Orthodontics Application

Three postgraduate students will be accepted into the 34-month Master of Dental Science (MSD) program in full-time positions. No provision is made for other than full-time participation in the program. No credit is given for prior academic or clinical activity in terms of program length, class standing (i.e. skip a year), or program curriculum. Advanced placement or transfer of students from another postgraduate orthodontic program is not an allowed policy of the MUSC program. If such an occurrence arose as to consideration of a transfer student, the standards for performance to achieve graduation would be the same as the usual postgraduate student curriculum.

Applications are submitted through the American Dental Education Association's Postdoctoral Application Support Service (ADEA PASS). The application deadline is August 15. The MUSC Orthodontics Program considers both U.S. and international students for acceptance into the M.S.D. Orthodontics Program. Specific application data and requirements for U.S., Canadian, and international students are available through the PASS system. Regardless of nationality or dental school attended, the candidate must have at the least successfully passed Part I of the National Dental Boards.

The MUSC Program also participates in the Postdoctoral Dental Matching Program. The applicant must register in the MATCH Program by completing the Applicant Agreement to be considered for admission. The MATCH is sponsored jointly by the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, the American Association of Hospital Dentists, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, the American Association of Orthodontists, the American Society of Dentist Anesthesiologists and the American Student Dental Association. In addition, the MATCH has been endorsed by the American Dental Association Council on Dental Education and Licensure, the American Dental Education Association, and the Veterans Administration.

Selection will be based on the PASS application being fully complete to include dental school grades and transcripts, resume of experience, and letters of reference. From the PASS application data, selected candidates will be invited for a personal interview at the MUSC College of Dental Medicine. All potential postgraduate students who are deemed final candidates for the program positions must be personally interviewed by departmental faculty and current postgraduate students to be considered for a final MATCH ranking and admission into the program.

In the selection and interview process, the program is looking for individuals who have shown their worth through solid academic efforts and performance, who would bring to the program intellectual curiosity and a desire to learn at the postgraduate-specialty level, a personality conducive to a team effort, a broad field of activity and accomplishment outside the classroom, and a real caring for the demands of comprehensive orthodontic patient treatment. When the PASS applications are complete, the selected individuals are contacted for the day-long interview. After interviews are complete, the MATCH list is developed by vote of all full-time faculty, representative clinical attending faculty, and current residents.

Prior to enrollment if selected for admission and matched with the MUSC Program, the postgraduate student must document graduation from an accredited dental school by presentation of their certified diploma and successful passing of Part II of the National Board Dental Examination.