Which States You Can Practice After Doing A Residency Program

In the US, each state has its own requirements regarding the criteria you need to meet to get a license to practice in their state. There are 50 states in this country, which makes the research process long and complicated. Many dentists that studied outside of the United States are interested in doing a residency program in the US. And staying here afterward to live and practice dentistry. The big question is, in which states can you practice after completing a residency program?

Where To Practice In The US After Residency?

Here are the states that accept dental licensure by residency:
Connecticut
Florida
Illinois
Michigan
Mississippi
Minnesota
New York
Ohio
Oregon
Texas
Virginia
Washington

That is 12 states in total. Each state specifies what the training needs to look like. For instance, some states will say it needs to be an AEGD program, and some states will say it cannot be an AEGD program.

I really want to emphasize that the criteria changes. It can change at any time. For example, there is a PDF the ADA had put out back in 2009. According to that PDF, you should have been able to practice in more states after doing a residency program, but some states changed their criteria so this is what is currently available to you right now. For the most up-to-date information, go directly to the source, which is the state’s dental board website. Don’t trust anything else! It may be out-of-date already, including this article.

Also, the 12 states I told you about are the states that allow you to get a license immediately and practice after the completing a residency program, not licensure through reciprocity.

For some states, it’s lumped into the category of licensure called initial licensure, and for some states, it’s a different process called a specialty licensure application. Because of the limitations that each state puts on the program requirements, maybe for most of them, it’s going to be like a 2-years or more accredited program, etc., but it’s going to be rare that you can finish, let’s say a given residency program and all 12 states will be opened up to you.

However, you’re not confined to just these states forever. After 3 or 5 years of practicing more of the US will open up to you for licensure through a process called reciprocity. Each state of course, again, has different requirements that you need to meet to be able to get licensure through reciprocity, and not all of the U.S will open up to you, because again, you did not graduate from an ADA accredited dental school, but more of the US will.

Related Articles:

• How To Find Dental Licensure Requirements For Each State
• Best AEGD Programs

There is also a state where you could get a license without having to go through a residency program or get any additional training and that is Minnesota. An article and video about their process is coming soon, so stay tuned!

Please watch the video above till the end to learn where you can practice after doing a residency program, because there is some important information that I don’t want you to miss.