Foreign trained dentist in USA, how to choose courses?

Hello everyone.

If you graduated from a dental school outside the USA, like me and are wondering about what to do next then I am going to guide you through this? I found all of the information after reading a lot of websites and meeting counselors and taking classes and talking to friends and seniors. It was very overwhelming to start with and it was all over the place.
I have gone through this extremely confusing phase myself and that is the reason why I decided to write this up so I can help people. I have been asked multiple times about my whole experience and how to figure things out.
Coming to the US for studying is quite expensive added with the struggles of immigration. This decision is especially important as it will determine how you can manage your finances in order to apply for a US school.

STEP 1:

Identifying, What are your reasons for coming to US?

Have family in US for a long time.

This is possibly the best scenario. If they are green card holders or citizens. They can be your cosigners for a dental school loan in USA.

Have to experience a new culture and don’t want to live in your home country, or you just don’t want to practice dentistry in your country.

Well this sounds like a great idea when you see happy pictures of your friends on social media who may have moved here but can be quite hard in reality. Because unlike some other courses, dental school courses can be extremely busy and time consuming. The lectures, clinic, labs and studying can take up most of your time. The part time work along with study is not possible as you have tests, assignments and lab submissions every week. These can take up extra time after regular college hours too. Having said that you will get some vacation time of a 1-2 weeks in spring, summer and winter and rare free weekends when you may work to earn some money or relax after the tiring college days.

Fiancé/fiancée/ spouse is in the US? H1B came recently or H1b with i140 filed on their way to get green card or citizen/green card?

Let me tell you that H1b spouse cannot be a cosigner for a dental school loan. Also you may think you can work while waiting and applying for your dental schools or to save up some money then the answer is NO. I don’t mean to discourage you but the reality is that until your spouse’s i140 application is filed then you cannot work in the US as a dependent.

Of course your spouse can sponsor your education in cash if possible and eventually you may get your own H1b to work as a dentist. (Remember there is a lottery system for H1b Visas).

In order to understand the details regarding legal immigration please subscribe to this website for more detailed information. Member privileges include unlimited support with mentoring and help throughout your dental journey.

STEP 2: Long term goals: Do you want to move to the US for the rest of your life or do you intend to go back after school?

If you intend to go back to your country then taking up a MS course would be better. Its extremely competitive as even the US grads are also applying for those and are preferred by universities. Remember it costs about the same amount or more for these options. I will be happy to walk you through these in my different videos. You may even consider taking non clinical courses as they do cost less and have substantial returns on investment.

If you intend to stay in the US for ever then just MS will allow you to practice only in certain states. The rules keep changing so you would have to check the individual state dental websites before you plan. If you want to move to other states than these, then you will need to do DDS/DMD in addition to MS or you may start with DDS/DMD alone to practice in every US state.

NOW the MOST IMPORTANT DECISION DECISION DECISION:

STEP 3: Ask Yourself: Clinical or nonclinical fields?

Some people want to go for clinical courses and its a great option. But some find it hard to manage finances or loans for US dental schools. In those cases many people take up non clinical courses in order to save up for dental school later on. There are various options.

Non Clinical fields:

Medical or Dental Research : Apply for universities for PHD programs and eventually get placed in pharmacy genetics R&D etc.

Medical Transcriptionist: In addition to having a high school diploma, you’ll need to complete a medical transcription training program, which can take anywhere from six months to two years.

Medical Coder: you’ll need a high school diploma or its equivalent along with certification from an organization like the American Academy of Professional Coders.

Biomedical Equipment Technician: It’s a biomedical equipment technician’s job to inspect, maintain and repair this equipment, keeping it in proper working order and minimizing downtime

Health Information Technician :this person compiles, processes and maintains the medical records of health organizations.

Pharmacy Technician : They act as a go-between between customers and the pharmacist, setting up consultations and conveying information. To become a pharmacy technician, you’ll need a high school diploma or GED. Some states also require you to pass a certification exam.

Insurance Claims Examiner: The examiner studies a patient’s policy to determine what’s covered and check that their medical documentation supports the claim being made

Health Information Technician A health information technician ensures that a hospital or clinic’s practices are up to par with all legal requirements and industry regulations

I am going to give you estimated COST ranges as the conversion rates of a Indian rupee, euro for that matter to a dollar is always changing.

Cost of most of the training courses for the above mentioned jobs can be about 2000$-19000$ ~ 1600-16000euros~ 1.5 lakhs to 13 lakh Rs

Salaries of these nonclinical fields can range from 60000$-90000$ ~ 49000-75000 euros ~ 43lakhs -65laks Rs through these non clinical jobs.

Hospital related Jobs: Healthcare Administrator, Medical Administrative Assistant, Patient Advocate:

A healthcare administrator oversees the day-to-day operations of a healthcare organization, planning and supervising medical service programs and ensuring they fit within the organization’s budget.

They will need MPH or MHA degrees which can be 2yrs or 3 yrs courses;

Estimated Tuition: 60000$~ 43lakhs Rs ~ 49000 euros

Payscale : 90000-10000$ ~73 lakhs Rs ~ 75000-81000euros

Now if non clinical fields don't excite you as much then you may think about

Clinical Fields

1. Dental assistant :

Assists the dentist in the dental offices

Estimated tuition : 3000-13000$ ~ Rs 3-10lakhs ~ 3500-11000euros
Course duration: 16wks to 9months
Pay scale : 40-50k$ /yr

2. Dental hygienist:

Does the cleanings and patient education and xrays and in some states they do have more functions.

Estimated tuition : 25000-30000$ ~ 18-22lakhs rupees
Course duration: 4yrs
Pay scale: 90-100k $/yr

3. General Dentist (Internationally trained)

Accredited dental school for advanced placement DDS /DMD
Estimated tuition for International dentists: 250k-300k$ ~ Rs 1.5-2 crore~ 250-300000 euros
Course duration: 2-3yrs
Pay scale: 150k-250k $/yr

4. MS dentist

Accredited dental school for MS.
Note OS programs only consider US DDS/DMD students.
Estimated tuition for International dentists: 250k-300k$ ~ Rs 1.5-2 crore~ 250-300000 euros
Course duration: 2-3yrs
Pay scale: 250k-300k $/yr

Example from India

Most Indian banks will grant an education loan of Rs. 20-25lakh in India ~ 25-27000$.

It will cover only a quarter of your tuition for the year. So you need to make arrangements for the rest that is about $200,000 to 250,000 of your tuition as well as the living expenses in the US on your own from INDIA.. yes you heard that right make an arrangement for about Rs 1.5-2 crore from India. This is because US Banks will not lend huge loans for international students unless have a green card/citizen cosigner. Choice is yours

Depending on your choice and lifestyle, you will need few years to repay these loans. Smaller the loan easier to repay but you have to remember that living in US is expensive too. So all of that money that you earn is not going into Loan repayment right away.

Expenses include

Work related: License renewals, Professional Liability insurance, Professional disability insurance, Medical and dental insurance, continuing education courses,

Other expenses: Home/mortgage, car loans, childcare, living expenses, vacation expenses and taxes, savings and investments can very well take up to ⅔ or more of your income.

Depending on all these you may be left with ⅓ of your pay per year to repay your loans and may take a few years to repay them.

Typically costs are more for dentists than the other fields mentioned above for license renewals, Professional Liability insurance, Professional disability insurance, continuing education courses, taxes.

STEP 4: Application Process : for each of these courses. Identify the universities you are interested in based on where you might want to live in the USA or have relatives or plain choose a university with good ranking and less tuition. Finally Start applying.