Dental schoolhouse is hard work. It requires world rigors akin to applying to aesculapian school. The exertion process is complex, elaborate and competitive. Here’s what to expect arsenic you use for dental schoolhouse on with immoderate tips for however to hole a beardown application.
Prerequisites
As with aesculapian schoolhouse and galore different postgraduate programs, dental schools volition person people prerequisites. At a minimum, expect that biology, chemistry, integrated chemistry, physics, and English (or a writing-intense creation course) volition beryllium required. Schools whitethorn besides necessitate biochemistry, statistics, physiology, and microbiology – these volition apt person to person a laboratory component. Always cheque the nonstop requirements of the schools you are funny successful to marque definite you are readying your coursework accordingly.
Dental Admission Test (DAT)
A wide admittance exam, called the Dental Admission Test (DAT) is required of those applying for dentistry programs. The trial takes 4.5 hours to implicit and covers 4 investigating areas: Survey of the Natural Sciences, Perceptual Ability, Reading Comprehension, and Quantitative Reasoning. The trial is offered year-round crossed the US. You tin larn much astir the trial connected the DAT website.
Personal Statement
Dental schools besides necessitate you to taxable a idiosyncratic statement. The American Dental Education Association (ADEA), which administers the dental schoolhouse exertion service, requires a connection of nary much than 4,500 characters (including spaces), which indispensable archer a communicative that illustrates your idiosyncratic qualities, aspirations, and reasons for pursuing dentistry.
Not definite wherever to commencement with your idiosyncratic statement? It whitethorn involvement you to cognize that the ADEA has identified six competencies indispensable for practicing dentistry. They specify “competency” arsenic “a analyzable behaviour oregon quality indispensable for the wide dentist to statesman independent, unsupervised dental practice”. As you constitute your statement, you should familiarize yourself with these competencies and deliberation astir examples that champion showcase your maturation successful 1 oregon much these areas.
The six ADEA competencies are Critical Thinking; Professionalism; Communication and Interpersonal Skills; Health Promotion; Practice Management and Informatics; and Patient Care. Since you haven’t gone done dental schoolhouse yet, you are surely not expected to beryllium afloat competent successful each these areas. Also, you should NOT operation your effort to beryllium a lucifer for these competencies. Instead, conscionable support them successful caput arsenic you constitute your idiosyncratic connection and if you consciousness peculiarly beardown successful a competency, by each means see it successful your narrative.
Submitting Your Application
The AADSAS (Associated American Dental Schools Application Service) is the dental schoolhouse exertion work for astir dental schools successful the US. Traditional applicants volition hole to taxable dental schoolhouse applications the summertime aft their inferior year. It’s a bully thought to person your materials acceptable for submission erstwhile the AADSAS opens successful June. Why? US dental schools person rolling admissions. This means applications are reviewed arsenic they travel successful and applicants are selected for interviews.
While astir schools inquire students to taxable applications done AADSAS, it’s important to enactment that schools successful Texas whitethorn usage their state-specific exertion service.
Licensure
To signifier arsenic a wide dentist, you volition request a license. In the US, requirements for licensure disagree by state, particularly erstwhile it comes to objective examination.
Education: You should person a DDS oregon DMD grade from an accredited university-based dental acquisition program. The authorities of New York besides requires a residency of 1 year.
Written Examination: You indispensable walk the Integrated National Board Dental Examination (INBDE). Note: the INBDE has precocious replaced Part I and Part II of the written National Board Dental Examination (NBDE).
Clinical Examination: Clinical exam requirements are wherever the main differences successful licensure lie. Luckily, the ADA maintains a Licensure Dashboard representation that shows which exams (there are several) and which benignant (manikin oregon patient) are accepted by state. Delaware administers its ain exam.
A Final Thought – DDS oregon DMD?
As you look for schools that are bully matches for you, you’ll find that immoderate connection a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) and others connection a Doctor of Medicine successful Dentistry (DMD), oregon adjacent a Doctor of Dental Medicine (DDM). These degrees are equivalent. Dentists who person a DMD, DDS oregon DDM person the aforesaid acquisition and these degrees usage the aforesaid program requirements. So don’t fto the grade titles interest you successful the least.
A postgraduate acquisition is progressively indispensable to beforehand careers, summation income and bask employer-sponsored wellness sum and status plans, and applying successfully for a postgraduate oregon nonrecreational grade requires cautious planning. Elizabeth LaScala PhD, Founder of Doing College and Beyond provides personalized guidance passim the postgraduate and nonrecreational grade admissions process, whether you are presently studying astatine the undergraduate level oregon are already moving successful your career. Call (925) 385-0562 oregon sojourn Elizabeth astatine her website to larn more.
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