Becoming a dentist via nursing as an international student

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Hello. I am a foreigner. Originally I wanted to apply for Bachelors in Biological Science in order to work for one year and get a PR. This was a preliminary for applying to dental schools because the tuition for foreigners is rather draconian. However, after familiarizing myself with the current labor market, I understood that I won't be able to find a job just with a Bachelors degree. So I laid my eye on nursing. Is there any probability of success? How hard is it to gain necessary science prerequisites while studying nursing or after graduating in order to matriculate in dental schools?

I will be more than grateful for any help. Sorry for the superfluous verbiage.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Are you looking at living and working in Canada?

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Nursing is not a stepping stone to dentistry. It’s a four year program for a completely different profession.I don’t follow your thinking.

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@Lucydog14 Basically, my point is that it is really hard to find a job just with a bachelor degree in Biology, and thus the probability of getting the sufficient job experience is pretty low. Corollary, I was thinking about the nursing pathway. I've heard that you can just take additional classes in college even after your graduation in order to comply with the dental school's prerequisites.

@Silverdragon102 Yes, I do

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Waste of time and money. Just meet the requirements for dental school admission without getting bogged down in repeating classes. For example, the semester you might waste on a one semester basic chem class in the allied health dept at some schools for a nursing program, could be better spent taking the first semester of inorganic chem from the chem dept to meet prerequisites for dental school. You will not have wasted the time and money you spent to take that extra semester that won’t be accepted when you apply to dental programs.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

As mentioned both are 2 different careers. Regardless International fees will apply so better to look straight for the career you really want to do and just get on with what you have to do

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@caliotter3 But the problem is that places for international students in such educational facilities are sporifice. I think that only University of Toronto accepts foreigners to the dental program. This is the main issue, and that's why I wanted to try to apply for PR first, and hence nursing seems like a possible solution to get rid of that boundary. I just wanted to hear some precedents or apt experience from others.

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So complete the prerequisites and apply to U of T. Going to nursing school makes zero sense.

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30 minutes ago, Lucydog14 said:

So complete the prerequisites and apply to U of T. Going to nursing school makes zero sense.

There are foreign doctors who become nurses when they find that they can not navigate the process of becoming licensed doctors in their new home. If you want to go this route, you should decide whether settling for a nursing career is acceptable to you, should you be unable to reach your goal in dentistry, down the line. Personally, I would go to dental school at home. Then you have the choice of meeting the requirements of licensing as a dentist in your new home country, or pursuing nursing at that time. Don't waste the possibility of emigrating as a dentist.

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@caliotter3 Thanks for the suggestions. I would have done exactly that, but there is simply no possibility to evaluate my home-country license in Canada without any PR. It's a compulsory term for dental board exams.

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8 hours ago, Dr. Doom said:

@caliotter3 Thanks for the suggestions. I would have done exactly that, but there is simply no possibility to evaluate my home-country license in Canada without any PR. It's a compulsory term for dental board exams.

Go to the US. Their dental schools have a higher rate of acceptance for International students, and who knows, your credentials might be evaluated a bit easier. Dental hygenist is also an option.. but if you want to be a dentist in Canada, then do whatever you can go to back to dental school. Nursing is not a stepping stone to medicine, dentistry or pharmacy. If you don't have a PR, do whatever it takes to get a PR in the fastest, most cost efficient way, which is attending a 2 year college program to get a job easier rather than doing a regular science degree

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@dayandnight Thanks for the suggestions

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