Degrees offered

• Doctor of Dental Medicine [D.M.D.]
  • Before you apply: Tips for choosing courses
  • Admission Requirements
• Bachelor of Science (Dentistry) [B.Sc.(Dent)]
• International Dentist Degree Program (IDDP)

Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD)

Minimum time to graduation: Six years (University 1 or Faculty of Science or Faculty of Arts, plus one year, plus four years in the Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry). The following is a summary of the admission requirements. Equivalent academic courses completed at recognized universities elsewhere will be considered.

All admission requirements, as well as application deadline dates are included in an application bulletin that is available from the Admissions Office, Enrolment Services, 424 University Centre; this information is also posted on the university's admissions website.

Before you apply

High School Prerequisites:

• Mathematics 40S (pre-calculus) minimum 50% - required or
  Math 40S (applied) minimum 70% - required
• Chemistry 40S (minimum 50%) - required
• Physics 40S (minimum 50%) - required
• Biology 40S (minimum 50%) - required

For full admission requirements from high school, visit the Admission Office website.

Tips for choosing university courses

• University 1 website
• Faculty of Science
• University of Manitoba Transfer Credit
  

Admissions requirements

(requirements at-a-glance)

• Minimum Credit Hours— 60 credit hours of specific courses over two years of full time study (see the Dentistry Application for details).
• Minimum GPA— See the Dentistry Application.
• Interview— A personal interview in front of the College selection committee is required.
• Entrance Exam— English Canadian Dental Aptitude Test (DAT) must be written by November prior to applying.
• Summer Session— Only between the two regular sessions of first and second year. All courses must be completed by the end of April for admission the following August.
• Selection Criteria— Grades, interview and DAT score are equally weighted. Admission is restricted to Canadian Citizens and Permanent Residents.

Information on the admission process may be accessed through the University of Manitoba Admissions web page or by requesting an Application Bulletin (Dentistry Application) from either the Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry or the University of Manitoba Admissions Office (Enrolment Services).

Applicants whose pre-dental education was not completed in Manitoba will be eligible for consideration if they have completed courses deemed by the University of Manitoba to be equivalent to those shown above. Eligibility to other Canadian dental programs does not guarantee eligibility to the University of Manitoba dental program. For more details please read the Dentistry Application.

After University 1, most students choose the Faculty of Science because the pre-Dentistry requirements easily fit Science degree programs.

All applicants must present an official record of the following:

1. the successful completion of a minimum of 60 credit hours of university degree level studies.
2. the successful completion of a minimum of 2 Regular Fall/Winter sessions or 2 sets of 2 sequential terms, where each Regular Fall/Winter sessions or 2 sequential terms contains a minimum of 24 new credit hours; or completion of the academic requirements of the University of Manitoba Health Careers Access Program (accessible to applicants of the Aboriginal population of Canada - see Section IV.B in the Dentistry Application)
3. the successful completion of the 42 required credit hours (or equivalents) as listed in the following table: 

** Please see the Academic Calendar & Catalog for the definition of Humanities/Social Sciences courses **

• Applicants whose pre-dental education was not completed in Manitoba will be eligible for consideration if they have completed courses deemed by the University of Manitoba to be equivalent to those shown above.
• May check the transfer database to determine if equivalency is available at University of Manitoba Transfer Credit.
• Eligibility to other Canadian dental programs does not guarantee eligibility to the University of Manitoba dental program.
• As part of the educational requirements, students who are enrolled in the program will be acting as patients and undergoing certain (reversible) dental procedures performed by other students in the program.
  

Criminal Record/Child Abuse Registry: An adult criminal record and child abuse registry self-declaration will be required of all applicants. An official adult criminal records is required by the time of registration, and annually thereafter keeping in accordance with existing policies of other health, education and social service programs at the University of Manitoba. Official child and adult abuse registry checks will be completed the first week of the program, and annual thereafter keeping in accordance with existing policies of other health, education and social service programs at the University of Manitoba.

Any student applicant with an infectious disease should either delay their application to the program or disclose this information upon being accepted into the Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry.  Should a student who has been accepted into the program but has been found to be unable to meet the College’s Infectious Disease policy requirements, every effort will be made to accommodate the student until the guidelines are met.  In some cases, it may be necessary  to suspend or terminate the student from the program if it is shown that the policy guidelines are unable to be met. Recommended Guidelines for Student and Student Applicants with Infectious Diseases (from AFCD) —

Bloodborne Pathogens: Compared with HCV or HIV, transmission of HBV is the greatest hazard in healthcare settings to those who are not immune (5, 32-35). The presence of HBeAg indicates a high risk of infectivity (5, 34, 36, 37). Among HCWs who sustained injuries from needles contaminated with blood containing HBV, the risk of developing clinical hepatitis if the blood was both HBsAg-positive and HBeAg-positive was 22%-31%. By comparison, the risk of developing clinical hepatitis from a needle contaminated with HBsAg-positive, HBeAg-negative blood was 1%-6% (34). Estimates of the risk of disease transmission after needlestick injuries contaminated with HCV or HIV are approximately 2% and 0.3% respectively (34, 38, 39). Healthcare workers, including students, who are infected with HCV, HIV, or HBV with no evidence of HBe antigen or a high viral load (>103 genome equivalents/mL) are considered low risk for transmission (5, 38, 40-48).

Hepatitis B: Applicants who are HBsAg-positive and HBeAg-positive or who have a viral load greater than 103 genome equivalents/mL should NOT be accepted into clinical programs. Non-responders (non-immune) to the hepatitis B vaccine should be tested on a regular basis for the presence of HBeAg and viral DNA and be removed from direct patient care activities if found to be positive for HBeAg or if they exceed a viral load greater than 103 genome equivalents/mL Current recommendations should be followed in the event of exposure to a non-responder (27).

Hepatitis C: Applicants who are carriers of Hepatitis C can be accepted, but should receive counseling before beginning the clinical program.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV): Applicants who are HIV positive can be accepted but should be counseled before admission to clinical programs. Students with risk factors for HIV should be counseled to seek HIV testing on a volunteer basis.

Communicable Disease Status: Any student or student applicant with a bloodborne infection (6) has a moral and ethical obligation to inform the appropriate authority in their educational institution to receive appropriate counseling and recommendations. This is consistent with the Canadian Dental Association’s Code of Ethics (49). In addition, there may be further specific reporting requirements in the various provincial jurisdictions (5). The confidentiality of the infected student should be maintained. The name of the infected student requiring counseling cannot be divulged without permission of the student. HCWs exposed to HIV, HBV or HCV should be advised to follow current recommendations for post exposure prophylaxis (34).References are available on the ACFD website.