what do you guys think?

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rusty04

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What do you guys think about studying dental school in Mexico? Any feelings? Any opinions? Any stories? The reason I ask is because I met this girl this weekend who is stuyding dental school in Mexico and she was telling how great it is. She says that you only need to apply to the school and take an admissions exam that is very easy and as long as you pass the exam your in! And watch this tuition is only $150dlls a semester :wow: It takes 4 1/2 years to graduate but you don't need any pre-reqs.or a degree fresh out of high school!! What pisses me off is that she is 20 years old and she is already half ways done with her dental career, she has no debt, and she is going to come to the US and take her boards and start her practice, while it takes us about 8 years to become a dentist! What do you say should I go for it?

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Well, wouldn't she have to apply for a DIS program of some sort, seeing as she's considered an international dentist? I'd imagine it's just like becoming a dentist in Europe or Asia and coming here to practice.

Besides, she's living in a 3rd world country...and that's not always peachy. I guess it depends on where her dental school is. University of Cozumel School of Dental Med would be hot! :D But really, it's Mexico. Maybe fun to visit, but I don't see how good it can be to live there when the southern states have "immigrant crossing" signs scattered all over...and border patrol.

I'd like to know about this, too. What do you guys think?
 
Well, I have no idea why do we need high school or College.
I think either one is a big waste of time.
I end up reviewing what I learn most of the time in college.

Going straight from high school aint a bad thing.
But I thought your friend has to do the same thing like pass the CA board, in addition to take whatever required courses. I expect US and MX curriculum differs greatly. You may have to go through a long way to get your license to practice, which might end up the same time as you study here. The cost for IDP (as in UCSF) is a lot more than resident tuition. If it is that easy, I donno why there aint more dentists from Mexico. (i know some, but not many)
 
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to Rusty: If you want to practice in the U.S., go to a U.S. dental school. The reason:

A dentist who is trained in Mexico is not allowed to practice in the U.S. unless he/she has gone through an advanced-standing training program (essentially repeat a few years of dental school at a U.S. institution to obtain a U.S. DDS/DMD degree), pass the NBDEs, and satisfy the licensing requirements of the particular state.

There are two notable exceptions though:

- those who are practicing as part of a U.S. dental education institution/program (i.e. as an instructor or PG resident-- no moonlighting outside the institution is allowed),

- or has been approved by a state licensing board (so far only California has reciprocity with one or two Mexican dental schools, I don't remember which ones offhand or the procedures involved).

Most likely, by the time that girl you met is done with her U.S. licensing, she will still be around 25 years old-- Same as if you went the straight 8 years of college and dental school right after high school.

HTH.
 
she will have to start over again, or apply for the IDP which can run from 2-3 years (required part 1 scores). the IDP is very expensive and competitive and not many US dental schools offer it.
 
As people have mentioned here she is not halfway done with her dental education if she wants to practice here. The ADA and ADEA have controlled the market here very tightly. This is in contrast to medicine where half of the 34,000 doctors applying to residency programs are foreign grads.

As for school in Mexico, I can only imagine that it is a great time. Sure it's a third world country but with the kind of money you'll have from here you can live it up while you go to school. When you come back you'll still have 2-3 years of $65,000-75,000 schooling to get. It ends of being more expensive than going to a state school here, but cheaper than attending one of the more expensive private schools here. As for saving time, you could be a strong applicant after 2 years of undergrad and be out around the same time or you could go to UOP (3-year program).
 
oh yah, and u gotta be fluent in Spanish :D
 
Fluent in Spanish is a huge Plus.
You will get a lot more patients in dental school.
I so want to refresh my spanish.
(hehe, cos I am going to Spain in April)
 
Spain is awesome dude....but stay out of Madrid...yuck! jUst a bunch of thieves there! Spend at least 4-5 days in Barcelona..u wont regret it! ;)

Best part about Spain is the people...So beautiful and they dress So well!!
 
Not to mention the fact that your facilities and materials are probably going to suck the big one. Go to dental towna nd reda about the quality of Mexican dental work that dentists in the border states get to redo all the time. If you want to be a U.S. dentist, stay in the U.S.
 
Last summer I actually shadowed 3 dentists in Mexico City. I really wanted to work on my Spanish and also get some dental experience. Anyway, all 3 of the dentists went to dental school in Mexico and then went to specialty schools in the U.S. One went to LMU ortho, another went to Northwestern for prosth, and I can't remember where the other one went (he was in endo). I don't know if they would have had to do extra schooling if they actually wanted to practice in the U.S.. Anyway, Mexico City was beautiful. I probably saw the nice parts of it, but it was definitely not third world. Anyway, just letting you know that Mexico City isn't so bad :), and there are plenty of good and successful dentists who were originally trained there.
 
You guys are right, I guess it does end up taking as much as time to graduate. I did consider it cause I am fluent in spanish and I live in a border city with Mexico so I wouldn't even have to live in Mexico. But I bet either way the dental education you can get here in the US can't compare to what they get down there. hmm, I wonder if she speaks english? Then she'll even have to learn the language! I'll just stay here. Thanks all for your knowledge....
 
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