Oral Health Sciences PhD

OHS PhD snapshot:

• 5-6 year research training program
• Application to Rackham Graduate School
• Application Deadline December 5
• Admit for Summer Term (June or July 1)
• Academic Plan

The DDS/PhD program at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry provides training in dentistry and research through a series of clinical and research experiences and course work. Students are admitted to both the DDS program and the Oral Health Sciences PhD program.

• 7-8 year research and clinical training program
• Only open to US Citizens or permanent residents
• Application for DDS through AADSAS
• Application for OHS PhD through Rackham Graduate School
• Please Note: The DDS/PhD is a student-initiated Dual Degree not a Rackham Dual Degree (do not check the Rackham box for dual degree)
• PhD Application Deadline is October 15, please check here for DDS application due date.
• Email letter of intent to apply to the dual degree DDS/PhD program, addressed to Dr. Yuji Mishina, Program Director. Send to [email protected]
• Academic Plan

LICENSURE DISCLOSURE

The University of Michigan School of Dentistry DDS/PhD program is accredited by the American Dental Association’s Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA).

The University of Michigan School of Dentistry DDS/PhD program was designed to satisfy educational prerequisites to licensure for dentistry only in the state of Michigan. It has not been determined whether educational prerequisites to licensure would be satisfied in other states.

Students should consult the dental board in their state to confirm if the degree from University of Michigan School of Dentistry meets the criteria for professional licensure in their state. Contact information for the state dental boards can be found at the American Dental Association.

The program, which requires a minimum of six years, is designed to build advanced knowledge and skillsets in scholars who aspire to become clinician-scientists to advance our understanding of craniofacial diseases and disorders. Integrated into the program are biomedical graduate and advance science courses, research training, specialty residency education, interactive instructions in Responsible Conduct of Research and Scholarship, leadership and professional development. With the full commitment of the faculty team, the OHS program, the specialty programs, the School of Dentistry, and Rackham School of Graduate Studies, our ultimate goal is to prepare the scholars to become leaders, educators and researchers in the field of craniofacial diseases and disorders to advance academic dentistry and public health.

• 2025 Admissions Cycle Update. Unfortunately, the DSPP program will not be accepting applications for the next admission cycle, but will be interested in applicants for the 2026 admissions cycle. That application will open in June 2025.
• 6-7 year combined research PhD with dental specialty masters
• Only open to US Citizens or permanent residents
• Application for Specialty Program by the deadlines provided:
  • Endodontics
  • Periodontics
  • Orthodontics
  • Pediatric Dentistry
• Academic Plan
• Application for OHS PhD to Rackham Graduate School - due October 15
  Please Note: The MS/PhD is a student-initiated Dual Degree not a Rackham Dual Degree (do not check the Rackham box for dual degree)
• Email letter of intent to apply to the dual degree MS/PhD program, addressed to 'Dr. Yuji Mishina, Program Director. Send to [email protected]
•  

Each PhD track is intended to be fully funded for admitted students. In most cases, funding is provided by both the program/the trainee's faculty mentor.

Check with the graduate program ([email protected])  for questions about:

• Letters of recommendation
• The application requirements, including deadlines
• Status of your application’s review 
  • Please see the timeline outlined on our website
• All decisions will be sent to the e-mail address listed on your application
  • Please notify the department of e-mail address changes and update your Wolverine Access profile. 
• Academic plan/program

Rackham Admissions ([email protected]) can help with questions about:

• Official transcripts
• English language proficiency and minimum requirements for non-native speakers of English
• University of Michigan ID number (UMID)
• Paying your application fee
• Friend Account questions, locked accounts
• Incorrect information on your application record
• Missing test scores
• Immigration documents

A completed application form and all supporting materials must be submitted by midnight (PST) on the deadline (see website) to be considered for admission. We strongly encourage students to plan ahead and get their test scores and letters submitted ahead of the deadline. For things applicants cannot control - i.e. scores and letters - it is okay if they arrive within a few days of the deadline. We encourage all materials to be received by the deadline, as review begins immediately after.

There is a non-refundable application fee, subject to change:

• United States citizens and those with permanent resident visa status — $75
• Non-U.S. Citizens — $90

Applications received without fees will not be processed. The application fee is paid online with a credit card before the application is submitted. 

If you are applying to a graduate program and need assistance with the application fee, we encourage you to apply for a fee waiver. Only US citizens and permanent residents, or those with DACA status, are eligible. First, please review the options through our Rackham Graduate School. The Department does not offer application fee waivers. Unfortunately, international students are not eligible for application fee waivers.

Please review Rackham Graduate School’s Steps in the Admissions Process and their Overview of the Application Process.

There is an online process for checking application status through the Rackham Graduate School. However, this will only indicate whether a decision has been made.

Students are admitted for Summer only. 

Please see the timeline outlined on our website. All application materials must be submitted by midnight PST on the deadline to be considered for admission. If you are applying to the DDS program, please see their website. If you are applying for a Master’s Specialty program, please meet their individual deadlines for admission found on their website(s). 
DDS/PhD - October 15
MS/PhD or DSPP - October 15
PhD - December 5

The University of Michigan’s Rackham Graduate School will discontinue the use of the Graduate Record Examination general test in Rackham Ph.D. admissions decisions, beginning with the 2022-2023 admissions cycle.

You can find Rackham Graduate School’s minimum requirements to apply here. Additionally, for information about eligibility criteria from non-US institutions, please go here. Our diverse community of graduate students comes from many different countries and many undergraduate majors. We require either a DDS (or equivalent) or BS degree. We do not have any specific course prerequisites. 
International students are not eligible for the DDS/PhD or MS/PhD tracks of the program. They are welcome and encouraged to apply to our PhD only track. 

Please review the list below and the associated groups/websites. 

• If you need an F-1 or J-1 visa, the University of Michigan is required by the U.S. government to obtain documentation proving that international applicants (non-U.S. Citizens) have adequate financial resources to provide for their expenses while in the United States. Rackham Admissions is the U-M office that will prepare your I-20 or DS-2019 after you have provided the required documents through Wolverine Access.
• Rackham has some General Information for International Students
• Rackham also has a site regarding Immigration with some great information
• You can take a look at the International Center’s resources

This is outlined on our website. Regardless of the date of application, you can expect a response according to this general calendar. Typically, applications are not reviewed until after the deadline has passed. 

ADMISSIONS CALENDAR

When students are admitted, they are assigned a temporary mentor before they fix to a lab, which will be supervised by their main mentor. Typically, when students are admitted, the program will have some tentative plans on where they might fix later on. PIs who take on graduate students will have funds available to support them while in the program. 

Statement of Purpose (SOP)- Should be a concise, well written statement about your academic and research background that also describes your future career goals. In this statement, answer the question: How can the OHS Program help meet your career and educational goals? Length 1-2 pages.

Personal Statement (PS) - Describes your journey that led you to the pursuit of a graduate degree. Length 1 page

Curriculum Vitae or Resume - This should be 1-4 pages and include education, work and/or research experience, publications, lectures and seminars, poster presentations, awards/scholarships, volunteer opportunities.

PhD – 5-6 years; DDS/PhD – 7-8 years; MS/PhD – 6-7 years

No - Not at this time. 

Email letter of intent to apply to the dual degree DDS/PhD program, addressed to Dr. Yuji Mishina, Program Director. Send to [email protected]

The DSPP and DDS/PhD programs are a student-initiated Dual Degree not a Rackham Dual Degree (do not check the Rackham box for dual degree)

Letters of Recommendation: 2 for DDS/PhD and MS/PhD 

DDS/PhD – 7-8 years; MS/PhD – 6-7 years. 

No, in order to be considered for the dual degree program with the OHS PhD, you must be offered admission to both programs in the same term. You may not start either the DDS or Master’s Specialty program and then join the PhD program in a later term. 

Each PhD track is intended to be fully funded for admitted students, regardless of citizenship status. In most cases, funding is provided by both the program/the trainee's faculty mentor.

A scanned/electronic copy of the official transcript will be used for initial review by our admissions committee. You will be required to have your official transcript sent to the Rackham Graduate School only if you are recommended for admission; please see Instructions for Submitting Transcripts. Use the Academic Records/Transcript Submission Form to submit your official transcript so that it is quickly associated with your application. Be sure to include your University of Michigan ID number on all documents. If there is anything you wish to explain about your transcript, please do so in the Statement of Purpose.

Any “in progress” transcripts will need to have the current official version submitted at the time of application for review by the admissions committee. Unofficial transcripts are not accepted. If the student is offered admission, they will need to send their final official transcript of any degrees in progress at the time of application to the Rackham Graduate School within 1 semester after admission. 

All applicants should report their Grade Point Average (GPA) on page 5 of the online application. The GPA should be reported using a standard U.S. four point scale.  Applicants who attended an institution outside the United States should follow the instructions to convert their international average grade point to a U.S. four point GPA (see "How to Convert Grades to a U.S. GPA" here).

If you are having trouble converting your GPA to the 4.0 scale or are unable to find your institution’s scale for your country, please visit https://www.scholaro.com/contact-us/gpa for assistance. If you have any questions regarding these materials you can reach out to [email protected]. It is the student's responsibility to report their GPA in the 4.0 scale. 

Scholaro reports are the main way that students can and should submit an evaluation of their transcript and GPA. An evaluation provided by a credential service, for example Educational Credentials Evaluators (ECE) or World Education Services (WES), is not accepted by Rackham. Exception: the Rackham Graduate School will accept electronic evaluations from Educational Perspectives (EP).

You should be able to see if your test scores and letters of recommendation have been received and matched with your submitted application in the Wolverine Access system. If you have any further questions about your English language scores, you can contact [email protected]. 

This tends to be a problem with a recommender's email account set up. The emailed invitation may be either blocked or automatically filtered into a junk mail folder. An applicant can check the status of their recommendations, resend a recommendation request, and even change a recommender if the recommendation is not yet started via an applicant's Personal Activity page. This page may be accessed under the Manage Your Account section of your online application homepage and by clicking on the Review Your Activity link. Once the application is submitted, the online application cannot be modified. Please refer to the application instructions for more details.

No, we cannot. Only you, the applicant, can log back into your online application account and resend the information to your recommenders. If that does not work, then you need to contact CollegeNET directly.

Letters of Recommendation: 3 for PhD and 2 for DDS/PhD and MS/PhD

Your letter writers should be people with whom you have worked closely, and who are familiar with your work.

Non-native speakers have to take the TOEFL or IELTS unless English was the official language of instruction at the institution where they received their undergraduate degree. Applicants can qualify for an exemption from taking an English proficiency examination if one of the following criteria are met:

• You are a native speaker of English.
• You completed all four years of your undergraduate education at an institution in the United States and earned a degree from that institution.
• You completed all of your undergraduate education and earned an undergraduate degree in one of the following countries, Australia, English speaking Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, or the United Kingdom.
• You completed all of your undergraduate education and earned an undergraduate degree at an institution where all classes are taught exclusively in English.
• You completed all of your graduate education, a minimum of two years duration, and earned a graduate degree in one of the following countries, the United States, Australia, English speaking Canada, Ireland, New Zealand or the United Kingdom. Graduate education includes Master's, Ph.D., and professional degrees. Graduate degrees that are exclusively research based are excluded.
• Current U-M student.

No, your English language proficiency exemption is assessed and verified when you submit your application materials. If you meet the criteria, you will be exempt. 

Yes; please refer to these Rackham guidelines.

The only acceptable evidence of English proficiency is a score on a University-approved English test, see Required Tests for Non-native English Speakers on the Rackham Website. If your score is below the minimum required by the University, your application will be automatically rejected. The department cannot waive this requirement.

TOEFL scores are valid for 2 years. We accept TOEFL scores expiring in late fall or early winter as long as the official report from ETS is received before the deadline.

The minimum TOEFL total score required is 84 on the Internet based test.

Yes, these are the accepted tests for Rackham Graduate School: TOEFL, ECPE, IELTS, and MET. Duolingo is not an acceptable test.
For full details, including minimum overall scores and how to
submit scores to Rackham Graduate school, see about more information, see Required Tests for Non-native English Speakers on the Rackham Website.

The institution code for the TOEFL is 1839.