clrhkdmltk3346
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- Jun 9, 2025
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This might be a bit of a long story, but I hope you’ll hear me out.
I completed middle school, high school, college, and dental school in the U.S., graduating in 2020—right when COVID hit. I’m originally from Korea, and at the time of graduation, I was 29. That meant I had to return to Korea to fulfill my mandatory military service or face legal consequences.
After completing two years of military service, I was fortunate to find a DSO willing to sponsor me for an H1B visa. Even more fortunately, I was selected in the lottery. However, due to a critical error, the attorney failed to submit the required documentation to USCIS. I never even received a receipt notice, and I lost that opportunity.
The following year, I entered the lottery again but wasn’t selected.
After months of job searching, I eventually found a cap-exempt H1B opportunity with an FQHC. It felt like a godsend. I didn't mind living in rural areas anyways. I accepted the offer and was originally supposed to be placed at one location under other senior dentist, but while I was onboarding, that spot was given to another provider. Instead, I was assigned to a high-volume rural clinic as the sole dentist.
I underwent a one-month training period, during which I primarily handled complex direct restorations and extractions. However, I hadn’t had any real clinical experience in the past five years—only lectures, textbooks, and manikin practice while in Korea. Despite positive feedback from patients, I was let go after a month. The reason given was that I wasn’t ready to serve as the sole provider in such a demanding environment.
This experience made me realize that I need more hands-on training to become the kind of provider I aspire to be. However, pursuing a residency on a J1 visa would mean returning to Korea for two more years upon completion, and I no longer have F1 OPT eligibility. I now have only 60 days to transfer my visa to another FQHC or I’ll have to leave the country. My family got scammed last year and we are under a debt of approximately 3 million usd. Not 300k. 3 million usd.
All I’ve ever wanted is to practice dentistry and help patients—it's what makes me feel fulfilled. But at this point, the path forward is feeling more and more uncertain, and I’m not sure what options I have left to either further my training or continue practicing in the U.S. Any recommendation or suggestion would be appreciated.
I completed middle school, high school, college, and dental school in the U.S., graduating in 2020—right when COVID hit. I’m originally from Korea, and at the time of graduation, I was 29. That meant I had to return to Korea to fulfill my mandatory military service or face legal consequences.
After completing two years of military service, I was fortunate to find a DSO willing to sponsor me for an H1B visa. Even more fortunately, I was selected in the lottery. However, due to a critical error, the attorney failed to submit the required documentation to USCIS. I never even received a receipt notice, and I lost that opportunity.
The following year, I entered the lottery again but wasn’t selected.
After months of job searching, I eventually found a cap-exempt H1B opportunity with an FQHC. It felt like a godsend. I didn't mind living in rural areas anyways. I accepted the offer and was originally supposed to be placed at one location under other senior dentist, but while I was onboarding, that spot was given to another provider. Instead, I was assigned to a high-volume rural clinic as the sole dentist.
I underwent a one-month training period, during which I primarily handled complex direct restorations and extractions. However, I hadn’t had any real clinical experience in the past five years—only lectures, textbooks, and manikin practice while in Korea. Despite positive feedback from patients, I was let go after a month. The reason given was that I wasn’t ready to serve as the sole provider in such a demanding environment.
This experience made me realize that I need more hands-on training to become the kind of provider I aspire to be. However, pursuing a residency on a J1 visa would mean returning to Korea for two more years upon completion, and I no longer have F1 OPT eligibility. I now have only 60 days to transfer my visa to another FQHC or I’ll have to leave the country. My family got scammed last year and we are under a debt of approximately 3 million usd. Not 300k. 3 million usd.
All I’ve ever wanted is to practice dentistry and help patients—it's what makes me feel fulfilled. But at this point, the path forward is feeling more and more uncertain, and I’m not sure what options I have left to either further my training or continue practicing in the U.S. Any recommendation or suggestion would be appreciated.
