Gateway Program : Information

Description of Gateway Program
The DSI Gateway Program is designed with the International Dentists in mind. It will help attendees make a transition in their careers. It is directed at serious career Dentists who wish to dramatically improve their skills and knowledge with any of the following goals in mind:

1. Upgrade the status of their practice in their home country.

2. Qualify for insurance reimbursements for treating foreign nationals
   in their home country.

3. Substantially improve their chances of gaining acceptance in
   Advanced Standing and International programs in US dental schools.

4. Make the transition from former experiences to US dental school educational programs easier.

This program may also be used to provide pre-clinical instruction to dentists accepted to U.S. Schools under contract between DSI and the school, and is also extremely useful for anyone whose goals include the teaching of dentistry.

We have designed a 4 month curriculum in operative and fixed prosthodontic dentistry that satisfies a variety of needs. It is by far the most thorough, efficient and effective program of its type anywhere. This course extends the experience we have had helping thousands of International and US dentists prepare for "bench" and clinical board exams. The amount of hands-on training that we have done at DSI is unsurpassed and we have developed methods and technology that is not available at any dental school. Since 1993 we have pioneered the use of fixed high magnification video cameras and intra oral cameras in dental education. In 1999 we perfected the "point-of-view" camera, mounted on the instructor's loupes, enabling students to see exactly what the instructor sees, down the same axis and the same magnification at the same time.  Dr. Duggan personally has helped students work on more than 100,000 preparations and has given many hundreds of lectures on many aspects of dentistry.

All lectures and demonstrations and patient natural tooth examples are made available to our students before each class so as much time is left for hands-on instruction as possible. This year the 2003 pilot class will have many extra lectures available as our extensive library of instructional video tapes is supplemented to include more topics. Production of a complete set of DVD's is in progress.

Our instructors enjoy showing our students how to do every procedure and technique. Emphasis is always placed on understanding the basic principles of biomechanical design and the principles of preparation methodology.  We teach to know what to do and then when and why. We focus much one-on-one attention on the how. All hands-on procedures will be carried out on typodonts in manikens, often with natural teeth to simulate patients as much as possible. Sessions are included which emphasize the protocol of appropriate treatment planning of amalgam versus composite and of partial coverage gold casting versus ceramometal and full ceramic restorations. Diagnostic sessions will be held in which radiographs, casts and videotapes of patients will be discussed. Since this is a course designed for International dentists, treatment planning will reflect the cultural and economical conditions of the community as well as of the patient.

The Gateway Program also involves periodic written and practical examinations so that there is documentation of the progress made during the course. This helps to maximize the learning achieved by each student.

The laboratory part of this course is over 250 hours covering many topics thoroughly. This course is designed to be unique and uniquely valuable. The current fee is based on typical Continuing Education fees and for the pilot program this year there is no charge for any of the extra lectures attended, and the course size will be kept small to maximize student interaction.