Curriculum Overview
Advanced Standing International Student Program (ISP)
The Advanced Standing International Student Program (ISP) consists of didactic courses supported by on-line resources, preclinical simulated courses and clinical courses involving direct patient care in the school's clinics.
The ISP program is a hybrid program where ISP students take some of their courses with just their ISP cohort and other courses with the traditional dental students. This has been designed specifically to fast-track courses that incoming advanced standing students will already have taken. Thus, the first two to three months are spent in fast-paced, intensive pre-clinical courses both didactic and simulated labs. ISP students begin to see their first patients during the 3rd month of school in the Periodontics Clinic and Transition Clinic.
The courses just for ISPs include restorative dentistry, occlusion, complete and removable prosthodontics, fixed prosthodontics, endodontic laboratory, esthetic dentistry, oral radiology. Additionally, students take multiple lecture courses alongside second and third year dental students including clinical dental pharmacology, implant dentistry, orofacial pain, oral surgery, infection control, diagnostic radiology, pediatric dentistry, pain control and medical emergencies.
Beginning in the summer, ISP students begin performing restorative, endodontics, operative dentistry, periodontics, oral diagnosis, emergency and oral surgery procedures. Rotations are held for oral surgery and emergency dental care. The time spent in the clinic is integrated with the traditional students. Students also participate in a case presentation seminar where they present treatment plans and patient cases to their faculty and peers.
Advanced standing international dentist students take a course in communication and behavior change in order to enhance their understanding and practice of patient interactions and expectations in North American dental settings.
During the second year, students continue to practice comprehensive patient care. Additionally, students take multiple courses in hospital dentistry, oral pathology, clinical oncology, forensic dentistry, dental ethics, public health and orthodontics some alongside second and third year dental students.
In the second year, students begin preparing for state or regional board examinations in order to become licensed dentists in the United States. Depending on where the student will practice after graduation will dictate when and where the tests take place. Special activities are held for preparation for clinical dental boards. Both ADEX/CDCA and WREBS examining boards conduct exams at our school, in spring and fall.
Optional Curriculum
ISP students also have some additional elective credits and research projects that they can opt to pursue. Students participate in these based upon their interests, as well as the amount of time they can dedicate above the required curriculum. They are not a part of the standard curriculum and can occur throughout their time of study, however, it is highly recommended that they not begin until after the first semester. These includes a global health dentistry course, Guatemala CU Smiles Program, our Advanced Clinical Training Service Program (ACTS), and research.