Admission Process
- MS in Oral Biology Program: Applicants to this program must have been accepted by their Military Service to a CODA-accredited, advanced dental education program that is sponsored by the United States Army, Navy, or Air Force. Application requirements and training opportunity for Military CODA-accredited, advanced dental education programs must be obtained through Service-specific Dental Education Offices. Only students accepted to those advanced dental education programs that are affiliated with the USU PDC are eligible to apply to the MS Degree program. Affiliated advanced dental education program disciplines are considered majors within the MS Degree program. The majority of applicants are dentists in the Army, Navy, or Air Force, however, when training availability exists, dentists from the USPHS, Veterans Administration, or Canadian Forces will be considered, as per those Services’ training needs. As dictated by Service requirements, Service-sponsored Health Professions Scholarship Program students in a United States Dental School may also be considered.
- Applicants must be licensed dentists or in compliance with Service regulations, instructions, or directives, regarding obtaining an active dental license.
- Following acceptance into a USU PDC-affiliated, Military-sponsored advanced dental education program, students will apply for admission to the USU PDC MS Degree program by application through the PDC’s Army, Navy, or Air Force Postgraduate Dental Schools’ Academic Admissions Committee (AAC). The AAC for each Service is comprised of Military dentists who also are USU appointed faculty in accordance with USU Instruction 1100D.
The following items are reviewed by the Service-specific AAC for each applicant:
- Statement of intent or motivation
- Summary from applicant’s interview
- Dental School transcripts
- Letter or statement from dental school dean or registrar stating and explaining grade point average and class standing (as available)
- National Board score
- Letters of recommendation
Program Requirements:
- PDC Program 1: - Master of Science in Oral Biology Degree (Organized by Major Field of study and by location, as previously approved by the MSCHE). The items in the bulleted list below apply to all Major Fields of study at all locations.
- All students must satisfactorily complete all courses listed by major field of study and by the location where training occurs, as listed below.
- Students at training locations where letter grades are issued must maintain a cumulative course average of at least B, with no course grade less than a C.
- Students at training locations where grades are issued as Pass/Fail must earn a Pass on all courses.
- All students must complete a research project and document the results in either a publishable paper or thesis format.
- No student, regardless of Major Field of study or training location, will earn an Advanced Specialty Education Residency Certificate from their Service-assigned training location without completing all requirements for the USU MS in Oral Biology degree. Conversely, no student will earn a USU MS in Oral Biology degree without completing all requirements for the applicable Advanced Specialty Education Residency.