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NDEB exam for dental practice in Canada

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thomas465

Member
Dec 14, 2017
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Hi,

Can someone share their experience in writing NDEB exams for dental practice in Canada? We see many coaching institutions that provide assistance. Which one would you recommend? Would you recommend to prepare for Dental aptitude test(DAT) exam rather than NDEB qualifying exam (that means starting from the scratch)?
 
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thomas465

Member
Dec 14, 2017
16
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Hi, thanks. I am asking it for my relative. The question is not about the opportunity after obtaining the licence. It is about NDEB exam and DAT exam.
 
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canuck78

VIP Member
Jun 18, 2017
52,969
12,768
thomas465 said:
Hi, thanks. I am asking it for my relative. The question is not about the opportunity after obtaining the licence. It is about NDEB exam and DAT exam.
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Very different exams. DAT would mean he hasn’t been to dental school and isn’t related to actual dentistry practice versus NDEB is a licensing exam for dentist. If your cousin is a dentist my comments are relevant. If you are asking about ndeb assume he/she may actually be a dentist and it is rough for dentists to set up practices and get jobs in Canada these days.
 
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thomas465

Member
Dec 14, 2017
16
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Thanks. She is a dentist. She has presented her work at an international conference (I don't know if it helps). I see that there is around 40% passing rate in the NDEB exams (https://ndeb-bned.ca/en/dental-programs/historical-pass-rates). Maybe all of them will not get into the bridge program they are looking for. My cousin is young (around 29). I was thinking if it is better to take DAT exam and enter dental school (from scratch) than attempting the NDEB license procedure. I am not suggesting that it is easy but I have seen foreign dental graduates cracking exams in the USA. If she can get dental education from Canada, I guess that opens up the opportunity to work in some other countries too (if she finds that the Canadian market is too depressing).
 
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canuck78

VIP Member
Jun 18, 2017
52,969
12,768
thomas465 said:
Thanks. She is a dentist. She has presented her work at an international conference (I don't know if it helps). I see that there is around 40% passing rate in the NDEB exams (https://ndeb-bned.ca/en/dental-programs/historical-pass-rates). Maybe all of them will not get into the bridge program they are looking for. My cousin is young (around 29). I was thinking if it is better to take DAT exam and enter dental school (from scratch) than attempting the NDEB license procedure. I am not suggesting that it is easy but I have seen foreign dental graduates cracking exams in the USA. If she can get dental education from Canada, I guess that opens up the opportunity to work in some other countries too (if she finds that the Canadian market is too depressing).
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Would not make any sense to enter dental school again and don’t think they take international students or previous dental grads. If they do it would only be a spot or two. In general it is incredibly hard to get into dental school in Canada. It is also very hard to get into the bridging programs. I have heard that people have to apply a few times before getting in. Her best option is to try to get licensed. In many countries dental school admission is after high school and there are many schools so admission standards and programs aren’t as rigorous. No it does not matter if she is published. If she wants to move to Canada she would have to be prepared that it could be a long road to get relicensed. The market is only get worse as more and more foreign dentists immigrate so there will be a chance that a she may have to consider another career or move to a more rural location.
 
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thomas465

Member
Dec 14, 2017
16
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Hi, thanks again. She is going to be a permanent resident soon. It is in the process. I believe universities accept applications from permanent residents.I get your point about different standards of different countries. I cannot commend about it. Her classmates have passed the NDEB equivalent exam in USA. May be US exam is relatively easy, I really cannot comment about it again. I guess smart people are there in every nation. It is just the opportunity they are looking for. I believe that clinics may discriminate foreign trained doctors when they apply for the job. That is why I wanted to ask you about writing DAT.

Thank you again for addressing my query. It was useful.
 
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canuck78

VIP Member
Jun 18, 2017
52,969
12,768
thomas465 said:
Just confirmed.
https://www.dentistry.ubc.ca/dmd/dmd-faq/
UBC accepts applicants with dental degrees for DMD program. But you may be right that it is going too be tough.
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Why would she want to do the DAT and repeat dental school. It is incredibly hard to get in and I don’t think you would get selected easily if you already attended school. You are looking at 100k on tuition and equipment alone.
 
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canuck78

VIP Member
Jun 18, 2017
52,969
12,768
thomas465 said:
Hi, thanks again. She is going to be a permanent resident soon. It is in the process. I believe universities accept applications from permanent residents.I get your point about different standards of different countries. I cannot commend about it. Her classmates have passed the NDEB equivalent exam in USA. May be US exam is relatively easy, I really cannot comment about it again. I guess smart people are there in every nation. It is just the opportunity they are looking for. I believe that clinics may discriminate foreign trained doctors when they apply for the job. That is why I wanted to ask you about writing DAT.

Thank you again for addressing my query. It was useful.
Click to expand...
You are the one who commented on the low success rate so clearly there are different standards in some schools. Admission is done after high school in many countries across the world and there are tons of schools so it is relatively easy to get admitted. There are only 10 schools in Canada and most aren’t very large. Not sure if you understand what the DAT is. DAT is the entrance exam to get into dental school. Like the SAT for university entrance or MCAT for med school entrance. It has nothing to do with knowledge about dentistry. Unless you are applying to dentistry school nobody should take the DAT. There is a surplus of dentists in Canada. Most Canadians will likely prefer going to a Canadian trained dentist and many Canadian dentists will prefer to hire Canadian trained dentists. Less and less Canadians actually have dental coverage and there is a surplus of dentists. I know relatively new graduate dentist who had difficulty finding jobs and had to go to small communities and are incredibly frustrated by the lack of opportunities. I know older doctors who are retiring because they feel like are no longer making good money. Like pharmacy the industry has suffered because there have been too many foreign trained immigrants. The salaries have been almost cut in half in some regions and full-time jobs are hard to find. Many no longer work as pharmacists. We also never call dentists doctors in Canada.
 
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