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Grad Studies and the INBDE


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Not sure if anyone else is in the same boat as me. As a Canadian dental student graduating in 2021, with the INBDE announced I opted not to take the NBDE part 1 after my 2nd year of dental school as I figured I could just get it over with in 1 section at the end of my 4th year with the INBDE (Yeah very foolish of me). Now I'm at the point where I'm thinking of applying to programs in the US and a lot of them mention the necessity for Part 1 to even apply, with no mention at all of the INBDE. Maybe I just had more faith that US dental schools would be more updated/current with the new boards, especially this year as the graduating class of 2021 is the first year where they can opt to take the INBDE instead of NBDE part 1/2. To complicate things I believe the testing centre requires permission to write board exams from your school and my school gives permission to write these exams at the end of 4th year (when the application period has been over for a while). I've already reached out to many US schools to ask but I've just been given the answer "Part 1 is required to apply", again with no mention of the INBDE. Anyone in the same situation or have any advice/guidance?

(Complicating matters is that many testing centres are closed because of COVID and theres very little seating capacity for ones open. Don't think taking Part 1 is an option at this point due to the timing of everything) 

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Programs will take either NBDE Part 1 or INBDE. If you don't have either, most programs will not let you apply. Some programs have gone as far as saying that they understand that COVID has resulted in the inability for those to take either exam, but will not waive the requirement. 

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Yeah unfortunately it looks like I'm in that spot of not being able to apply but also not being able to take the test. Pretty frustrating as I'd hoped there would've been more cohesiveness between the examining board and schools (and a lot more understanding but dental schools are notorious for their lack thereof). Any schools you know of that are more understanding to this?

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I'm not sure if this plays a role in the programs' inflexibility but the norm in the US is that you take NBDE part 2 between 3rd and 4th year and the continued expectation is that future students take the INBDE at this time as well. So from the programs' perspective most applicants should already have their boards completely done. It is not very collaborative of Canadian schools to restrict students writing their boards until it is too late

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2 hours ago, HopefulDDS said:

I'm not sure if this plays a role in the programs' inflexibility but the norm in the US is that you take NBDE part 2 between 3rd and 4th year and the continued expectation is that future students take the INBDE at this time as well. So from the programs' perspective most applicants should already have their boards completely done. It is not very collaborative of Canadian schools to restrict students writing their boards until it is too late

Yeah I get what you mean. But if you think about it, because of COVID, no one can even take the test between 3rd and 4th year. Honestly in the grand scheme of things its not that big of a deal but just at the moment its kind of frustrating. A year of working in private practice won't kill me :P 

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1 hour ago, toothurty said:

Why cant you still take part 1? They extended the availability until Oct 31 and test centres are still open albeit under limited capacity. 

I was under the impression that the limited capacity was for those that had to have their tests rescheduled due to COVID-19

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