Sydney University a new option!

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

OzDDS

Senior Member
7+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2003
Messages
803
Reaction score
8
Sydney University in Australia has recently renovated their dental curriculm to a 4-year graduate entry program that is PBL-Based which is Very similar to the PBL program at USC. They are getting a new dean in September 2004 who was past faculty at the recently accredited UNLV dental school. The rumor is that the program will be accredited in the US/Canada in the next year or two!!
 
This might soon be one of the most applied to programs afterwards because of not only USyd's reputation, but also location and tuition.. not too bad to live in Sydney near gorgous beaches and only pay around $23k per year.


btw.. It is also very difficult for US/Canadian trained dentists to get a license to practice in Australia. But if you grad from this prog you would be able to practice in all three contries with not too much difficulty.
 
Wow, if something like this had been around when I first started to apply I would have done it in a second.
 
Imagine the interview expense...no thank you!
 
Brocnizer2007 said:
Imagine the interview expense...no thank you!


I'm sure they hold regional interviews. A friend of mine applied to a med school in AUS and had the interview in NYC.
 
anyone know how the application process to Sydney works?
 
Too bad Sydney is a yuppie hole. When U.Melbourne gets a program - then I'll take interest.
 
I heard last year Sydney University-SOD had interview in Vancover, Chicago, and NYC!!
 
Melbourne is a somewhat nicer city than Sydney.. Sydney can be pretty busy and clustered at times.. but damn... I would never trade Sydney weather for melbourne weather... and the beaches are incredible around Syd and the cental coast.
 
Actually you know what, I hope they do not get the US ADA accreditation. The reason dentist have a good life style here is that there is a limited supply of professionals. This is one step in the wrong direction. Next thing you know we will be giving accreditation to EU states, then India, then China...etc

No thank you!!!

I'm gonna start writing letters to the ADA to try and stop off-shoring my future. Lets take a look at our medical counterparts and learn a lesson from them. There is a reason why dentisty is working in the USA and medicine is failing
 
uhm.. Australia and Canada are a little diff than india and china!!
 
Brocnizer2007 said:
Actually you know what, I hope they do not get the US ADA accreditation.

Don't worry--any idea that they might get it in the future is just that, an idea.

The latest accreditation board newsletter (which everybody can get from ADA.org) shows that a committee has been established to weigh the pros and cons of allowing international schools to be US-accredited, however no plans are currently in the works for any type of site visits to Australia or any other countries.

This is straight from the ADA. Anything beyond this is mere speculation. Australia is notoriously difficult to deal with in terms of healthcare practitioners getting licensed, and such a move by the ADA seems to be shallow and not in our best interests.
 
OzDDS said:
uhm.. Australia and Canada are a little diff than india and china!!

And why is that...are they not human???

This is one step in the wrong direction and my voice will be heard and I will bring this to the attention of many in the dental community.

Canada is with us because they are our brothers to the north and it is very easy to cross the border. I can go to Canada very easily for dental care and vice versa. Not the case with Australia...I'm not going to fly 3000 miles to get a root canal or even 5 implants. If a guy in Canada 60 miles away will do a better job a cheaper, then sure. Australia is a different ballgame. This should not be allowed!
 
btw.. the american college of vet surg has recently accredited one school in Australia and one in New Zealand.
 
OzDDS said:
btw.. the american college of vet surg has recently accredited one school in Australia and one in New Zealand.

Is that my profession???

I do not care and let them worry about it
 
What if the Australian ADA made it easier for American dentists to get licensed to practice in Australia?
 
OzDDS said:
What if the Australian ADA made it easier for American dentists to get licensed to practice in Australia?

Nope, it doesn't make a difference. Its the idea that worries the hell out of me. Some politician on capital hill might see a quick buck if they see the Austrailian thing worked out and would lobby to get it done in other countries.

This is a bad idea and can go terribly wrong in the future (20+years).

Explain to me how this will benefit the average American?
 
There are are quite a few American dentists practicing in Australia already actually and there would be even more if it were easier for them to become licensed. Dentistry is privatized in Australia..(more so than Canada) Salary's can range from 100k-300k or so.. I?m assuming you would make the 15hr flight to Hawaii to practice dentistry.
Well.. You'd make more as a general dentist in Australia than if worked in Hawaii, and you?d get the same lifestyle. Currently It is just as hard for dentists who do not receive their degree in Australia to work in Australia is it is for dentists who do not receive their degree in the US to work in the US. I don't see the problem in having a more free trade with Australia and making it easier for dentists in each country to practice. There are no real differences in the standards of care between Canada, Australia, and the US. (There is a difference in standard of dental care btw China/India and the US). And I?m sure that you would have dentists from each of the diff countries wishing to travel to the other. It would be silly to assume that if the US accredits one dental program in Australia that it?s going to cause a huge influx of ?unqualified dentists? to the US (+20yrs down the line) and take all your money and patients away!
That is just nonsense!! There is a very long list of criteria that ANY dental school must meet to be accredited. UNLV had to go through that process just two years ago!.. What if Canada decided to open another school?
 
You still didn't explain how the avg american will benefit? The ADA does take that into consideration

Like I said, no need to start this whole business of going over seas. Look at what happened to the medical field...flood of off shore docs here. I do not want to start that process for dentistry
 
Brocnizer2007.. I?m sorry, but do you have a personal vendetta or something? Whatever.. You for one are obviously not concerned about the average American anyway.. most of your posts are about financial issues..esp.. and after receiving your MBA degree now I?m sure are more concerned about the financial aspect of dentistry. the issue at hand for you I can tell is money money money.. which is why I'm sure you chose to study dentistry. Work less, make more. am I right?

Quit making such a big deal about it. First of all.. this is just speculation Anyway!!
Second of all. Before 1956, when the US accredited all Canadian schools, they were all foreign programs. Has that ruined your dental career? I think not. I think you would have just as many American dentists wanting to practice in Australia (esp. after the release of Finding Nemo) 😉 as Australian dentists wanting to practice in the US. This would not as you said create a huge influx of ?foreign dentists?.

Look.. there are already dentists and specialists from ?other? countries working in the US now.. http://www.kidsplastsurg.com/supakitcv.html for example. And this man even did his dental degree in Thailand. Which I?m sure is prob not the same standard as US, Australia, or Canada. And yet I?m sure he is an excellent clinician and more than competent!

You also have other dentists and specialists from the US who choose to practicing in Australia for example..
http://www.rch.org.au/plastic/staff.cfm?doc_id=4832


So if the standard of dental care is the same in Canada, Australia, and the US.. and (pay attention to this part Brocnizer2007).. if the pay is about the same.. Then.. Can you tell me how either .. a graduate of an Australian dental school that meets the ADA?s accreditation requirements and after passing all his/her exams and receiving their state license to practice dentistry in the US.. how that will harm the average American.. or how making it easier to for a US trained dentist to practice in Australia will harm the average American?
 
No personal stuff at all. And to just to let you know, I'm not in the field for money. I've been wanting to be a dentist since 9th grade in high school. I even took my DAT after 50 credits and was going to apply to dental school early. But the dentist I was shadowing at the time told me "only if he had more business knowledge". I didn't want to minor in business bec it was not enough for me and kinda too late. So I got my MBA with concentration in small business health care management. My MBA has nothing to do with greed, just the yearn for knowledge

As for your example of your foreign doc, I have no problem with him because he finished his schooling here...in 4 weeks I will have 90 to 100 foreign DDS in my class that I will graduate with. I have no problem with them because they have to commit another 3 years to practice here, thus making it harder to become a dentist in the USA, thus keeping out a huge influx of dentist.

My point is, it is very controlled and limited. Now, which in my opinion, this keeps the standard of care high. If I have to compete on price with the guy 2 blocks away, then my quality will go down because I have to make up in volume. The more people that have the ability to come here freely will drive up competition greatly...which is not always a good thing

So tell me how the pay will be the same in 3 different countries? Different markets with different demands so the pay will not be the same. So if a dentist makes more in Australia, they will flock there...if they make more in the USA then they will flock here.

There are so many variables to discuss, I could type pages and pages. Much easier to do on the phone.

I still do not see the benefit of this
 
On a lighter note, this thread reminds me of the current election 🙂

My policy will work....Your policy sucks and only mine will work

So keep up the good discusion Oz, nice to see a different view point. Who knows maybe I will persuade you or you will persuade me
 
Btw.. what school are you going to.. NYU? I hear they have a big program for internationals.

Also.. I don?t know if your aware, but Not all international dentists have to do 3 years to practice in the US. All licenses to practice dentistry are controlled by each individual state.. and not every state has the same requirements. . As it stands now, there are a small number of states that will allow any international dental graduates to simply take boards I and II and then the state licensure exam, Also.. a few other states will let you get away with doing a 1 year AEGD or GPR, and some states require a 2-year AEGD or GPR. And even more states will let you practice any specialty as long as you complete your 2-3 year cert or MS training in an ADA accredited program.


Also.. just curious.. but what year did the University of Puerto Rico-SOD gain ADA accreditation? Did a lot of people have a problem with the ADA considering graduates of Puerto Rico competent?
 
The US ADA accredited all Canadian schools in 1956 I think.
 
Also, the example you gave of the medical field.. "off-shore docs", You know.. they all have to do their residency training in the US as well (2-3 years or more).. just as international dentists who say do an orthodontics residency training program, like the one from Thailand I pointed out earlier, that you said you had no problem with (http://www.kidsplastsurg.com/supakitcv.html) . Why then would you have a problem with whatever schools the ADA decides to grant accreditation to? It would seem this would be enforcing restrictions and guidelines as opposed to easing up on them.
 
I honestly don't think it is the medical or dental fields that has gone awry in the US.. just the lawyers and the legal system. ha 🙂
 
OzDDS.. Do you go to Sydney Uni? Where did you hear about the program?
 
Dr.Millisevert said:
OzDDS.. Do you go to Sydney Uni? Where did you hear about the program?

Not Yet... I?m at UCSD now doing bio. A friend of mine got into dental school after finishing 90hrs of sciences, so I thought I?d give it a shot. I am just tired of studying general sciences and I know I want to be a dentist. I have a pretty good gpa, so I tried applying to a few places this year with no luck.
Do you go to Sydney? How do you like it? One of my classmates is from Sydney and said you guys have an awesome program and that it was comparable to USC. Do you get lots of clinical experience? What do you think of PBL? What is living in Sydney like?
I heard that your program starts in January instead of august so I was hoping I might still have time to apply this year!
 
Well first let me start off by letting you know that Sydney won't accept you unless you have finished your bachelors degree. So I suggest you just focus on keeping up your gpa as high as possible and applying after you finish your bio degree. Second, you may not "enjoy" your general sciences right now, but you'll need that foundation when your in dental school.
As for Sydney's program... I'm only in my first year so I can't tell you too much. But yeah, we get heaps of clinical exposure. We start seeing our first patients towards the end of 1st year. We have two main teaching hospitals.. one intercity, and one more suburban. Plus in 3rd and 4th year we do a rural rotation and have electives. Our first 2 years we do most all of our science lectures with the med students. I'm not sure what USC is like.. but yeah, both the dental and med programs are PBL here. PBL is not too bad, we have to do a lot of research on our own and teach our classmates. It take some getting used to, but I think it is really good actually, helps to reinforce structure/function relationships and mechanisms, and helps to build confidence.
hmm. Sydney City is really busy, can be pretty expensive to live in the city actually. But If you like great weather, surfing, and topless women on the beach. Then you might like it here. 😉 Best of luck to you!
 
OzDDS said:
Sydney University in Australia has recently renovated their dental curriculm to a 4-year graduate entry program that is PBL-Based which is Very similar to the PBL program at USC. They are getting a new dean in September 2004 who was past faculty at the recently accredited UNLV dental school. The rumor is that the program will be accredited in the US/Canada in the next year or two!!
So who is the new dean? We have had a couple of faculty leave and I didnt think anyone from our school who has left has the credentials to be a dean of a dental school.
 
Col Sanders said:
So who is the new dean? We have had a couple of faculty leave and I didnt think anyone from our school who has left has the credentials to be a dean of a dental school.

The new dean is Dr. Eli Schwartz.
 
I hear he is a pretty qualified individual actually... For one, he used to be the director of both the American and International institutes of Dental Research.
 
Dr.Millisevert said:
I hear he is a pretty qualified individual actually... For one, he used to be the director of both the American and International institutes of Dental Research.

I am not questioning his credentials, I just cant remember who he is, and I have been at UNLV since the beginning, he must have had some minor role with our school.
 
OzDDS said:
Sydney University in Australia has recently renovated their dental curriculm to a 4-year graduate entry program that is PBL-Based which is Very similar to the PBL program at USC. They are getting a new dean in September 2004 who was past faculty at the recently accredited UNLV dental school. The rumor is that the program will be accredited in the US/Canada in the next year or two!!

Is there a website or something that you can post about this *rumor*? I want to read up on it.
 
busupshot83 said:
Is there a website or something that you can post about this *rumor*? I want to read up on it.

No such site exists. Sydney's own website makes no mention of this (as of this posting) rumor, and the ADA website has no mention of it either.
 
ItsGavinC said:
No such site exists. Sydney's own website makes no mention of this (as of this posting) rumor, and the ADA website has no mention of it either.

Thus, as far as I know it, Sydeny University is not a new option... unless you want to shoot for an advanced standing program for foriegn-trained dentists.
 
Top