Virginia Commonwealth University

Postgraduate Program

Program Director

Karan J. Replogle, DDS, MS
Interim Department Chair, Endodontics

Description

The Advanced Specialty Education Program in Endodontics offers the student a comprehensive 24-month course of study in clinical and didactic Endodontics. The program is designed to educate qualified individuals to pursue careers as teachers, researchers and practicing clinical specialists of Endodontics. The program meets the educational requirements for limitation of practice to the specialty of Endodontics, and prepares the student for examination by the American Board of Endodontics. The program is composed of two interrelated components: lecture courses that provide the student with a firm biological basis for patient care, and lectures, seminars and clinical training designed to produce clinical proficiency in Endodontics. Research experience is gained through completion of an individual research project and master's thesis. The clinical curriculum will occupy approximately 50-60% of the resident's time and the didactic, teaching, and research components make up the remaining 40-50% of the program.

Students completing the program earn a specialty Certificate in Endodontics and a Master’s of Science in Dentistry degree. Students must complete the requirements for the Master's degree prior to being awarded the specialty certificate.

The program conforms to the ADA Standards for Advanced Specialty Education in Endodontics and carries a full approval status from the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association.

Facilities and Resources

The facilities of the School of Dentistry are housed in the Wood Memorial and Lyons Buildings and contain clinical facilities, research facilities, classrooms, student laboratories, departmental offices, and a computer learning laboratory. The laboratories and classrooms contain the latest audio-visual equipment. The Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences is located across the street from the School of Dentistry.

The Graduate Endodontic Clinic is an eight-chair clinic housed on the second floor of the Lyons Building. Residents are assigned to and maintain their own individual operatories for the two years of the program. The Graduate Endodontic Conference Room is located adjacent to the clinic area. The Graduate Endodontic Clinic area was recently renovated, with Zeiss surgical operating microscopes installed in 2004, and digital radiography currently being added. Two full-time chairside assistants staff the clinic. The Endodontic Departmental Offices are located on the third floor of the Lyons Building.

Qualifications

Students seeking admission to the Endodontics program must meet the following minimum requirements:

  1. Graduation from a United States or Canadian Dental School, or a Dental School that provides equivalent curricular content and clinical experience. Foreign applicants will need a course-by-course evaluation report from an approved evaluation service. Examples are:

    Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc.
    P.O. Box 92970
    Milwaukee, WI 53202-0970
    Phone: (414) 289-3400
    Fax: (414) 289-3411
    Email: eval@ece.org
    Web Site: www.ece.org

    Educational Records Evaluation Service
    777 Campus Commons Road, Suite 200
    Sacramento, CA 95825-8309
    Phone: (916) 565-7475
    Fax: (916) 565-7476
    Email: edu@eres.com
    Web Site: www.eres.com

    Institute for International Credentials
    Evaluations at CSU Fresno
    5150 North Maple Avenue, M/S 56
    Joyal Administration, Room 211
    California State University, Fresno
    Fresno, CA 93740-8026
    Phone: (209) 278-7622
    Fax: (209) 278-7879
    Email: carolm@zimmer.csufresno.edu

    International Education Research Foundation, Inc.
    Credentials Evaluation Service
    P.O. Box 66940
    Los Angeles, CA 90066
    Phone: (310) 390-6276
    Fax: (310) 397-7686
    Email: info@ierf.org
    Web Site: www.ierf.org

    World Education Services
    Application for Evaluation of Foreign Educational Credentials
    P.O. Box 745
    Old Chelsea Station
    New York, NY 10013
    Phone: (212) 966-6311
    Fax:
    Email: info@wes.org
    Web Site: www.wes.org
    (Note: WES is not authorized to evaluate coursework from Spain)

  2. Minimum score of 80 of Part I of the National Dental Board at the time of application and Part II by the time of matriculation.
  3. Foreign students must demonstrate English reading, writing and speaking proficiency with a minimum score of 630 on the written TOFEL examination, 267 on the computer version, or 109 on the new web-based version.
  4. Applicants must meet the requirements and obtain a temporary license for persons enrolled in advanced dental education programs in Virginia, which include successful completion of the academic education required for admission to examination given by the Virginia Dental Board, which is a DDS or DMD degree from an accredited or approved dental school recognized by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association.
  5. Minimum grade point average of 3.0 (4.0 scale) or equivalent, or a ranking in the top 50% of their dental school class.
  6. Interview with the Program Director, faculty, and residents.
  7. Three letters of recommendation.

All advanced dental education students are required to successfully pass a pre-matriculation drug screening test.

Professional Liability

The Commonwealth of Virginia self-insurance program provides professional liability (malpractice) coverage, subject to policy limits, for advanced dental education students. Coverage includes professional service on duty within the institution and professional service on assigned duties in one of the affiliated hospitals or programs. It does not cover any other professional service, e.g. moonlighting activities at other facilities or institutions.

Tuition and Fees

An application fee of $50.00 must accompany your completed application and if accepted into the program, a fee of $50.00 is required for application to the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Graduate Studies for admission into the Master of Science program. A $1,000.00 nonrefundable acceptance fee is due within 72 hours of verbal acceptance of a position in the program. The only course with a fee for attendance is the Head and Neck Anatomy course that is given during the first year; the fee is $300.00. A clinic usage fee is presently in effect for each student and is $1,500.00 per semester and is due at the beginning of each semester. All fees are subject to change.

Instruments and Books

Students will be required to purchase enough instruments to equip three nonsurgical endodontic kits and one surgery kit. Students are required to purchase a number of textbooks during the program. Residents are not required to purchase an operating microscope or digital radiography sensor, as they are provided in the clinic. Required instruments include but are not limited to an electric handpiece system, an Air-Impact 45 degree handpiece for surgery, a Root ZX or equivalent apex locator, an Obtura II thermoplasticized gutta-percha unit, and a Spartan or equivalent ultrasonic unit with the appropriate nonsurgical and surgical tips. Additionally, all VCU students must purchase an approved laptop computer and software. A list of the required instruments and textbooks will be provided to successful applicants. The approximate total cost for instruments and books required during the program is $10,000-$15,000.

Application Information

Further Inquiries and/or a completed application may be directed to:

Karan J. Replogle, DDS, MS
Advanced Education Program in Endodontics
VCU School of Dentistry, Box 980566
Richmond, Virginia 23298-0566
Email: kjreplogle@vcu.edu
Phone: (804) 828-0784
Fax: (804) 827-1373

You may print out the application form and directions by going to the location listed below. The form and directions require Adobe Acrobat Reader to read and print. If you do not have this program, you can go to the Adobe site to download this program, free of charge.

Endodontics Application