Yo peeps,

First of all, I will appreciate whoever replies to this thread because any comments about the topic now will definitely add value to me. So my sister has just recently completed her pre U and she has expressed her interest to further her studies in Dentistry. After doing some research, we concluded that there aren't much choices when it comes to dentistry schools in Malaysia. Based on our findings, we only found MAHSA, IMU and SEGi and we planned to opt for MAHSA for its more reputable for the price it charge.

Now here's some of my doubts:

1. In the recent years, I heard that certain medic-related field is facing oversupply issue in Malaysia. Is dentistry one of them? I am worrying about my sis' employability after 5 years when her programme ends.

Definitely, but oral awareness within the Malaysian people is still low and I’ve met wealthy patients that still think that everything can be solved by extracting the decayed tooth and proceed with implants. In a nutshell, It is still a highly demanded career in our country. The prospect is still wide for a newly grad dentist, especially when there’s a lot of new technologies coming in from overseas that are awaiting to be employed in Msia.

2. The programme fee varies a lot across local universities. Some can go up to RM500k while others at RM100k+. Regardless, they are all still a bit on the high side for both of my retired parents. Are there any good dentistry scholarships that you guys can recommend apart from the uni-offered ones?

I would assume that you’re not looking into JPA or JPA-MARA, as they’re provided by the government. Public unis like UM, UKM etc are paying 2.5K per semester = 25,000. Private university (like mine) can range from 350,000 (MAHSA, SEGI, MMMC)  to 600,000 (the notorious IMU HAHA). Back to the question, try scholarships offered by Top-Glove (I’ve seen they had scholarship for dentistry in the year 2016), although there are no other private organisations offering scholarships for dentistry.

3. Is MAHSA a good dentistry school? If not, are there any other recommendations? We do consider studying abroad option too. Heard that its more affordable to study dentistry in India but my parents are worried about her studying there alone. Any advice?

Ok. Disclaimer here: I’m studying in MAHSA and I’ll be entering my Year 4 in a few months. I used to thought that my uni was bad due to the bad management but it turns out a lot of my friends frm other unis are impressed with our facilities. We have just shifted into a new campus that has a 9 storey dental Fac building with 200 simulation units and almost 300 dental chairs (one for each student). The lecturers are mostly frm India so you’ll need some time to get used to their accent. There’s some of my classmates who’re Studying in India initially but was transferred back to Malaysia as there’s an issue with the Education Ministry of India. Turns out most foreign students studying in India won’t be allowed to study there anymore. (Pls clarify if I’m wrong). Even a partnered univeristy in India for PIDC was forced to send their Malaysian students back. Can check with the Indian education ministry before first.

4. Is specialisation a necessity? I saw that some uni offered that but I am not sure if the added years will benefit my sis greatly as compared to gathering practical work experience.

[COLOR=red]Cant answer this for now, Student nia.

5. Any other advice from our fellow dentists?
[COLOR=red]Advice frm student can ah? Don’t study dentistry just because your parents want her to, or because “dentists can earn a lot”. It’s not a easy professsion and we struggle more than our medical friends as we have to treat real patient during clinical years. Imagine spending half a year fabricating a denture and being told by the patient that she rejects your denture. Dentistry is not for anyone, so think twice before studying this course.

Thank you so much. Couldn't find a thread for dentist here so I decided to post this.

Hope it doesn't create any inconveniences.