Well not really, because you don’t know a single thing of what you are being tested on because there is no book to study from. You memorize questions, seems easy right? Have fun learning 800 Questions in 2 days multiple and single, that they got form lord know where. They also love to announce when exams are without any warning. It can be Friday and you have an exam Monday and you have no time to learn 800 question.. I honestly don’t get how this program got approved by the dental boards with so much corruption.
Click to expand...
Why on earth did you originally go there? If this school was accredited in my state, I’d be all over the dental board.

Big Hoss
 
This law was passed today in CA - Bill Text - AB-1519 Healing arts.

The Dental Practice Act requires the board to approve foreign dental schools based on specified standards. Existing law requires a foreign dental school seeking approval to submit an application to the board, including, among other things, a finding that the educational program of the foreign dental school is equivalent to that of similar accredited institutions in the United States and adequately prepares its students for the practice of dentistry. Existing law requires the foreign dental school to submit a specified registration fee and to pay the board’s reasonable costs and expenses to conduct an approval survey. Existing law requires an approved institution to submit a renewal application every 7 years and to pay a specified renewal fee.

This bill, beginning January 1, 2020, would prohibit the board from accepting new applications for approval of foreign dental schools and would instead require foreign dental schools seeking approval to complete the international consultative and accreditation process with the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association (CODA) or a comparable accrediting body approved by the board. The bill would require previously approved foreign dental schools to complete the CODA accreditation by January 1, 2024, to remain approved.
 
Svart Aske said:
With the number of newer private dental schools in the US, why would anybody need to go to some obscure Eastern European country to become a dentist (in the most dentist-saturated state in the country).
Click to expand...


With the actual growth and projected growth of the general population as well as the elderly population in California the California Dental Board is expecting a rise in demand in upcoming years. Also, with the increase in the quality of life more people are driven to demand more dental care as well as more specialized work. Therefore, the supply of newly trained dentists should reflect actual needs as well as future needs.
 
Svart Aske said:
So this school churns out practitioners who couldn't cut in an American dental school. 100% acceptance is a joke. This is the kind of thing that hurts the profession. Why is the California board allowing this nonsense?
Click to expand...

As pointed out by the California Dental Board, the objective is not to have students that are necessarily as competitive as American dental students but rather students that have the notions and the ability required to accomplish the work needed from them. US dental schools have had to render decisions on evermore competitive candidates that far surpass the actual needs of the program and the profession.
 
Root beer said:
We were told a Lie, the third party that recruits us actually told me “ It’s the UCLA of Europe.” I laugh now how much I was fooled. They basically told us all lies, how great the school was, how friendly the people are, how the professors and education is top notch. And since there wasn’t much information we choose to go along, thinking cheaper and faster, but taking the easy way out always comes with a price. I’ve tried to complain to the dental boards to shut down the program because of all the corruption but to no success. I think the opening of this school all started because of the boards inner corruption, how does this school get accreditation vs Spain? Doesn’t make sense to me. And it sucks seeing people becoming dentist and paying their way for a degree, there’s a lot of people who shouldn’t be here. There’s also people who aren’t US citizens using this program as their gateway to the US, the Israeli students are trying to do that without having to pay 20K like the rest of us.
Click to expand...

First and foremost, you cannot pay your way to a degree even less so to a license in California. As a dental student in the American program of this University, I have also heard some allegations of corruption. But, after 3 years studying here I have not seen it with my own eyes. It is indeed a poorer country and money may have more sway here than elsewhere. On the other hand, some mechanisms are in place to avoid endangering the holly relationship between the students knowledge and what is actually written on its physical embodiment (student record). A great portion of final exams and tests are carried out on computers that teachers have no control over. Also, some tests are oral and done in rooms with all the other students and teachers present. This would expose any teacher willing to let a student off the hook and possibly jeopardize his reputation. There is a different culture in this University and the country as a whole. The exact ways such things are avoided might be different but no necessarily less efficient.

Concerning US citizenship I am sure we all understand that citizenship is relevant to an immigration judge and would in no way shape or form be influenced by the fact a student has studied in an American program abroad.
 
Fortnite 001 said:
You must agree 100% acceptance is a joke, a dental fraud. My father was part of the dental boards in a different state and when I explained to him how this university is he could not believe the boards did not check up on their educational methods. I did extremely well in high school but all my hard work does not compare to the current education I am receiving and this is only my first semester.
Click to expand...

Ask your father to come and comment.

I reference the California Dental Board because you can actually go and verify the information I am putting forward.
 
Familiar said:
You know what. When I first saw their website and their payment methods, I thought it was a scam too. Right after they admitted me they gave me 1 week to decide and pay - which is ridiculous.
Click to expand...


I agree with you to some extent. Having gone through the process myself, I had some doubts. After a leap of faith I realized that the fall was short, and they did honor all their engagements. There is a different culture here and it does impact the way information may be relayed and at what time it is. But, the information always comes through, and they are very practical. The payment method might be something we are unaccustomed to at home but it is legitimate.
 
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