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Any questions about US dental schools?


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Hello everyone,

I graduated from Western in 2012 and went onto Case Western (Cleveland, Ohio) in the US for dental school.

I graduated in 2016 and have been working in Ohio as a dentist.

I know that this forum has been really helpful to me, so I really wanted to give back.

Please let me know if any of you has questions about US dental schools. I will do my best to reply in a timely manner. 

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6 hours ago, Incisor94 said:

Just some questions about working in the states.

1) What part of Ohio have you been working in?

2) Are you an associate and do you plan on staying in the US long term?

3) How have you found dealing with insurance companies in the US? 

 

1) I'm working in Akron, Ohio (where Lebron James is from. I live 2 minutes away from Lebron so it is really cool)

2) I'm currently an associate in a group practice. My office website is (http://www.akronfamilydental.com/).  I do like it here in America, I'm currently on a TN visa (good for another 2 years). So I will have to see and evaluate. 

3) I think the good thing about my office is that we get 90% state-funded insurance (Medicaid) patients. Even though the fees for individual procedure may be low, Medicaid is really good about paying. I haven't had much problem with the insurances. 

 

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5 hours ago, Pauls said:

1) how would you rank the overall quality of your education?

2) how many hours per week did you have access to sim lab?

3) how helpful were instructors in sim lab and clinic? 

 

1) I would have to say the quality of education varies greatly from school to school. However, I am very happy with the education I received from Case Western. The minimum requirement when I was in clinic was at least 8 arches of removables, 4 endos, 40 direct restorations, 6 units of crowns, 40 extractions. Most people do a lot more than the requirements. I know someone who did at least 12 arches of removables, 4 endos, 300 direct restorations, 12 units of crowns, 50 extractions. 

2) We have 24 hours access to the sim lab. Our card allows us to access the sim lab any time we want.

3) They are very helpful. My class at Case Western consisted of 75 people. I would have to say that pre-clinic, there was roughly 1 instructor for 7-8 students. In clinic, it is 1 instructor for 12-13 students. Case Western was really cool because in 3 and 4th year, you get assigned to 2 doctors. One doctor comes in Monday, Wednesday and the other doctor comes in Tuesday and Thursday (alternating Fridays). You get to treatment plan with each doctor and do treatment. It is so nice to be paired up this way because you get consistency. Also, you understand how different doctors treatment plan differently.

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24 minutes ago, jhkoreacanada said:

 

1) I'm working in Akron, Ohio (where Lebron James is from. I live 2 minutes away from Lebron so it is really cool)

2) I'm currently an associate in a group practice. My office website is (http://www.akronfamilydental.com/).  I do like it here in America, I'm currently on a TN visa (good for another 2 years). So I will have to see and evaluate. 

3) I think the good thing about my office is that we get 90% state-funded insurance (Medicaid) patients. Even though the fees for individual procedure may be low, Medicaid is really good about paying. I haven't had much problem with the insurances. 

 

Thanks for your response! Do you have the option to buy a practice or can you only associate on a TN? Have you looked at practicing in other areas outside Akron?

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26 minutes ago, Incisor94 said:

Thanks for your response! Do you have the option to buy a practice or can you only associate on a TN? Have you looked at practicing in other areas outside Akron?

I can only work as an associate with the TN visa. So the TN visa is the NAFTA visa.  This is a "temporary" work permit because the concept of TN visa is to have the intention of coming back to Canada, which I definitely am going to do. TN is generally for 3 years. 

I know that in order to buy a practice, you want the H1B (which enables you to apply for the green card).

I actually worked in Dallas, Texas for 4 months right after graduating in 2016. It was nice but I got homesick because I was so far away, so I came back to Ohio. 

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13 hours ago, ysoNaCly said:

Can you walk us through how you went about financing your education abroad?

For sure.

Obviously, dental schools cost a lot of money. 

When I was in school (2012-2016) the currency was very good (1 to 1). But now it is much different. 

I got $250,000 from Scotia bank, around $35,000 from OSAP, and help from family.

I lived very modestly ($350 rent per month ), and tried to reduce my living cost as much as possible.

However, now with the currency, the cost would be a lot more.

 

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1 hour ago, jhkoreacanada said:

For sure.

Obviously, dental schools cost a lot of money. 

When I was in school (2012-2016) the currency was very good (1 to 1). But now it is much different. 

I got $250,000 from Scotia bank, around $35,000 from OSAP, and help from family.

I lived very modestly ($350 rent per month ), and tried to reduce my living cost as much as possible.

However, now with the currency, the cost would be a lot more.

 

Did you have Canadian classmates that went back home to practice? If so, how has the comparison been between their earning and patient base compared to yours?

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10 hours ago, tiper15 said:

Oh interesting! I actually just got an invite to interview at CWRU! 

What is life like there vs. London/Canada? What is the atmosphere between faculty and students like? 

Thank you ! 

If you have the option between london Ca vs Clevland OH, you should probably stay local. All you need to know about life there is 250K Canadian (190k USD) vs 400K USD  (520K Canadian) lol. Unless you don't mind spending the extra cash that is...

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13 hours ago, risaac said:

Are you able to own a practice and hire people etc? or do you have to work for someone/with someone for 3 years to get the green card and then own a practice?

You can't own a practice or hire people without an H1B/Green card. Your employer has to sponsor you for a H1B visa and then put in the paperwork for a green card. This process could take years (much more than 3) and with the current state of immigration, your chances of getting a green card are slim (I was lucky to get my green card recently but others are stuck in the process and aren't getting much further).

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6 hours ago, Coronaxtra said:

You can't own a practice or hire people without an H1B/Green card. Your employer has to sponsor you for a H1B visa and then put in the paperwork for a green card. This process could take years (much more than 3) and with the current state of immigration, your chances of getting a green card are slim (I was lucky to get my green card recently but others are stuck in the process and aren't getting much further).

do they pull out of a hat? why were you able to get it before others? assuming you are talking about canadians only. 

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Canadian over here.

1) Is spending over 400K Canadian at a US school financial suicide? 

2) Approx. how much are you making per year working in the states? From 2016 to now.

3) Is it reasonable to pay off over 400K CAD debt? How long would this take roughly and is it doable while raising kids?

4) Is it normal for a significant other to think that going to a US dental school and spending that much $$ is crazy and selfish?

You can see where I'm going with this lol. Thanks in advance!

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41 minutes ago, risaac said:

do they pull out of a hat? why were you able to get it before others? assuming you are talking about canadians only. 

My brother and I got it at the same time we didn’t expect to get it for another 4 years but I’m guessing since it’s been 15+ years since we applied using family sponsorship, it was due to come.

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23 hours ago, Incisor94 said:

Did you have Canadian classmates that went back home to practice? If so, how has the comparison been between their earning and patient base compared to yours?

I did have Canadian classmates who went back. Since income is a very sensitive topic, I never asked them. I feel okay sharing my information, but I just find it hard to ask my friends how much they produce/collect. 

 

21 hours ago, risaac said:

Are you able to own a practice and hire people etc? or do you have to work for someone/with someone for 3 years to get the green card and then own a practice?

I can't own a practice or hire people with TN. TN is a temporary work for me to work as an employee. 

I would have to say that if someone had a green card, then they can own a practice.

TN is a single intent visa (must  go back to Canada afterwards)

H1B is a dual intent visa (one can apply for green card while on H1B). 

 

19 hours ago, tiper15 said:

Oh interesting! I actually just got an invite to interview at CWRU! 

What is life like there vs. London/Canada? What is the atmosphere between faculty and students like? 

Thank you ! 

I think Cleveland Ohio is very different. I'm not sure how to explain it. lol. 

The relationship between the faculty and the students is very good. There are only 75 people in class, so you get to know the professors very well

 

 

1 hour ago, nerdatwork said:

Canadian over here.

1) Is spending over 400K Canadian at a US school financial suicide? 

2) Approx. how much are you making per year working in the states? From 2016 to now.

3) Is it reasonable to pay off over 400K CAD debt? How long would this take roughly and is it doable while raising kids?

4) Is it normal for a significant other to think that going to a US dental school and spending that much $$ is crazy and selfish?

You can see where I'm going with this lol. Thanks in advance!

1) I do think that spending 400K for dental school is too much, unless your family is very wealthy. I did not know how hard it is to pay back debt.

For instance, if someone made $100,000, then about 35% goes to taxes. Your after-tax income is $65,000. After living cost and all that, you are left with much less to pay back your debt.

2) Last year I earned about $130,000 US while working 32 hours/week (I chose to work this much)

3) I think it is really tough to pay 400K debt. For instance, if you were an employee, you have to earn around $615,000 to have an after-tax income of 400K. That is a lot of money. I don't have kids so I'm not sure, but I would have to say it would make things more challenging

4) I would have to say it depends on the couple :) I don't regret one bit going to US dental school, but I don't think I would have to courage to go to American dental school with the current exchange rate

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1 hour ago, jhkoreacanada said:

I applied to

Case Western, Harvard, Columbia, UPenn, Indiana, Detroit Mercy, Midwestern, West Virginia, Boston, NYU, UCSF, Buffalo, 

I got interview invites from Case Western, Indiana, Midwestern, Detroit Mercy, West Virginia

Which schools were you accepted at and how did you make your decision? For midwestern, did you apply to both the AZ and IL campuses? Also do you have any general advice for Canadians applying to US dental schools? 

Thank you!

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35 minutes ago, themuffinman11 said:

Which schools were you accepted at and how did you make your decision? For midwestern, did you apply to both the AZ and IL campuses? Also do you have any general advice for Canadians applying to US dental schools? 

Thank you!

Good question! 

I got accepted to Case Western, Indiana, Midwestern (Illinois). I did not attend interview for Detroit Mercy and West Virginia (got these invites in January so it was after I accepted my offer to Case Western). I did not apply to Midwestern AZ

I would buy ADEA Official Guide to Dental Schools. http://www.adea.org/officialguide/   I would read this because it tells you all the school's admissions stats (GPA, DAT)

I would also go to this website  https://forums.studentdoctor.net/forums/pre-dental.17/    and read all the appropriate threads. When it gets closer to the application cycle, people help each other out with applications. You can also read past threads on what to write for the essays, how to fill out the activities, etc.

 

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
2 hours ago, Flipperoni said:

How long can you stay and work in the US after doing your education there? And if you wanted to move there permanently, how would you go about doing that?

TN visas are valid indefinitely as long as you renew every 3 years and have an employer that will keep you as an associate. Staying permanently would mean getting an employer to sponsor you for an H1B and then converting that to a green card (long process)

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28 minutes ago, Coronaxtra said:

TN visas are valid indefinitely as long as you renew every 3 years and have an employer that will keep you as an associate. Staying permanently would mean getting an employer to sponsor you for an H1B and then converting that to a green card (long process)

How difficult is it to get your TN visa initially? And is renewing any easier?

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