Studying dentistry overseas?

[predental7200]

Hi guys,

I've spoken with a few people from different countries and researched this a bit and was wondering if anybody knew more about this.

What about the option of getting into a dental school overseas and coming here and doing the 2-year upgrade?

I am really tempted in doing this because MANY dental universities accept students right out of high school (India, Ukraine, Ireland, Africa, Romania, just to name a few) and it's only a 2-year upgrade once you get back to the Canada or the States.

Not to mention the fact that for example in India, International dental students pay about $10K per year including living expenses!!!

Has anyone ever done this or has considered this option?

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[moldovanits]

Hi guys,

I've spoken with a few people from different countries and researched this a bit and was wondering if anybody knew more about this.

What about the option of getting into a dental school overseas and coming here and doing the 2-year upgrade?

I am really tempted in doing this because MANY dental universities accept students right out of high school (India, Ukraine, Ireland, Africa, Romania, just to name a few) and it's only a 2-year upgrade once you get back to the Canada or the States.

Not to mention the fact that for example in India, International dental students pay about $10K per year including living expenses!!!

Has anyone ever done this or has considered this option?

check this website pretty informal.
www.valuemd.com

 

[gryffindor]

Go read the International Dentist Forum right here on SDN and you will get the answer to your questions and much more information. You should quickly learn that if you are from the US and want to ultimately practice in the US, your best bet will be to do dental school here. To go through an international pathway just because it's cheaper and shorter, you will just be setting yourself up for some pretty tough barriers for when you get back to be able to practice here. The "2 year upgrade" is extremely competitive to get into, often expensive, and is 3 years at many schools, just ask the international dentists on that forum how hard they are trying to get a spot and they will tell you if it's worth it or not.

 

[Meatwad]

Why go through the hassle? I can understand if it was med school, because there is no additional schooling needed if your school is recognized internationally. It will take you 5 years overseas (at least in Europe it is, generally) then 2 years here. That's a grad total of 7 years. Instead, you could have done 4 years of undergrad here + 3 years of dental school at University of the Pacific = 7 years as well. Plus there's no hassle of going through 2 years of dental school all over again. You would be adding unnecessary anxiety to your life.

Only a high-schooler would go through all this trouble to save one measly year...

 

[predental7200]

Why go through the hassle? I can understand if it was med school, because there is no additional schooling needed if your school is recognized internationally. It will take you 5 years overseas (at least in Europe it is, generally) then 2 years here. That's a grad total of 7 years. Instead, you could have done 4 years of undergrad here + 3 years of dental school at University of the Pacific = 7 years as well. Plus there's no hassle of going through 2 years of dental school all over again. You would be adding unnecessary anxiety to your life.

Only a high-schooler would go through all this trouble to save one measly year...

Sometimes I wish I was a highschooler again just for that lol

But the thing I was thinking of is it will be 7 years of dentistry, and you would have had so much training and be an amazing dentist! And I would rather do that than sit for 4 years in stupid science classes that are boring and hard and that do not directly apply to the dental profession at all, except maybe some random anatomy class.

And I understand it's hard for people that have studied internationally because their cultures are so different and english is not their first language for a lot of them, but if you were born and brought up in Canada or America, when you come back they would see that you're totally in sync with what America is all about, you would probably have higher chances of getting in.

My 2 cents.

 

[Meatwad]

Sometimes I wish I was a highschooler again just for that lol

But the thing I was thinking of is it will be 7 years of dentistry, and you would have had so much training and be an amazing dentist! And I would rather do that than sit for 4 years in stupid science classes that are boring and hard and that do not directly apply to the dental profession at all, except maybe some random anatomy class.

And I understand it's hard for people that have studied internationally because their cultures are so different and english is not their first language for a lot of them, but if you were born and brought up in Canada or America, when you come back they would see that you're totally in sync with what America is all about, you would probably have higher chances of getting in.

My 2 cents.

Have you looked at the curricula for foreign dental schools? They are far less clinical and far more "stupid sciences." No offense to foreign trained doctors/dentists, but they often catch a lot of flak from American trained doctors/dentists for not having enough clinical skills. Since European kids, for example, go to school right out of high school, they take a lot of stuff we would already have taken care of in college, like physics, general chemistry, etc, during dental school. So if you think you would be a better dentist because you took physics and chemistry in a foreign country, I must disagree. You will take a lot of these classes we took in college, but they will be harder and meant to weed kids out. For example, did you know how exams are structured in Europe? They are oral. Imagine being asked to answer difficult and detailed biochemistry questions by your professor in front of the class. Because of this, you would not be used to multiple choice style tests after years of oral exams and the NBDE might be hard for you.

Any school in the US would give you more than enough knowledge you need to make an excellent dentist. If you can, go to school here; way less of a hassle. Living abroad isn't so romantic when you are stressed out and studying 24/7. Wait until you have a career and you take a vacation for the travel.

 

[slovak27]

Im not too crazy about going overseas either. There is a school in the Czech Rep. that uses american text books and teaches in english. Since I am fluent in that language as well I think I would have a good shot of acceptance. But it is a 5 year program. Then yes you have to do at least 2 years to be a general dentist in N. America. (total 7 for a general dent.) But who says you will get into a qualifying program in N.America as soon as you are done in Europe. You will again be applying for limited spots against dentists that have way more experience then you. This can take many many more years.
Not my cup of tea...my advice ...get in whereever...but try for N.America..then your degree will be valid i think pretty much everywhere.

Peace

 

[Meatwad]

Im not too crazy about going overseas either. There is a school in the Czech Rep. that uses american text books and teaches in english. Since I am fluent in that language as well I think I would have a good shot of acceptance. But it is a 5 year program. Then yes you have to do at least 2 years to be a general dentist in N. America. (total 7 for a general dent.) But who says you will get into a qualifying program in N.America as soon as you are done in Europe. You will again be applying for limited spots against dentists that have way more experience then you. This can take many many more years.
Not my cup of tea...my advice ...get in whereever...but try for N.America..then your degree will be valid i think pretty much everywhere.

Peace

You are probably thinking of Charles University (Univerzita Karlova) in Prague; I think Comenius in Bratislava, Slovakia even has an English language dental program (I know they have an English language med school). There is no shortage of these, but as has been outlined already, it's not the best option to take.

 

[moldovanits]

currently university of Guadalajara is accredited in ca its located in Mexico though.

 

[ruth11]

If you could get one of the (impossible) international student seats at one of the British dental schools, you could come back to the US. There is a very little advertised mechanism for transferring your UK credentials to the USA, if you dig around the GDC pages it pretty much outlines the procedure. I think its basically your board exams that you have to sit...
this is because the level of education is quite equivalent to what is taught in the US

seems easy right?

Now try getting into a british dental school.....only 400 or so seats, a vast majority reserved for british students.

Charles University, since Czech republic is part of the EU, would be a way of practicing in the UK (if you have the appropriate citizenship). Under EU rules, any accredited EU program graduate can practice in an EU country, but can definately NOT transfer over like a UK based program...

 

[QuackDentist]

Hi guys,

I've spoken with a few people from different countries and researched this a bit and was wondering if anybody knew more about this.

What about the option of getting into a dental school overseas and coming here and doing the 2-year upgrade?

I am really tempted in doing this because MANY dental universities accept students right out of high school (India, Ukraine, Ireland, Africa, Romania, just to name a few) and it's only a 2-year upgrade once you get back to the Canada or the States.

Not to mention the fact that for example in India, International dental students pay about $10K per year including living expenses!!!

Has anyone ever done this or has considered this option?

If you apply abroad, you should seriously consider the Philippines. Everyone speaks English, classes are taught in English, the expenses are low, the people are hospitable, and the country is beautiful.

Consider: Centro Escolar University (CEU) and University of the East (UE).

:-D I have a friend living in the Philippines and she is going to CEU!

 

[usernametaken]

but try for N.America..then your degree will be valid i think pretty much everywhere.

Peace

I haven't heard about this. Does anyone have any additional information about completing dental school in the US, and then practicing abroad? I would assume it is just as hard as getting your degree in Europe and then coming to the US.

 

[ddstobe]

If I was still a high school senior, I'd definitely go oversea without a doubt... way cheaper tuition + study aboard experience.

note: for the Philippines dental schools are 6-yr program, it would be very difficult to waive the first 2 years of general studies.

 

[Theillestill]

Come over to Australia... There's quite a few dental schools over here, and the pay's pretty good in the first five or so years ($80-120k AUD so we've been told in 1st year)

 

[206127]

The school in Mexico accredited by the ADA only allows you to practice exclusively in California. It is called "Universidad de Odontologia La Salle" and its in Leon, Guanajuato (Mexico). The cost is roughly the same as UCLA and there is no student loan that you can take out to pay for it. I spoke to the dean of admissions there and he made it clear to me that there are only 5 seats for the program that grants you a degree to practice in California. You must fill out an application and if granted an interview you still have to take an entrance exam which includes all the basic sciences (but they only expect you to know up to HS level). Also the exam includes an english and spanish writting and speaking section. Good luck if you dont speak spanish... its a 6 year program btw...

 

[priyanka chopra]

hi to everyone i did my bds from india but i didn't complete my internship.am i eligible to write nbde1 with my provisional certificate.plz help me.

 

[Dentistryknowledge]

Why go through the hassle? I can understand if it was med school, because there is no additional schooling needed if your school is recognized internationally. It will take you 5 years overseas (at least in Europe it is, generally) then 2 years here. That's a grad total of 7 years. Instead, you could have done 4 years of undergrad here + 3 years of dental school at University of the Pacific = 7 years as well. Plus there's no hassle of going through 2 years of dental school all over again. You would be adding unnecessary anxiety to your life.

Only a high-schooler would go through all this trouble to save one measly year...

The reason why they do this is to save money. There are countries out there who are tuition free and give free/cheap education for international students. it seems like you're not informed on the fact that student debt is the worst type of debt that we have right now in our coutry. It has even surpassed credit debt! That's how crazy student debt is. Therefore I can see why a student would like to study abroad and then come back for the remaining two years. Within those four college years of studying abroad a student will be saving up a lot of money for when they come back to the states. They would be able to afford those remaining last two years where they get their masters. I'm pretty sure that with that saved up money they can afford the two year tuition and buy a car (per say) and still have a bit of money left over. In my eyes studying abroad is a strategic move in order to get rid of student loans. ( If you didn't know, student debt follows you EVERYWHERE) When you look at the plan carefully you could see that it's not troubling to accomplish. It's actually quite easy and while your studying abroad you can see new places and their cultures (which personally I think it's a bonus). Finally, the U.S does not have an AMAZING education system. In the dentistry program we are lacking behind and in general education as well (which is a shame). Now for those students who would like to study abroad I recommend Finland. In order to study there you must need to know either Finnish or English and a HUGE bonus is that it's TUITION FREE. Oh and may I also mention that it's been ranked the number one country with the BEST EDUCATIONS. Have a nice day and I hope I helped