Education Four-year postgraduate program in Orthodontics

Requirements

Applicants should have graduated as a dentist (DDS or DMD) from a recognized institution.

Before you can start one of the postgraduate programmes in Orthodontics at universities in the Netherlands, you have to be registered as a dentist in the Netherlands (BIG registration), which also requires a Dutch language proficiency test.

The BIG registration has to be obtained before we can offer you a position at our department.

Learn more about working in the Dutch healthcare sector with a foreign diploma.

Applicants from non-English-speaking countries are required to take the Academic IELTS exam, with a minimum total score of 7.0. The exam score must be current (less than two years old) and has to be submitted with the other application documents.

During the 4 years education you are not allowed to work outside the university and will be paid for your working hours.

Contents

The one-year programme usually is part of an orthodontic education program abroad. The program is tailored to the needs and requirements of the foreign program and resident. The start of the one-year programme is always discussed once a candidate is really interested. The resident attends theoretical seminars on various topics, journal clubs, treatment planning sessions, and participates in other activities as agreed upon.

Patient treatment takes place under supervision and a rotation is done in the cleft palate craniofacial unit. 

Certificate

All theoretical courses are concluded with an examination. At the end of all of the first three years, a field examination has to be passed. After four years and upon completion of all requirements, the programme is concluded with an external examination by the Specialist Registration Committee of the Dutch Dental Association. This examination consists of an oral examination, the presentation of 12 cases treated by the resident, a discussion about 2 new cases presented by the examination committee, and the defense of the research output. Upon successful completion of the examination, a certificate is granted. If the candidate meets the criteria for recognition of his/her dental degree in the Netherlands (registration in the so-called BIG-registry) then registration in the Dutch registry of orthodontic specialists can be obtained.

In addition, for those who combine the postgraduate programme in orthodontics with a PhD programme, a PhD degree can be awarded after fulfillment of all requirements (doctoral thesis and its public defense).

Research

Research is part of the programme for every resident. Each resident conducts a research project in close collaboration with an advisor. The research of the department is embedded in two research institutes of the Radboudumc: the Radboud Institute of Health Sciences (RIHS), and the Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences (RIMLS). During the years many publications of faculty and residents have been published in international ISI-listed journals. Each resident is required to have two manuscripts accepted in or submitted to international ISI-listed journals by the end of the postgraduate programme. It is a requirement to complete the research prior to the external examination as the publications are an integral part of the examination.