How many people are accepted each year? 20
Are Texas residents given preference? No, but since we are in Texas, we do have a greater percentage of Texas residents applying.
How long is the program, and when does it end? This is a 29-month program. The program starts with an introductory course in the spring term. This course begins the second week in January with an online learning module. In late February, students arrive on campus for the hands-on component of this course. This training consists of preclinical skills training, classroom sessions, small group seminars, clinical assisting sessions and ends with patient care in June. In July IDEPS are integrated with the traditional students and complete 2 years in clinical training. Students graduate in May.
Can I take the regional board exams after completing the program? Once you complete the program, you are eligible to take most state or regional licensing exams in the US or Canada, including the exams accepted for Texas licensure. TSBDE currently validates scores from ADEX, CDCA-WREB-CITA, CRDTS, and SRTA. Our school hosts the ADEX examination, accepted also by other 46 states, 2 US territories and Jamaica.
What is the most important thing you value in an applicant? Is there one thing I should focus such as GPA or work experience? Our selections are holistic. Our goal is to find a class of diverse students with a variety of backgrounds. All applications are scored using a rubric that measures numerous categories which are distributed into two domains: Academics and Experience. During the interview a third dodmain, Personality, will be added to the evaluation. Being strong in one domain but weak in another would be less favorable. Well-rounded candidates, who can score highly in all domains, will have the best chance of interview and final acceptance.
Do I need to take the ADAT, DAT or GRE? These are not required for admission. If you have ADAT, DAT, or GRE scores, you may include them in your application.
What other items are of importance to the Admissions Committee? Many things, including but not limited to - letters of evaluation, answers to clinical questions, your interview, extracurricular activities, honors, leadership, knowledge of dentistry as a career, work history, publications and research, your reputation for hand skills and your bench test ability.
Do I need to have private practice experience to be considered? No, we have accepted candidates in the past that have not practiced, but they usually have other strong dental experiences.
If I get accepted, when will I be notified? We have rolling acceptances during our interview process. Letters of acceptance for the program may be sent from a few days after the end of the first interview to 1-2 months after the last interview.
If I applied in a previous application cycle, do I have to submit all supplemental documents again? You are allowed to request your transcripts (sent directly to our school), to be moved to your new application. For more information on reapplication, please review CAAPID FAQs.
Am I required to take the TOEFL? What if I am a U. S Citizen? Yes, all applicants, including U.S. citizens, are required to take the TOEFL. Scores must be no more than 2 years old. An internet-based test (iBT) total score of 92 or higher is required with no exceptions or modifications. We do also accept the TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition.
Will my application be considered with a TOEFL internet-based test (iBT) total score of 91? Is there a time when you make an exception? No. Applicants who earned less than the iBT total score of 92 are encouraged to retake the TOEFL. If the score is 91 or lower, the application will not be reviewed by the Admissions Committee. We cannot grant exceptions, as this is a minimum requirement for the program.
GPA: Do you accept other agency’s evaluations in place of the “ECE Comprehensive grading”? Will you accept an ECE “best result”? What grade average will be considered? We need to have a standardized process for admissions so that all applicants are evaluated equally. Unfortunately, evaluation services can look at transcripts differently and will give diverse outcomes. To make the process fair and uniform, we have chosen to use ECE as our agency, and to accept only the “comprehensive grade average” and not “best result”. We require a minimum U.S. grade average of 2.50. Applicants with a grade average lower than a 2.50, will not be eligible to apply to the IDEP program.
I will be in San Antonio next week. Can I meet with you and discuss the program? Can I have a consultation or a phone call with the director of the program to ask questions? We do not provide individual appointments or do a line-by-line review to point out specific ways to improve your application because this couldn't be possible for everybody since we receive 400-500 applications a year, and therefore, it could be interpreted as giving an unfair advantage over other applicants. You can email IDEP@uthscsa.edu to ask specific questions.
I have further education such as specialty training, preceptorships, CE, bench prep courses and/or observationships. Will this increase my chances? It should be remembered that many factors can influence an academic or experience score, not just further education. Further education can positively affect your academic or experience scoring depending on what the training is, what information we get on your performance, the academic rigor or reputation of the program, length of the program and its clinical or academic applicability to the IDEP program. Showing a consistent track record of your effort to enrich your dental knowledge and skill is commendable.
I was not invited for an interview. I think I deserved one. Please tell me the reasons why I was rejected to help me prepare for the future. Allowing foreign trained dentists the opportunity to practice Dentistry in the United States attracts many highly competitive applicants. It is the profile of the total applicant pool that determines an individual applicant’s competitiveness. This changes each year. We do realize that this can be disappointing and regret that we cannot interview each applicant. We focus our interviews on the strongest candidates and we base that decision on our review of the submitted applications. We look closely at each application and consider a combination of factors. This thorough procedure allows for an effective admission process. Experience tells us that each year brings new opportunities. You can increase your chances in the future by taking a critical look at your application and working to strengthen it. Our program's policy is that we do not discuss specific reasons why an individual candidate was not invited for an interview or was not accepted after an interview as this could be considered coaching and unfair to those that did not get the same level of feedback.
Is there any scholarship for international dentists offered by the program?
We do not offer any scholarships for international dentists, there are however scholarships available for dental students once they enter the DDS program, some of them available for the third and fourth year, when international dentists become integrated into the DDS program. Most of the scholarships require the condition of permanent residency in United States.
More information can be found at the following links:
https://students.uthscsa.edu/financial-aid/scholarships/
https://students.uthscsa.edu/financial-aid/scholarships-for-dental-students/
Is there the possibility of work-study?
There is no teaching assistant position available in the program. We have limited part-time work-study options that can be viewed on the student services page. Our dental program is a full-time in-person commitment with a strict and mandatory didactic and patient care schedule and preparatory work that needs to be accomplished in between, so we caution our students regarding this aspect of their time management.
Is there any dormitory or housing provided by the school?
UT Health San Antonio doesn't have a dormitory. There are plenty of apartments surrounding the medical center. The cost of the housing is included in the financial aid living expenses.
Class Profile
Advanced Standing Program for International Dentists Class of 2026, The 20 students entering the Advanced Standing Program for International Dentists in the Spring 2024 semester were selected from an applicant pool of 317. The entering class had an average score of 101 IBT score on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The class is 80% female and 20% male. 30% of the class are international students requiring a student visa, 25% are U.S. citizens, and 35% are Permanent U.S. residents and 10 % are Temporary US residents. 100% of the class had earned a foreign Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS), Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS), or Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) degree.
For any further questions, please email us at IDEP@uthscsa.edu