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Posted Tue, 05/13/2008 - 04:37 by admin

 

ForeignTrainedDentists.Org is a social network which aims to promote integration of international / foreign trained dentists living in America. The current road map for foreign trained dentists to practice in the United States serves as a brick wall. ForeignTrainedDentists.Org calls for foreign dentists and their patients, dental reform organizations, American dentists, politicians, insurance companies, and foreign dental schools to unite in pursuing this cause. Our hopes are to contribute to an American society with so many gaps in dental care that can be fulfilled by fully qualified foreign trained dentists living in America.

IF YOU ARE A FOREIGN TRAINED DENTIST LIVING IN THE U.S. PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT ON YOUR IDEAS FOR HOW WE SHOULD BUILD THIS SITE. I see we've already gotten hits from Utah and Maryland. You will be asked a simple math question so we can make sure you are a human commenting and not a Internet Robot :).  See this blog for my initial ideas: http://www.cognitivemetaphors.com/foreigntraineddentists.  I've been talking to a lot of people with a lot of good ideas. I like to do the problem justice by capturing the ideas of everyone in the same situation in a comprehensive, well maintained community website.

** UPDATE 01/30/2011 - A friend and I will be working on a new feature or standalone site that will be a marketplace for foreign trained dentists living in the United States to find jobs as dental assistants. It's a practical step towards the reality of having to make a living and at the same time pursuing US requirements that are difficult at best to surmount. Perhaps if we start with this step together, we can bring attention to the riduculousness of the situation. If anyone is interested in being test users, helping with requirements gathering, or doing research on how dental assistants get jobs in different parts of the country, I'd be happy for the help and to take in your inputs. Email me at acgarcia21@yahoo.com if you are. **

Read the comments attached to this article from people who are currently in this situation.

 

 

Comments

canadian/some US dental boards=Cubas/N Koreas of DDS licensure

by ca_dds - 04/14/2010 - 03:46

I have started a relentless campaign against the draconian rules and blatant discrimination qualified foreign doctors are subject to.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=622799

I am looking for other foreign dentists licensed in California too join me in the find for justice

It will also help US licensed dentists who wish to move to Europe , if EU and US/Canada get reciprocity

Question

by r_afael09 - 05/25/2009 - 21:41

hello there... im glad i found this site. ..

i'm 20 years old and i go to this university of dentistry here in Brazil .. i was born here, but i lived in the US for four years e have a lot of relatives there. ..

my question is, when i graduate here, i will be 23 years old, how can i do to be a dentist in the US?

let me tell you guys a litlle about how is college in brazil ..

here, you have two choices, or you go trough this big test of all subjects ( chemistry, math, portuguese, english, history, geography, fisics, filosofy, sociology, biology ), made by colleges that are supported by the government, and if you are one of the first 40 places you get in .

ex:
the Uberlandia Federal College .. if i want to do dentistry, i choose that before taking the test.. lets say there's 500 students from all the diferent cities of Br, the first 40 high score's are the ones to get in. You get all for free, except the instruments, that costs almost 9000 reais ( 4500 dollars ) . in my college, dentistry is 5 years; you start having contact with patients in the 2nd year till the 5th , so you get out really prepared.

the other choice is, you choose a private college, and than you pay 1500 reais ( 700 dollars ) each month,fr 5 years, plus your instruments , but brazilian people dont really like private college, because, if tou study hard enough you can get it all for free from the goverment.. so why pay??
hehehe

also, in my college.. theres a ER just for dental emergency ... its in the same buiulding of a ER for medicine .. and we have to make 500 hours there in order to graduate during the last two years;

if you are a dentist in brazil, you can be a dentist in any state..

i will be glad if someone could ask my question ..

Reply to Student From Brazil

by admin - 06/04/2009 - 13:09

Good morning r_afael09,

The good news is that you are young and have plenty of time if becoming a dentist in America is your ultimate goal.

The bad news is that there are many brick walls not the least of which is money and a requirement to take many courses over again here plus passing several tests. See the ADA International Dentists Licennsure link.

This site is dedicated to making the practice of dentistry in the U.S. more accessible to foreign trained dentists. I hope to be spending much more time and hope you will get involved in helping us with these efforts. Perhaps with help from people like you, we can make can reach your goal understandable and reachable.

--Anthony

 

lawsuit

by Nardin Ashkan - 11/11/2008 - 18:33

I think we should file a lawsuit against this discrimination of dental boards.

Idiotic regulations of greedy, inept and incompetent state den

by ca_dds - 10/12/2008 - 03:39

Idiotic regulations of greedy, inept and incompetent state dental boards in USA

This is a nice web site :

http://overseasdentist.com/

I am a licensed dentist in California , graduated in Europe , got my CA
license 10 years ago , when additional education (2 years) was not required
in this state( I had to pass the horrible bench test exam for foreign DDS
though , passing rate was only 5% and the requirements insane, most foreign
or American school grads would fail that test)

I have also passed the most feared clinical exam at that time - the
California State Board clinical examination, where I met USC , UCLA grads
taking the test 2nd, 3rd or even 4th time. NERB is a joke compared to the
one I had to go through in order to get the CA DDS license.

Imagine that after practicing for 10 years in California, if I want to
move to any other state , I have to do 2 more years of school, regardless of
my US work experience /all the dental examinations I have passed already.

The 2 years advanced standing programs for foreign DDS are EXTREMELY
DIFFICULT TO GET IN , 600 dentists apply, only 15 get in for each program.

Even if I want to work as a dental hygienist in other state, I have to do 2
years of school learning how to clean teeth even though I am a licensed
dentist in CALIFORNIA.How idiotic does that sound?? A California licensed
DDS cannot practice at least hygiene in another state, except Florida

Further more , let's say I become a periodontist ( 3 years of training in
America).

Guess what? If I want to move to NJ, NY and most other states, I have to go
to school again , even though I have American specialty training!!

So I am an American trained periodontist in California, but New York dental
board sends me back to school, even though periodontology is the same in NY
and CA.

This is like having an American trained cardiologist practicing in CA being
sent back to medical school in order to practice in NY .

I am asking the dentists from NY Dental Board: Does that sound right to you?

Furthermore:

Let's say I am a foreign dental school graduate, licensed in CA , specialist
in periodontology (3 years of American school education) and I would like to
practice dental hygiene in NY.

GUESS WHAT ? I have to do two years of dental hygiene school in order to be
licensed as a hygienist in NY ,even though I am an American trained
periodontist in CA

I have a question for NY and other state dental boards.

Are you people in your right mind?

Shame on you,members of NY board of dental examiners ,you are a disgrace to
the profession of dentist in America.You treat your CA colleagues like
animals, not like fellow dentists.

You would allow some dentists to practice in NY after 1 year of residency
without passing a state clinical exam, but you would not allow an American
trained endodontist to do root canals in NY .

You know very well this is bullshit and against common sense, but you do not
give a shit , you are just against any competition and could care less about
consumers.

Dare to explain to me , members of NY Board of Dental Examiners, why an
endodontist , who went for 2-3 years to an AMERICAN endo residency , should
not do RCT's in NY , because he went to dental school in the UK.

He only does RCT's , and he learned how to do them in the US , after he
completed his UK education.

You tell me, greedy , disgraceful members of NY Board of Dental Examiners,
why an US educated periodontist, licensed in CA, cannot be a AT LEAST a
dental hygienist in NY!

I'll make sure that this gets to all NEW YORK legislators, I will show them
how you "protect" NY consumers!

A licensed periodontist in CA cannot be at least a hygienist in your state?
ARE YOU NUTS?Are you out of your mind?

Do you really care about consumers, or all you care about is your own greed
( you do not want anyone to have a slice of the pie , so you crush any
competition)

WAKE UP , American dental boards!

We live in a global economy, you should allow dentists from Europe, UK ,
Australia and New Zealand to practice in USA without going through all the
BS you ask them to go through!

Those countries do not put the American dentists through all that
supplemental 2 year crap you ask UK /European dentists to go through!

Do not worry , greedy members of state dental boards, US will not be
flooded with UK dentists, they make good money in UK .

http://www.pr.com/press-release/32822

Four Out of Five Dentists Favor Universal Dental Licensure: The Wealthy
Dentist Survey

This is also a message for American legislators: end this disgusting greedy
dental board regulations once and for all!! Pass Universal Dental Licensure
legislation!!

http://www.fff.org/freedom/1096d.asp

"Dentists have perennially used licensing laws to drill consumers. Economist
Lawrence Shepard of the University of California at Davis estimates that
unjustified state government restrictions on dental licensing add between 12
and 15 percent to the cost of dental care. The Federal Trade Commission
estimated that unjustified restrictions on dental service cost consumers
$700 million a year. "

"Many state dental associations seem more devoted to wiring the law than to
fixing teeth. "

"Foreign dentists are especially discriminated against by dental licensing
regulations. In most states, it is far easier for a foreign doctor to get a
license to perform bypasses on Americans' hearts than for a foreign dentist
to get a license to fill cavities in Americans' teeth. The FTC concluded
that the restrictive state laws - and the resulting higher prices of dental
care - were a major reason why 20 million Americans have never visited a
dentist"

Thanks for the great commentary!

by admin - 11/15/2008 - 01:09

Hi - I just changed the theme on the website and was able to see your long commentary. With President Obama's election and a 10 day vacation from work in front of me, I plan to focus all my efforts on building up this site. I've learned a lot recently helping someone else build a community using Drupal and plan to apply that knowledge here.

Together, we will build our case to find a place for qualified dental professionals. We'll build a platform that addresses  this issue. I truly believe that this issue is a poster child of what's wrong with America - tremendous resources available to our disposal but purposefully inefficient execution because of special interests. We could have a perfect dental system that costs half as much as it does now and serves the whole country rather than just those who can afford it.

This website will explore all channels, legal, educational, and technological means for expressing the voice of the foreign trained dentist. 

 

Hello!

by Dr. Lizbeth Ved... - 10/02/2008 - 00:26

It's nice to know that there's a network in the web for Foreign Trained Dentist. I'm still here in the Philippines practicing for 12 years now.Modesty aside I already have my own crowd of "loyal patients" and it has been giving me excellent financial benefits.
It's sad to note that soon I'll be leaving my dental practice and migrate to the U.S.to join my husband who is a U.S. citizen. Worries of how I can work in the U.S. in line of my profession is now an issue.I have researched in the web that I still have to attend a 2-year international program before I can take a licensure examination and I hope I can do it because I really wanted to work as a dentist when I am in the U.S.
Hope to hear from you soon.