Question about Foreign Degree recognition in the US

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by JacobD, Jul 13, 2016.

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  1. JacobD

    JacobD New Member

    I live in Australia and i'am currently working towards my degree in orthodontics here in Australia and I would like to move to America after I have completed the course. So my question is are there any government bodies that handle this or do I need to study in America?

    P.S. Sorry if this is in the wrong sub forum, i'm new here.
     
  2. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    Hi Jacob - Welcome to DegreeInfo. I think there may be at least two different issues at play here. The first is related to degree equivalency. If you're attending a well-known accredited university in Australia there will likely be no problems but there are agencies that exist for the purpose of determining degree equivalency for non-US degrees. The second issue is one on licensure. I'm sure that Dentistry/Orthodontics is a licensed profession and these licenses will be controlled by the state in which you live/work. Typically they are handled by the state department of public health.
     
  3. JacobD

    JacobD New Member

    Thank you for the quick response.
    I understand the degree equivalency agencies but I am a little stumped on the Departments of Public Health.
    Say for example I planned on a career in Colorado would I simply contact them on this website https://www.colorado.gov/cdphe or is this something else?

    Sorry about all this the, American government system is quite different from a country that only has 6 states.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 13, 2016
  4. Neuhaus

    Neuhaus Well-Known Member

    Licensed professions, like dentistry, are governed at the state level. Typically a state appoints a board of dentistry (or some similarly named entity) to oversee licensing and professional discipline. In the state of New York many of these functions are broadly overseen by the state Department of Education, which issues licenses to dentists, psychologists, social workers, physicians, accountants and a variety of other professions. New York has a pretty nice website that is fairly clear in their requirements.

    I cite New York firstly because I live there and am more familiar with the requirements. But secondly because it is a large state with a major metropolitan city that sees a lot of foreign traffic. We have, I believe, one of the most favorable pathways to licensure for foreign trained attorneys among all of the states, for example. So there are people who land here first and then utilize reciprocal license agreements with other states to get where they need to go.

    If you don't know where you want to go (i.e. just anywhere in the U.S.) then New York might not be a bad place to start. We have cities, we have rural areas, there's even a giant freaking waterfall surrounded by sketchy motels and casinos that people seem really into.

    The licensing requirements are here.

    I've summarized them thusly:

    They even have an interesting pathway for people who went to unaccredited foreign dental schools:

    Hopefully this helps.

    Now, if you really want to move to Arizona then these requirements won't help you. I would look for comparable results from Arizona. Very few professions have reciprocal agreements with all 50 states. So landing in New York might not ultimately help you get where you want to go and you should focus on the specific state you are considering as the process to move between states without a reciprocal agreement can become quite onerous.
     
  5. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    Also, most professions that require licensure have some sort of professional association on a national level and then they have state/regional chapters. In my case it's the super fantastic ASME. Contacting such an organization might provide you with invaluable assistance as they will be intimately aware of the laws and requirements in their state and have probably helped other people in similar circumstances. You might want to start here:

    Home - American Dental Association
     
  6. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    This isn't a degree question; it's one of professional qualifications. Best directed to the relevant professional body(ies).
     
  7. edowave

    edowave Active Member

    I don't think the public health department is what you want. For Colorado, I would start here: https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/dora/Dental_Board . Look at the application to get a license, and that should start to give you an idea of what you would need to do.
     

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