Long-term educational opportunities for those who have completed their first professional degree in dentistry may be referred to as graduate or postgraduate programs. Graduate programs are always sponsored by universities and students who successfully complete such programs receive a degree--the Master of Dental Health (M.D.H.), Master of Dental Science (M.D.S.), or Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree. Graduate programs are designed to prepare their students for careers in teaching or research.
Postgraduate programs may be sponsored by either hospitals or by universities, and typically award a certificate rather than a degree upon program completion, though a few do award degrees. Postgraduate programs provide a greater focus on clinical practice than do graduate degree programs.
Some postgraduate programs sponsored by hospitals require U.S. dental licensure. Programs sponsored by a university's dental school will be more likely to admit internationally educated dentists who are not U.S. licensed. University-sponsored programs generally include hospital training in university-affiliated facilities.
Admissions requirements for advanced programs in dentistry vary somewhat from institution to institution. Internationally educated applicants must be able to demonstrate knowledge of dentistry as practiced in the United States, proficiency in the English language, and a strong undergraduate record. The National Board Dental Examination (NBDE) Part I is also typically required. NBDE covers the anatomic sciences, biochemistry-physiology, microbiology-pathology, dental anatomy, and occlusion. The exam is currently offered only through Prometric centers in North America.
More than 550 postdoctoral programs participate in the centralized Postdoctoral Application Support Service (PASS) sponsored by the American Dental Education Association (ADEA). ADEA PASS allows applicants to submit a single application form to all the schools in which they are interested. Applicants must still contact the individual schools directly as well, submitting the application there and fulfilling additional requirements such as program interviews.
Postgraduate residency programs may be general practice residencies or may focus on a particular specialty area of dentistry. Advanced programs that teach general dentistry have many U.S. applicants and admit relatively few internationally educated dentists. While some specialty areas, such as oral surgery, are also difficult for internationally educated dentists to enter, residencies in most specialties are less competitive than are the general practice residencies. Nine specialty areas are recognized in the United States: dental public health, endodontics, oral pathology, oral and maxillofacial surgery, oral and maxillofacial radiology, orthodontics, pediatric dentistry (also known as pedodontics), periodontics, and prosthodontics.
There are also areas outside the recognized specialties in which instruction is also available for dentists, particularly within degree-granting graduate programs. Some of these areas include anatomy, anesthesiology, biochemistry, dental materials, immunology, implantology, microbiology, operative dentistry, oral biology, oral medicine, pharmacy, and physiology.
Graduate and postgraduate dental education programs generally enroll new students in July or September. Applicants are selected no later than January and foreign-trained dentists are advised to begin the application process no less than one year before the enrollment date desired.
Advanced educational programs in the dental specialty areas listed above must include at least two years of instruction. Oral pathology programs must last at least three years, while programs in oral and maxillofacial surgery must last at least four years. General dentistry programs are only required to be at least one year in duration, but as noted above, few internationally educated dentists gain admission to such programs.
Dentists seeking shorter advanced education opportunities might consider continuing education courses or (if they are highly qualified) visiting faculty or research positions at a U.S. dental school. Continuing education courses are intended to provide information on advances in dental and medical sciences. They usually last less than one week (many are only one day long). The ADA publishes information on these courses.
It is necessary to contact individual dental schools for information on any available visiting faculty or research positions. Minimum qualifications for such positions would include an advanced dental degree, an excellent academic record, and research experience.
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