Advanced Standing Program Competition & the Importance of a Strong Application

[@InternationalDentistCentral]

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[@shilbabes]

Thankyou so much sir,you are very inspiring.I am Dr.Silppa,I'm an Endodontist,practicing in India since 3 years now.I am really looking forward to getting started with my dds dream in the US and your video really just put a lot of perspective into my plans.Thanks again,looking forward for more videos.Have a great year.

[@InternationalDentistCentral]

Hey there - thanks for the kind words Dr. Silppa and wishing you nothing but success on your journey to becoming a US dentist!

[@rayanskafi8974]

Thank you so much for this insightful video. I have a question, how much does GPA weighs in? I have a very diverse background, 5+ dental experience, teaching, post-graduate degree, MPH, heavy research (In AI and teledentistry), and worked with a dental startup as a clinical education manager and medical writer. The only thing that worries me is that my DMD GPA is on the lower end. Appreciate your opinion and help!

[@InternationalDentistCentral]

That all sounds very good! I’d say anything over a 3.0 + all the stuff you’ve don’t should be helpful in making you competitive. If the GPA is below 3, that makes it harder and may require some other interventions to help boost your profile. That’s just a general rule of thumb though. There are always exceptions 😁

[@HA070]

Hello, Definitely one of the most important videos in terms of planning for a career in America. Im currently an associate Dentist in Pakistan with a years experience of working in a clinic and one year experience working in a hospital which is a post graduation requirement in my country. Teaching posts are hard to come by, apart from those what else can I do to become a more competitive candidate?

[@InternationalDentistCentral]

Thanks for your comment! Teaching posts certainly can be hard to come by, especially in cities where competition for those posts is high. If I were truly interested in obtaining a teaching post, I'd probably start by reaching out to professors or even universities to see if they'd appreciate my help as a teaching assistant (free of charge). Teachers are overworked and while some might decline free assistance from a qualified dentist such as yourself, there's likely to be some that would appreciate it. Once you prove yourself a valuable asset to the professor or department, now you have powerful voices on the inside that will vouch for you the next time a new paid position opens up. Another good way of becoming competitive is to get some research (or some more research) under your belt. Again, I'd reach out to professors that do research and offer either your time to help them with their research. They might even be interested in having access to your local clinic or patient-pool if the research was a good fit and your patients were onboard. In this way, you can add their interesting and impressive research projects *onto your CV* and take some credit for that research just because you were involved. Also, you can get a great letter of recommendation at the end which you can use when applying to a US/Canadian dental school. Hope this helps and wishing you the best!

[@HA070]

@@InternationalDentistCentral Thank you so much for the advice!

[@juliabrau6876]

Hello, thank you for that video! I am currently taking my state exam in Germany and was wondering how important the GPA is in the whole process? The video unfortunately didn’t work during the part with the average candidate where I think you talked about that. Thank you.

[@InternationalDentistCentral]

Thanks for your reply Julia! With regard to GPA, it's certainly a factor, but certainly not any sort of deal breaker. For those with an average GPA (3.2-3.3), it tends to be a neutral factor, making the programs focus on other metrics. For those with higher GPA, it can only help, but don't make the mistake of relaxing as they typically look at the whole package a candidate is bringing to the table. Finally, for those with lower GPAs around 3.1 or less, there are ways to counter-balance a dental school GPA so that they don't have as strong of a bite when looking at the profile overall. That's too big of a topic to cover in a reply, but maybe that would be a good idea for a separate video. Hope this helps!

[@juliabrau6876]

@@InternationalDentistCentral wow thank you SO much for that detailed response!I appreciate that very much since I have been trying to find information on that for so long. That would be a great topic for a video!

[@lukevin8498]

Hello, Thank you so much for the video it’s definitely super helpful !! I’m currently a fifth year dental student in Japan, may i ask is there anything I can do now to be a stronger candidate in the future beside getting a higher gpa? A lot of suggestion listed seems to focus on post graduate. Thanks again!!

[@InternationalDentistCentral]

Hi Lu, thanks so much for your comment! It's a great question, and while there's no simple answer that will work for everyone, let me say this: don't underestimate the importance of gaining real-world dentistry experience in your home country before deciding to come to the US/Canada. Many advanced-standing dental candidates make the mistake of foregoing any work as an associate dentist in their home country after graduation and immediately immigrate to North America. Without at least 1-2 years of experience as a practicing dentist in your home country, you risk being categorized as a less-qualified/experienced candidate when compared to the majority of candidates who apply for advanced standing programs. You may also consider volunteering your time as a dental research assistant at a nearby dental university for a few hours per week while working as an associate dentist in Japan during the few years after your graduation. Another option is to consider finding an internship with a dental tool/equipment manufacturer in Japan, as a lot of high-end dental equipment used all around the world is designed and manufactured there (I've worked with candidates who have interned at Kilgore for example). With such a combo, you're likely to be solidly competitive. Hope this helps!

[@lukevin8498]

@@InternationalDentistCentral thank you so much for the detailed response!! It was super helpful!! Now I have a better image of what I can do to achieve practicing in the US. I have participated in two research program during my dental school and I’m currently trying to participate in a third one. Also Yes I do plan on practicing in Japan for 2 years at least before applying for advanced standing program , and from your suggestion I will try to look for any internship that I can participate in dental product company. Thanks again for all the suggestion. Hope I can use your great service when I start to apply for US programs!!

[@InternationalDentistCentral]

Wonderful to hear that you’re on the right track!