Thinking of going to the Caribbean for dentistry

[DentBaller]

Hello everyone,

I completed my undergrad at UF this last august with a 2.4 GPA and got a 16 aa on the DAT. Should I consider doing dentistry at a Caribbean school probably in Dominican Republic? Would I be able to become a dentist there in less than 4 years since I have already completed my bachelors? I also speak fluent spanish and have very close family friends there.
I would ultimately come back to the US to revalidate my license.

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[Ryxndek]

No clue about the Caribbean but I can assume it’s similar to medical schools. It’s probably not worth it. If you go to dental school there you’d have to go back to dental school I believe for a minimum of 2 years at a US dental school to become licensed(dropping another ~200k since it’s mostly private schools that over the program). It’s a very competitive program and there aren’t a ton of schools that participate in the program. I believe it’s called PASS.

In my honest opinion I do not think you should do it. You should go into a masters program and do well there and retake your dat and score 21+AA and you’d be in much better chances of getting accepted to a US school. You’d also spend a lot less money going this route than the possibility of going to school in the Caribbean and possibly not able to come back and practice in the US and being out a lot more money and only able to practice back where you went to school in the Caribbean. It’s a very risky route to do this.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

SMP. Do not compound your challenges by making your journey to practice in the US that much harder.

 

[Big Time Hoosier]

If you go to dental school there you’d have to go back to dental school I believe for a minimum of 2 years at a US dental school to become licensed

And these foreign trained dentist programs are competitive. Imagine going to the Caribbean, spending a fortune, and then not getting into a US dental school. Then what, OP?

Big Hoss

 

[Faefly]

If i were you, I would study a 1 year or 2 year master program.
graduate with 3.5 gpa and above
and retake the DAT to aim above 21
during that time also do community work etc.
then apply after 2 yrs to around 30 dental schools ( including many private schools)
Another option is to apply to hygiene school, then after that go to dental school. some people in my school were hygienist first.
Now some of them even specializing.

 

[nonociceptors]

Caribbean MDs are a joke. I can’t even imagine a Caribbean DMD

 

[Ali527]

Hello everyone,

I completed my undergrad at UF this last august with a 2.4 GPA and got a 16 aa on the DAT. Should I consider doing dentistry at a Caribbean school probably in Dominican Republic? Would I be able to become a dentist there in less than 4 years since I have already completed my bachelors? I also speak fluent spanish and have very close family friends there.
I would ultimately come back to the US to revalidate my license.

Of course is an option, I know some Doctors that went to R.D and then they revalidated their license, in U.S or P.R

 

[deleted923283]

Getting acceptance into the foreign trained DMD programs in the USA is virtually impossible. Thousands and thousands apply for a few spots. The acceptance rate is like 0.001%. Plus, it is VERY expensive.

Don’t take this too harshly - if you weren’t cut out for applying to dental school, chances are you’re not going to make it to the top of all the international applicants.

If you absolutely want to try to be a dentist (and really, I don’t think it’s worth it), plan to do post-bach programs, possibly several, and increase your DAT a lot.