*USA Dentist License Requirements 2019

It has been a busy time for me with some excited change. I started working for a practice in Kent, Washington State and have recently moved to my new place. Now I am writing this from Irvine, California since my company sent me here for a week for some training. There has been lots of moving parts making me being quiet for some time. I miss DDS Journey. There are so many things I want to share with you all as I keep having new topics adding to my list.

Welcome gift from my boss. So thoughtful of him!

Recently I have got lots of questions about getting license to practice in USA. One question I had was “I am sending my transcript to ECE for evaluation, will I be able to practice after that?” I realized that this whole journey is still very confusing to most of you, and if you do not know the big picture, it won’t work no matter how many details I give out. I was just like that 5 years ago. Super confused. So here I will attempt to break down the journey to the core, hopefully it will make it easier for you guys to follow DDS Journey in the future.

Degree vs license.

Degree is the one you get after you finish dental school – both CODA-accredited and non-CODA-accredited schools. CODA is an organization accredits dental schools and dental programs. In general, CODA-accredited schools include only schools in the USA and Canada. Other dental schools – the ones you and I graduated from – are non-CODA-accredited. License is a totally different thing. One can have a degree yet not a license to practice. License is determined by each state. In general, after a dentist gets his/her degree, they have to apply to the state they want to practice to get the license. Then the state will decide if they are qualified for a license or not. Each state has different sets of requirements that one has to fulfil. This is not a secret information. They always have these requirements on their website. There is no way I know the requirements for all 50 states since I haven’t considered working anywhere except Washington State and Colorado. When my classmates and I were about to graduate, the school made it pretty clear that it’s our job to contact/call/email the state’s board directly to find out what we need to take in order to have the license.

With that in mind, if you know early on which state you want to practice in the future, keep checking their website. Simply googling “State WA/CO/CA/NY etc, dental license requirements” or some similar keywords should get you there. Although each state requires different material to grant a license, there is some key requirements that ALL state needs

1) Passing NBDE Part 1/2/ INBDE (theory test)

2) Having DDS/DMD degree from a CODA-accredited schools (aka US/CA schools)

3) Passing board exams (clinical test)

Other requirements can be finishing HIV course, passing ethical exam, paying fee, submitting personal bio and so on.

Passing NBDE Part 1/2/INBDE

I recently wrote a post about this topic. If you are interested in learning the difference between NBDE vs INBDE, click this link. In order to apply for the test, you will have to go through several steps such as signing up as member with ADA, sending your ECE evaluation to them, paying fee, etc. The purpose is to verify that you are really a dentist in your home country before allowing you to take the exams. This is the first stage in the US DDS Journey in order to apply for Advance Standing Programs with a US dental school and also to apply for license after you graduate from there.

Having DDS/DMD degree from a CODA-accredited schools

So, to the follower asking me about license after ECE evaluation, this is the answer for her question. Unfortunately, no as you have to graduate from a CODA-accredited school to apply for license. This is why there are Advance Standing Programs in some dental schools for international dentists like us to graduate one more time but from a CODA-acc school. Is it an absolute NO? Nope. There is always exemption. The information below was screen-shotted from Washington State Department of Health’s website (read carefully the “non-accredited dental schools” part) So it’s safe to say that you should check with your state’s requirements early on and then once a year for any change.

Passing board exams

There are several regional board exams in the U.S. Regional boards are different and independent from dental schools or state. The most popular ones are WREB, CRDTS, ADEX, OSCE, etc. Each of them held exams every 1-2 months in different schools and each schools also held different board exams throughout a year. In Colorado we have CRDTS and WREB. If any student needs to pass other regional board like ADEX, he/she will fly out to another school where they have that board exam. Schools are hosting these board exams only, they do not determine who pass and who not. State also do not interfere on the result. State only decide on which board exams they prefer. This picture below is from ADA. Please check with your state because there are always changes each year.

In short, if you want to apply for license at the state you want to live/practice, you have to check with them either from website or through mail/phone. That is the end goal of our journey. I hope this post will clear up some confusion you have right now. Please don’t hesitate to ask me any question as even the simplest question can lead to a new topic and will help others as well. DDS Journey will not contribute much without your feedback and questions.

Information is Gold!

*How to nail an interview

Back in 2011 after I graduated from dental school in Vietnam, I was thinking “man, I have job interviews now and I haven’t done any interview before. What to do?”. In 2013, I got called by University of Connecticut for AEGD program, I thought I was good with interview since I got THREE job interviews before so I went with an innocent belief (of course I did not ace it). In 2015, I got called by University of Colorado for ISP program. I was so stressful for the interview as I knew my skill was nowhere close to the level I needed to be. It was a full month of intense preparation and I did it! Now 2019, I thought I was good now with interview and gee, I still learn a ton after so many job interviews (with many failed ones of course). Lesson learned – interview skill is one of the most important skills you can equip yourself with, no matter which stage of life you are in right now and there is always room to improve.

I got called by UCDenver in early April for the interview in May 2nd. The failed interview in 2013 sent me back to the Earth so I knew I must do everything I could to nail this one. No more fun time. No more joking around. Focus! First thing I did was to collect every question possibly showing up. I googled “job interview”, “medical school interview”, “dental school interview”, etc. This part was easy. The most popular questions are

1) What is your strength?

2) What is your weakness?

3) Why should we hire/accept you? /What differs you from others? / What makes you stand out?

4) What are your short-term/long-term goal?

5) Where do you see yourself at 3/5 years from now?

6) If we don’t hire/accept you, what will you do next?

7) What is your hobby?

8) What do you do to relieve stress?

9) Who are your role model?

10) What will your friends/coworkers describe you?

11) Tell me about yourself

12) What do you know about the school/company? Why did you choose us?

I wrote everything down in a small notebook – one question a page. Then, I tried to write down the answer for each question and changed it as I saw fit. Believe it or not, the first two questions are the most basic but trickiest ones. It’s already 2019, and I think that good interviewers won’t use these basic questions as often anymore as they are tired with “Oh I am too much a perfectionist” for question #2. However, these questions are still truly important not for them – but for you. You cannot nail an interview if you are not confident in yourself. You cannot be confident in yourself if you do not know who you are.

I wrote the answers down then scratched and wrote and scratched again. I read in some articles that we have to “sell ourselves” in front of the interviewers. But how can you sell and still stay true to yourself at the same time? I realized that people always have so many sides - each side they will show to certain groups of people. Should I show my humble/kind/shy self? Or maybe I can show my ambitious/goal-driven/ risk-taking self. Then how’s about my young/carefree/love-to-laugh self? You must decide which side or which combination you want to "sell" and want the interviewers to see. It can be humble/goal-oriented/love-to-laugh as you can pick one characteristic of each side. There is no rule for that.

It will be also helpful if you kinda know your interviewers. Everyone will match with some personalities and won’t with some others. If you are lucky, you can easily click with the interviewers. With the ISP program at UCDenver, there are always 4 interviewers in the room with you with 4 different personalities so it’s impossible to “know” your interviewers. But well, if you somehow know in general what they are looking for – someone who will do everything to achieve their goals or who will get along with people or who has a remarkable background, etc – you will be more likely to nail the interview.

The second tip was that I listed down almost every aspect of my life – family, job experience, dentistry, volunteer experience, remarkable life stories. One thing I learned from my ex was that people love STORIES! He told me “that’s why we have magazine like PEOPLE”. If you search on youtube, you will find videos of people showing you how to be a better story-teller (and you should watch those). With job experience, I prepared some fun stories and some not-so-fun stories that taught me something. The same with volunteer experience – why I did that/ what was my role/ memories, etc. With family or life stories, everyone loves stories about hardship – overcome – defining moments – happy ending kinda thing. I don’t say that you should fake it because it will never ever end well for you. For sure your life has many good stories to tell already as everyone has ups and downs moments. You just need to remember and tell it well.

My old note - I keep it as a reminder how far I've come and that I should be thankful every single day. (These were the questions I would ask the interviewers)

I always give this advice to people – get your stories together! Who are you? What do you want? What are your goals? Which steps did you take toward it? Which steps will you take to achieve? What is your plan? Why you did what you did? etc. One small example to better explain what I mean. True story – I learned crocheting because I was very clumsy, and I hope to train myself to be more dexterous. I indeed have better hand skill now than before and hand skill is so important for a dentist. Therefore, it’s safe to say, “I want to be a better dentist, so I picked some hobbies that can help me train my hand skill like crocheting and knitting”. I did say so during my interview. I don’t know what the interviewers thought, they may think that it was fake (I hope not) but it is true. I wanted to prove that I commit to dentistry and will take even the smallest step to make myself a better dentist. See, somehow, I linked my hobbies to dentistry – hence – have all your stories together and they will combine to show the interviewers the side that you want to sell. They may not believe when you say you are goal-driven, but they will believe when you tell them a story to prove it.

The third tip was body expression. You may have the most interesting story but if you tell it with a monotone, people will sleep before you reach the end. I watched a lot of youtube videos especially those Ted-talk ones about human behavior, human psychology, human expression, etc. I even watched videos like "how to make a good impression when you meet your in-law" because, well, if you can pass your in-law's interview, pheww you can pass any interview. There are so many small tips out there that it’s hard for me to list every single ones. Just wander around and pick the ones that work for you. I recorded myself answering questions, telling stories then watched the records again until I picked what were the most natural for me.

One phrase that sticked with me since then “Fake it till you make it”. I was not born confident. That is hard-earned. On the interview morning after I dressed up and was ready to head out, I looked at myself in the mirror and said “You will nail it! Nobody wants this more than you. Go and prove it! This is the moment you dream for your whole life. You will shine today. You will be the most confident person out there. You will get in the program”. I think that prep talk gave me extra adrenaline enough to get me through a whole brutal day. I was literally “high” that day. I was not confident enough back then, but I faked it so well that I actually believed in it and showed it right on time.

I also read that thank-you note/card/email is extremely important. Throughout the whole day, I was picking which details I could add to that email. I tried to remember the name of the students who showed me and other candidates around the school as well as the students in the student panel (there was a session with them when we could ask these students as many questions as we wanted). Our interview day was done around 4.30pm. Right after I reached my hotel room, I opened my laptop and wrote the thank-you email right away before I picked up my phone to call mom. Please research “how to write a great thank-you note” or click here. It will help you a ton just like it helped me.

This post is much longer than I expected, and I hope I did not bore you to death. Everyone has different way to prepare for an interview. I don’t say mine is the best way to do and I only hope that maybe this will work for some of you. I always say that I have great respect to not only my classmates but also anyone going through this route. I know how committed you are and how much you sacrifice for this dream. If I can help just a bit to make it easier, I am very happy to do so. Best of luck on your journey and let me know if I helped or can help.

P.S To all my past interviewers, when I said my biggest strength was well-prepared and my biggest weakness was over-prepared, I was true to myself :P

*INBDE or NBDE Part 1&2?

I recently got a question of taking the NBDE part 1&2 or waiting until 2020 to take INDBE. I write this post to share with you some information I have regarding this matter. My goal is to share information so YOU can make the decision.

According to ADA, the new format called INDBE will replace the old one starting on Aug 1, 2020. Anyone clearing part 1 before Aug 1, 2020 will have two more years to take part 2 until Aug 1, 2022. Anyone has not taken part 1 before the deadline will have to take the new format instead.

What is the difference between the two formats? First of all, the all format has two parts – NDBE part 1&2 while the new format will have only one exam. With the old format, you will have to apply for Part 1, pass the exam, apply again for Part 2, pass this exam and done. There is no restriction on how soon you can apply between Part 1 & Part 2. My friend took two exams within 2 months. However, applying twice, stress twice, taking exams twice and of course, paying twice is such a hassle that no one wants. With the new format, you only need to pass one exam. Passing one sounds much better than passing two, right?

In terms of cost-effectiveness, the new format will also be preferable. From the ADA website, the cost of Part 1 2018 is $425 and for foreign-trained dentists, they charge $210 more to process paperwork (like verifying information to decide eligibility of the candidate). For Part 2 2018, the fee is $475 for the exam itself and again, $210 for foreign-trained dentists. Therefore, the cost for both exams will be $1320 if you are not student of an accredited dental schools. For now I cannot find any information on how much it will cost to apply for INBDE but I am so sure it will be much less than that – half of the cost hopefully.

In terms of time-effectiveness, it takes 8.5 hours for Part 1 and 12.5 hours for Part 2 (2-day exam) so together it takes 21 hours sitting still for exams. I felt like half of my neurons were boiled after the exams. No one can be at their best sitting for that long honestly. Luckily the new INBDE will also cut half the time – 8.5 hours only. Woohooo!

In terms of exam content, the new INBDE also brings good news. The old format has about 450 items on each part which means about 900 items in total while the new format have 500 items. It’s not only about the length. I remember I struggled a lot with Part 1 because that required lots of recall knowledge while I study by understanding more than memorizing. Honestly, will it make me a better clinician if I can memorize the molecule of lipid? I guess not. Part 2 was better than Part 1 since it was more dental-related. Still, my brain was exhausted after two stressful days. The INBDE was promised “The new test relies less on rote knowledge and information recall than the current NBDE examinations do, and instead it emphasizes the relevance of the basic sciences through test items that link science and clinical application.” I took Part 2 in 2017 while they have the mock exam for INBDE so I was offered a chance to take the mock test to help ADA exploring the effectiveness of the new format. They did deliver what they promised. I think the questions were more clinical-based like how you will treat the patient or how you will proceed in the situation.

What else should you consider between NBDE and INBDE? I suggest you take advantage of this transitioning period. According to ADA, “Under the JCNDE’s Five Years/Five Attempts Eligibility Rule, candidates must pass the examination within a) five years of their first attempt or b) five examination attempts, whichever comes first. Subsequent to the fifth year or fifth attempt, candidates may test once every 12 months after their most recent examination attempt.”

Practically speaking, if you pass Part 1 but fail when attempting Part 2 the 5th time or the 5th year (hope not), you can take INBDE instead of waiting a whole year to take another Part 2. However, let’s hope that no one has to take this complicated route. I hope all my readers will pass in the first attempt!

Will it affect the application to Advance Standing Programs? I do not believe so. As long as you clear Part 1& 2 or the INBDE, you are eligible to apply for ASP. That will help schools actually. With the old format, some schools require only Part 1 to apply while others require Part 1&2. That can potentially cause some confusion for applicants. With this change, schools will require only INBDE so the process will have less paperwork and be less time-consuming.

So what is the conclusion? The INBDE is an excellent improvement. I do appreciate ADA’s effort to make things less stressful for us. However, we are one and half year away from the deadline so if you believe you can pass both Part 1&2 quickly, go for it. It’s like a no-brainer if we just sit and wait to take INBDE instead of clearing NBDE and applying for the next cycle. In case you do not see yourself clearing both part before Aug 1,2020 due to certain situation (finance problem, young kids to take care, working full time, visa issue, etc) then INBDE will worth the wait.

More questions that I did not answer in this post? PM me at https://www.facebook.com/ddsjourney/ or email me at hannah@ddsjourney.com

*Any chance for low GPA?

I came across this question not only once. How low is low? How low is acceptable? Do I have any chance when GPA is too low? Which school accepts low GPA? Well I am not in any way a specialist but I do have a couple of thought that may benefit you.

In my school (University of Colorado SODM), we ISP students have chances to contribute in the ISP interview. This is an honor and we fully understand all the responsibilities to come with it. Therefore, I cannot share specifically what I learned in the interview rooms but I will try to convey some general messages. Most of the time, school depends on GPA to evaluate candidates’ academic ability. That’s why you may read somewhere that you should have GPA no less than 3.0 to be considered. That is not wrong but also not totally true. It does depend on schools. I have learned that not every school will pick candidates the same way. Some schools prefer candidates with a great story like being a refugee, living through a war, having some drastic change in one’s life. Some schools prefer candidates with the best academic performance. Some schools like my school – according to the program director – “we value what are components of a holistic approach, not just academic performance or extensive clinical experience”.

In my opinion, it’s not fair when judging one’s study capability only based on GPA. Some schools’ program is tougher than other schools. When I studied dentistry in my home country, passing score is 5/10. Most people would fall in the 5-6 category. Having a 7 will be “Yayy”. Having an 8 means “oh gosh I am so smart”. Having a 9 means “what the hell, how could I get that”. I don’t remember seeing a 10 except maybe in public health – that subject was one of the easiest in my program. I had a 9 with communism theory. I guess I am really good at writing passionately about something I completely don’t understand. For anyone wondering, it’s a must in my home country as we had to study this continuously for 4 years. That makes me wonder how someone not from these countries knows the whole picture to evaluate one’s performance accurately? Different schools from the same country will score their students differently, let alone different schools from different countries. So when we convert the GPA at home to U.S GPA, it is like a punch to our heart. All of the hard work in 5 or 6 years, all the tears and effort now have such a low value and will potentially harm our future. Not that I think ECE/WES don’t do a good job – I know they try their best – but I think schools should not cut people off just based on GPA because someone having 2.8 may be as good as someone having 3.8.

So what does it mean to evaluate candidates with holistic approach? “Don’t judge a book by its cover” - Everything will be taken into consideration from clinical experience, GPA, research, community service, your effort, your personality, your defying-the-odds story, etc. They want to see if you really commit in dentistry, and if you have a great personality. That is your job to prove to them that you love dentistry, you are not a lazy person, and you are not a quitter! Between someone who doesn’t have any change or any improvement years after years and someone working so hard to earn the opportunity, never let their situation define them, never give up on their dream no matter how long and how far they have to go, I think schools will invite the latter to the interview.

So how to prove? I don’t have an answer that will match everybody. If you are practicing in your home country - you are very lucky, keep practicing! Several years ago University of Washington State had a 2-day prep course for anyone interested in applying for their advance standing program. When I asked one of the consultants there if I had any chance considering I had no U.S education/experience background like other attendees, she smiled and told me “You have real experience working as a dentist and it’s one of the strongest points”. If you don’t have a lot of experience because maybe you moved to the U.S right after dental school, then strengthen your resume from academic standpoint – applying for MPH, going through preceptorship programs, doing research, etc. If you are not practicing and cannot choose the academic pathway either due to certain hardship, volunteering or working in a dental office as front desk/assistant, working as a hygienist, shadowing dentists, etc all help. When you constantly expose yourself to dentistry, that shows how much commitment you have for the career. It’s not rare to see someone having all three – they are practicing in their home country, they completed a certificate program in a U.S dental school, once a year they also would fly here to shadow some dentists. I can’t help but being more humble meeting these people. Bottom line, the question is not “which schools accept my low GPA?” but should be “I have this GPA, what else can I do to strengthen my profile in order to prove to the school that I deserve this chance?”

Honestly, it’s hard for me to write this article since I know there are many people out there deserve to have my spot, sit here and write about their journey. I am not better than anyone, I am only luckier than some so I was admitted. Who am I to give out advice? Please consider me as your local tour guide who just happened to go through the journey 1,2 years before you. Be patient, you are almost there.

*Do U.S dental schools accept people without green card or citizenship?

One of the most popular questions I’ve got since I joined UCDenver is whether international dentists have any chance when they don’t have green card or citizenship. More importantly, can they work in the U.S after graduation or they can’t? Short answer is YES. Longer answer – let me explain what I know a bit clearer.

My friends or whoever read my last blog will know that I came here on student visa. I got my green card only 4 months ago through my mom’s sponsorship. Are there a lot of students like me coming here on student visa? Yes, a lot. I think at least 10 of my classmates are on F1 visa right now, and some others are on H4b visa (their spouse have working visa H1b). Of course there are some schools or programs specifically require candidate having green card or citizenship to apply, and some programs require only citizenship. However there is no mystery on that. They don’t play hide and seek with us but will give out these information clearly on their website or CAAPID directory like below

So how to obtain F1 visa now that you get accepted to one or several dental schools?

1) decide which school you will join

2) pay deposit to the program – most school will ask you to pay deposit when you accept the offer to join their program. This deposit will count toward your tuition later. For example the tuition for the 1st year at UCDenver SODM – ISP program is $78.630 according to the website. Last time I paid, it’s $4000 for deposit, which means ISP students will pay the rest $74.630 later.

3) send a proof to the school that you will be able to pay the total cost of living for the 1st year (currently $121.450 at UCDenver). This can be from you own bank account, or a friend/family that agrees to sponsor for your 1st year – doesn’t mean that you will use your own money or friend’s money. Weird, I know, it’s only the process. I will post another blog about this.

4) after receiving your proof, school will send you I-20

5) apply for student visa

6) apply for student loan

7) well, when you have visa and loan ready, everything else is minor problem obviously.

During my time at UCDenver as F1 visa student, there is an office that will take care of us called The International Student & Scholar Service or ISSS. If we need a stamp to travel out of the U.S or we need a new I-20 or simply we need some advice on immigration issue, they are always there. They provide walk-in service 2 hours/week right at one of dental school’s office so we students can easily stop by to have a quick question anytime (you know, dental students are super busy). Recently when I got green card, I requested an update in the University system, but forgot to let the ISSS office know. Last week I got an email from ISSS to ask if my status is accurate or not, because they are working to help F1 visa student to apply for OPT. They care about us, guys!

So what is OPT? OPT stands for Optional Practical Training for F1-visa student. Basically all F1-visa student has one-year period to get more real-life training at a company/organization before going back to their home country. For dentists, we will use this one-year to work for a dental practice/ dental corporate/ public health center, etc wherever can sponsor for your working visa, and then apply for working visa during this time. I won’t have to apply for this visa, so I don’t know a lot about the process, but I see from my seniors that they applied around April every year. When you get the working visa, you can just stay and work here years after years unless you get fired. In worst scenario that you really get fired, quickly look for a new job and continue staying under this H1B visa. Some practice/corporate/center also sponsor for you to get a green card after working with them for several years. I again don’t know a lot, but my ex got green card after he worked for a hospital for 7 years, and then got citizenship 2,3 years after that. The number of years depends on case to case basis I think, and also depends on which country you come from (there are currently a lot of application from India, China, etc so the waiting period is longer)

Now you may raise a question “Is it easy for dentists especially international dentists to find a job?” Honestly I haven’t looked for a job yet since it’s still 3 months from graduation (hmm I know I should though) but my friends have started already and they all got at least a call for interview and it’s mainly about negotiation. One of my best friends here got an interview in April – 8 months before graduation since she started really early. She’s also on student visa FYI. When you get an interview, they will describe to you the working hours, the location of office, income and benefit, etc and if both sides agree with those, they send you a contract to mailbox, you sign on it and send it back. Done. When I first moved in to CO, I’ve talked to one senior graduating that year. She told me it’s difficult to find a job that satisfy all your requirements like good income, good working hours, good location in big cities like Denver, New York, Seattle, Houston, good benefit, great mentorship, great services, etc. It’s easy if you sacrifice one of those – working in a rural area far away from cities, then you will have better income for example. Hey, it’s life-like. You never have everything you want in one package, right?

What is ADEA CAAPID?

If you read my last blog and happened to click on the ADEA link, you will notice the pop-up page call “ADEA CAAPID Directory”. We all know that ADEA stands for American Dental Education Association. So what does CAAPID stand for?

According to ADEA website, CAAPID is “Centralized Application for Advanced Placement for International Dentists”. This is where you can have a general idea about the advanced standing programs (ASP) across the country (please read my last blog if you wonder what ASP is) as well as applying to ones.

From the main page “ADEA CAAPID Directory”, you will see a list of every U.S Dental School offering the ASP with a link to each school for more specific detail like class size, contact info, length of program, etc and of course the school’s website. From there, with a lot of hard work to satisfy all their requirements, you will come back to CAAPID one more time to finally apply to your dream school(s). It’s very unlikely that anyone of us will apply to only one school. These programs are so competitive that some people will apply to 20 schools to increase their chance. So instead of going to 20 websites, sending paperwork to 20 different schools, and pissing off your reference persons for also sending their letters to 20 schools, you apply through CAAPID. CAAPID has a standardized set of paperwork that you have to complete and if any school requires more information, they will describe specifically and you will have to submit those extra paper directly to the school.

I don’t remember the exact number but I think I paid about $30 for each copy of the NBDE score and $20 for TOEFL, so I would spend about $1000 just to send those score reports to 20 schools. Don’t get me wrong, applying through CAAPID is costly too because you will have to pay to CAAPID itself depending on how many school you apply through them (I think I paid a bit more than $1000 to apply to three schools). Well the thing is you pay only $50 to send NBDE/TOEFL report to CAAPID and they will distribute it to 20 schools. Less money- and time-consuming. After you complete the CAAPID application, each school will now have access to your info and review your application. If you are required to submit one or more things, schools will contact you directly and from now on you will submit to them only.

Honestly, the whole process was a bit scary for me. I kept paying money without knowing where it would lead to. Mostly I felt guilty toward my mom for spending her credit card. I was working part-time in my home country back then to spend time for studying so I didn’t earn that much considering the difference in currency between Vietnam and America. And although my mom was working here in the U.S at that time, she didn’t earn much either. That to say, it takes a lot of courage and probably blind-belief to pursue this dream. I get you, friends! Good luck to all the brave warriors out there.

*Which schools provide the advanced standing program for international dentist?

When writing this post, my mind wandered back to 5,6 years ago when my journey first started. I was thirsty of every small information I could squeeze out of the internet, completely unaware of the vast info actually sharing freely on a daily basis. Until now I still don’t understand why it was so hard for me to dig out information. Once I found some golden keywords, everything opened up. One of the most resourceful website that I found back then was ADEA website. ADEA stands for American Dental Education Association – so the information is up-to-date and of course official (Yay!) If you are like me before – don’t know where to start – this should be your best friend from now on.

The most powerful info in ADEA in my opinion is their list of all the U.S. School providing the advanced standing program for international dentists who seek U.S license. What is advanced standing program (ASP)? It’s the generic name for all the dental programs capable of giving us international dentist a degree in order for us to get the license. (Why we need a degree to get license and is it the only way? I will write about it with more detail) Let’s take preceptorship program as an example. The preceptorship program takes us in to shadow their faculties only - no patient treatment, no skill training – and we complete with a certificate, not a degree. That’s not an ASP! Master of public health program also doesn’t provide a degree. AEGD program neither and so on. So before you start preparing for any application, make sure you check they will issue us a DDS/DMD degree upon completion.

Now the trickier part, each dental school calls the ASP differently. My school University of Colorado Denver calls it the ISP program (International student program). University of Washington calls it the IDDS program (International DDS program). University of Pennsylvania calls it PASS (the Program for Advances standing students). Then how do you know the exact name of the program at the school you want to apply to right? I know! The way I did it was:

- Check ADEA directory to see if your dream school provides ASP or not

- If yes, bingo! Now check their general requirements – required part 1/ or both part 1&2, application deadline, ECE/WES, etc

- Now you at least know what you should aim for – “passing part 2 latest in September since the deadline is November” for example.

- Final step, learn more about the school you want to apply to by simply googling your dream school + “international dentist program” – they should lead you there.

From this point, it is still a long way before you actually apply to the school(s) because you still have to do a lot of research. You may end up apply to only 3 schools that suits you the most (let’s say you only clear part 1 but still want to try), or to 20 schools across the country to increase more chance (but spend way more money unfortunately). But at least you are now equipped with some basic knowledge of where/when to apply and what needs to be done. I always believe a good foundation can take you far or simply save you a lot of time and headache :)

As I said before, this whole process is quite confusing with so many details and problems that happens every step further you take. My least intention is to overwhelm you with small details. Believe me, if I knew everything I know now, I would not give it a chance as I would think no way I could understand all that. With that in mind, I am trying to make my post kinda short so it won’t be too “dry” to read. I am pretty sure there still be questions on your mind that bothers you all days and nights. Please don’t hesitate to shoot me your question(s) – if I know something, I will answer directly or give you an info source that can answer better than me.

Here I will copy one the my faculties’ statement which I like the most:

BE YOUR BEST!

*Fueling the DDS journey aka the money-talking part

Getting dental license in the U.S is a long journey, and how to fuel the journey is a very important aspect. I’ve seen first-hand how impactful it can be to one’s success. Therefore, I want to dive in deeper to this topic today. If you have no time for story, skip to the bottom and read the part in Bold letter of what I've learned through my story.

You may or may not hear my story before I joined UCDenver in 2017. I started preparing for NBDE and TOEFL since 2012. It was lots of money and although I started working, I had to ask for my mom’s help still. She was in the U.S at that time, recently emigrated, recently got a job, was not financially stable yet. She was working, supporting my two siblings in America and supporting me for my education as well in Vietnam. No easy task. We were hand-tight. I still don’t understand how my mom managed that because I graduated now, started working as a dentist here, and trust me, $500 for one exam would still be a burden to me. Every decision back then had to be calculated carefully – which book to buy, which course to take, etc. I recently received a message on which book to buy because all of those NBDE books are expensive. I know exactly what you were talking about! I searched Amazon and E-bay to find the cheapest secondhand book with the not-too-old version (I used version 2011-2012 when I took Part 1 in 2014). You can learn from any book. It’s not the book that matters but how well you understand the material and if you can apply what you understand in answering question. You can buy the latest version of every single book out there and still fail if all you do is trying to memorize all the points.

There is not only money for exams. You also need money for other no name steps as well. Evaluation with ECE! Registering with CAAPID to apply! Asking ECE to send copy to ADA! Asking ETS to send TOEFL score to ADA! And so much more. One wrong address can cost me about $30, $50. Multiple times can easily cost me $100 or more. The money pressure will be there. I do not want to scare you away but I want you to be mindful that this journey is fueled by either money or a lot of money. Up to this point, you have to have money sitting in your bank account for this because no bank will give you a loan for “preparing for dental school” reason. I have to stress it because one reader kept asking me about student loan while not even taking NBDE yet – I found out later – she thought she must have student loan approved before she can apply for dental schools. No! To the day you get the “Congratulation!” email from dental school, you pay everything by yourself and you do not need student loan.

Schools will not ask for financial proof when you apply nor pick you based on your financial ability. Finally the day you longing for for so many years come! You get the call or the email from the director. I don’t think a lot of people sharing what happens next so I will share my story in detail. In the next several days, I got another email from the school asking me if I will accept the position or not. I had three options – decline (if I pick another school)/ defer (one year only)/ or accept. When I chose accepting the offer, I had to send a deposit check for $4000 to confirm that I do plan to come. Of course, this deposit would go to the tuition later. It was a shock to me as I then faced a more serious question – I got accepted now where I can find enough money for dental school with my family’s current financial situation. I had no choice but to borrow money for the deposit. This is my family and my own dream come true, but at the same time, I put tons of pressure on my mom. I had some saving but it was not enough as I spent lots of time studying instead of working. We had to borrow from my aunts, uncles, cousins. Most of them also just recently emigrated to the U.S and had entry level work income. I felt like the most selfish person on Earth to depend solely on family to help me in my own success. I questioned myself if I could barely afford $4000 deposit, how I could afford tuition fee and if I could not, I would lose $4000 for nothing. It was a scary time, but we managed it.

Next step, school asked me to provide financial proof that I could afford at least one year of tuition. I was honestly thinking it would be easy to apply for loan “because I would soon become a dentist here, so bank should love me”. WRONG! I talked to several banks. Some of them need I-20 to process the application but school will not give you I-20 before you give them the proof of the loan. Only two banks accept the application without I-20 so I applied to both. With all the banks, I would need a cosigner as I was not a residence or citizen here, I had no credit history, so they could not trust me. Easy right? I have my mom – a US Citizen – and of course she had good credit history, she was working and had income. On their website, they said something like “cosigned needs to have income of $19000/yr minimum to be qualified” and my mom earned more than that. WRONG again! Both of them declined right away as the amount of money I wanted to borrow ($100000) was way too much comparing to her income (aka her ability to pay in case I cannot). I contacted the school desperately to look for a way out. They suggested me to borrow lesser amount but how I could afford the rest? My extended family was willing to cosign for me as well but their income was just like my mom’s. I turned to the internet asking for advice and help. No one could help and none of the advice worked. I did not want to ruin someone else’s chance and honestly the whole time, this acceptance was too good to be true so in the back of my mind, it was not meant for me. I gave up! I wrote a letter to the program director to apologize that I had to defer one year to figure out about the tuition. It was devastating. The moment I hit the “SEND” button, I was looking at my years of hard-work (and $4000) flying through my hand.

So how did I make it right next year? I did nothing. It was my family. I am still a selfish daughter. I mean I worked harder that year, found a new job, earned more money, saved more but it was nothing when you exchange VND to USD. My dad passed away two years earlier before all of this happened and he left the house for me so I could sell it for my education (Thanks, dad!). I could finally sell the house that year and had a bit more money (Thanks to my siblings that they did not ask for anything when they have the right to take some). My mom (remarried after I deferred) and my stepdad bought a house, their income together was much better than my mom’s alone so my stepdad agreed to help as well (Thanks mom and Sal!). My mom thought I gave up on the idea but I couldn’t. It was not only my effort but also my whole family's and I did not want to see it go in vain. I applied one more time next year secretly and the bank accepted although they gave me an insane interest rate 11.5%. I had to do what I had to do.

What I learned from my journey was:

1) You don’t need to worry about tuition from the start, but do need to think about your ability to afford it – for example if you have someone to cosign, if you have property in your home country that you can take a loan from there (my dad’s house wasn’t qualified for this) or if you and your family have enough savings to pay for school.

2) In the U.S, banks don’t care how much money you owe, they only care how much you own. I do believe what made a difference was the house. The bank evaluated that she owned a house and paid payment every month so she’s reliable. I was scared that she had mortgage loan, so bank would refuse. Everyone in America is in some sort of debt so debt is not a deal-breaker. If you are not in debt, banks won’t like you as much.

3) It will be easier when you have I-20. In order to have I-20, you will need to send school proof of finance. School doesn’t care where or who it comes from, so if you have a friend or family having about $100000 in bank account, you just need to ask them writing you a letter that they agree to sponsor. School will not hold it against the person. The person doesn’t have to give you the money. School only needs the letter to issue I-20 so you can take it to apply for loan. I suggest to ask local banks from your home country, who knows they may have a service that you and I don’t know about.

I always say that I have utter respect to all doctors going through this long difficult journey. That takes a lot of courage and commitment with no guarantee of ROI – Return of Investment. I also say that if I knew what I know now, I might give up from the beginning. If you feel like you don’t understand the steps, or some part is confusing, believe me, it’s a bless. Life will prepare you enough to take all the hardship. What you learn now will prepare you for next year, and what you learn next year will prepare you for a year after that. Life changes, and so do you. When I write this, I keep asking myself if I give out too much information and discourage someone. That is absolutely not my intention. I want to share information to encourage you to be practical and if you are facing what I faced years ago, knowing that you are not alone, and sooner or later, there will be a way out eventually.

Information is GOLD!

P.S. more questions? Please don't hesitate to share with me by sending a message at the bottom of the page or through our official facebook page

Bác sĩ RHM Mỹ xin license như thế nào

Hôm nay có chút thời gian rảnh rỗi, mình quyết định viết thêm về vấn đề xin license ở Mỹ cho dễ hiểu hơn với các bạn ở Việt Nam. Ở Mỹ, việc cấp license là việc của từng tiểu bang – ví dụ như mình đã có license ở Washington State nhưng một ngày đẹp trời nào đó mình muốn chuyển qua Texas ở thì sẽ phải xin license của Texas. Mặc dù mỗi tiểu bang có requirements khác nhau cho license (ví dụ như phải qua kỳ thi đạo đức, có chứng chỉ học về HIV, hoàn tất 1 năm sau đại hoc,…) nhìn chung họ đều đòi 3 items cơ bản như sau:

1) Thi đậu NBDE Part 1 &2 – và tương lai thì INBDE từ năm 2020

2) Tốt nghiệp từ 1 trường nha khoa Hoa Kỳ/Canada

3) Thi đậu "kỳ thi cấp chứng chỉ hành nghề"

Thi đậu NBDE

Item này tương đối đơn giản và là bước cơ bản nhất mà bác sỹ nước ngoài nào cũng phải đạt được, bởi đây là điều kiện bắt buộc để nộp đơn vô Advance Standing Program của bất cứ trường nha khoa nào. Để thi NDBE, bạn phải nộp đơn qua ADA. Không hề có yêu cầu nào về greencard hay quốc tịch để thi kỳ thi này. Mình đăng ký thi năm 2014 và bay qua Mỹ thi bằng visa du lịch. Trước khi đăng ký thi, bạn sẽ phải đăng ký ADA để lấy số DENTPIN. Số này giống như 1 dạng CMND nhưng dùng cho nha khoa và con số này là con số đi theo bạn cả đời (nếu bạn đi theo con đường nha khoa). Họ sẽ yêu cầu bạn khai các thông tin cá nhân cũng như nộp bằng tốt nghiệp tại home country để chứng minh bạn thật sự là 1 bác sỹ nha khoa. Sau khi có DENTPIN, bạn sẽ được quyền apply để thi NBDE. Đối với sinh viên Mỹ thì họ sẽ thi Part 1 vào cuối năm 1 và Part 2 vào năm 3. Chi phí cho kỳ thi Part 1 (thông tin năm 2018) là $425, kèm thêm $210 cho international dentists vì họ phải thêm công đoạn tra cứu thông tin. Chi phí cho kỳ thi Part 2 là $475 cộng thêm $210. Bắt đầu từ tháng 8/2020, họ sẽ chuyển sang format mới là INBDE. Để biết sự khác nhau giữa 2 format, vui lòng click vào link để đọc thêm.

Tốt nghiệp từ 1 trường nha khoa Hoa Kỳ/Canada

Ở Mỹ có những tổ chức chuyên đi đánh giá các trường từ lớn đến nhỏ. Việc mở trường học ở Mỹ khá dễ dàng, nhưng chỉ trường nào qua được yêu cầu khắc khe của các tổ chức này thì bằng cấp của họ mới có giá trị (vài năm trước nhiều du học sinh Việt Nam bị lừa cho đi học ở các trường không được công nhận). Tổ chức này trong nha khoa gọi là CODA - Commission on Dental Accreditation.

Ở Việt Nam có sự nhầm lẫn về việc các trường trong nước có được “công nhận” hay không. Tất nhiên là họ có công nhận các trường này, do đó khi chúng ta nộp bằng tốt nghiệp lên ADA mới được công nhận là foreign dentist và cho phép chúng ta học thêm 2 năm để đủ điều kiện xin license thay vì học lại từ đầu mất 4 năm. Tuy nhiên các trường nước ngoài này không phải là CODA-accredited schools. Để được xin license, bạn phải tốt nghiệp từ 1 CODA-accredited dental schools. Để tìm hiểu thêm chương trình học 2 năm ở Colorado mà mình đã học, xin click vào link.

Đậu "kỳ thi cấp chứng chỉ hành nghề" Mỹ

Đây lại là 1 nhầm lẫn khái niệm khác ở Việt Nam. Khi mình thi đậu kỳ thi này vào tháng 8, nhiều bạn đã hỏi mình là mình thi xong rồi thì có phải đi học nữa không, thi đậu rồi thì có license, được đi làm luôn hả. Thật ra ở Mỹ, sinh viên được thi kỳ thi này từ trước khi tốt nghiệp để đến khi tốt nghiệp rồi thi được apply cho license ngay không phải chờ đợi. Kỳ thi này ở Mỹ không gọi là “license exam” mà gọi là Board exam, và là kỳ thi quan trọng nhất trong cuộc đời bác sĩ Mỹ. Kỳ thi này khó bởi đây là kỳ thi lâm sàng chứ không phải là lý thuyết như NBDE nữa và vì nó liên quan đến bệnh nhân nên mức độ khó và stress cực kỳ cao. Hầu như sinh viên, bác sĩ nào cũng sụt mất vài ký khi chuẩn bị thi. Do thi đậu board là cửa ải cuối cùng để apply cho license (thi trong vài tháng cuối trước khi tốt nghiệp nên coi như chắc chắn tốt nghiệp rồi), nên khi các sinh viên thi đậu xong board thì coi như chắc chắn có tiền đồ. Vậy kỳ thi này chính xác là như thế nào?

Về cơ bản, có 5 board exam mà sinh viên có thể lựa chọn, mỗi board exam này có hình thức hơi khác 1 chút và location/time cũng khác nhau. Nhiệm vụ của sinh viên là phải tìm hiểu xem tiểu bang mà mình muốn ở và làm việc chấp nhận board nào. Một số bang như Washington State nhận tất cả các board trong khi Maryland, Florida,… chỉ nhận 2 board mà thôi. Ví dụ như nếu mình thi WREB, mình có thể xin license ở Washington state, California, Colorado… nhưng nếu mình di chuyển qua bờ Đông nước Mỹ để ở thì mình sẽ phải thi board lại. Các tổ chức này sẽ phối hợp với các trường để mượn clinic cho kỳ thi board, và cứ mỗi tháng họ lại thi 1 lần nhưng ở các trường khác nhau. Tuỳ theo sinh viên tốt nghiệp vào thời điểm nào trong năm mà lựa chọn thi ở đâu. Tất nhiên nếu được thi ở trường mình là tốt nhất vì đã quen với đường đi lối về của clinic và quan trọng nhất là không phải mua vé máy bay và hotel cho bệnh nhân. Bạn mình có gia đình ở Maryland nên phải thi kỳ thi ADEX mà trường mình thi không có kỳ thi này, do đó phải bay qua New York để thi đem theo 2 bệnh nhân qua đó – bao tiền vé và ăn ở. Các bạn khác thì thích nắng ấm vùng nhiệt đới nên bay qua Florida thi vào tháng sau đó.

Tại sao phải đem bệnh nhân theo với mình mà không tìm bệnh nhân ngay tại nơi thi cho tiện? Ai thi board ở Mỹ sẽ hiểu, bệnh nhân board quý như vàng và cưng chiều như trông con mọn. Bệnh nhân nhất thiết phải có bệnh (sâu răng hoặc nha chu) nhưng không được quá nhẹ, cũng không quá nặng. Bệnh nhân cũng không đuợc có các vấn đề nặng khác (bênh nhân nha chu đủ chuẩn nhưng có răng sâu sát tuỷ chẳng hạn) hoặc các bệnh nặng về sức khoẻ kiểu như cao huyết áp không kiểm soát (nhỡ đâu đang thi bệnh nhân huyết áp lên cao phải đi cấp cứu thì sao 😅) Nếu thi tại chỗ, bệnh nhân chỉ cần nghỉ 1-2 ngày làm việc (thường thi thứ 6, thứ 7) nên sẽ dễ tìm bệnh nhân hơn, và nếu bệnh nhân bất ngờ không đến ngày đó thì cũng có thể tìm được backup. Nếu thi ở bang khác và muốn tìm bệnh nhân ở đó, làm sao để bạn có phim xray, screen bệnh nhân về các vấn đề răng miệng, sức khoẻ, khám xem bệnh nhân có “qualified” cho board exam không, nói chuyện với bệnh nhân về ngày thi… là 1 chuyện rất khó.

Chi tiết kỳ thi như thế nào thì… xin đợi sang tuần sau sẽ viết tiếp 😊