One of the few Filipinos who managed to pass the ORE in the UK and make it to the British Dentist Register is Marilou Villaver-Denosta, DMD. Marilou is originally from Cebu and prior to her moving to the UK, practiced as a dentist for almost 4 years.
Right after passing the board exam way 2001, Marilou volunteered as a community dentist in Mandaue City Health Department. Afterwards she joined Macrohon Orthodontic Centre for 2 years, and then moved to the Bernal Dental Clinic where she became the principal dentist. Simultaneously she was also asked to become a Reliever Dentist for PAGCOR Mactan located in the Waterfront Hotel Mactan.
When she moved to the UK, she wasn't able to practice her dentistry immediately and could only do associate jobs in the Philippines during her vacations. After a long wait, she said she finally had the guts and money to take the exam to allow her to practice dentistry in the UK. She recently passed it last September 2015 and was registered two months later. She is currently looking for a Dental Foundation Training Post for her to work in the NHS.
Dr. Denosta says that basic dental education in the Philippines is on a par with other dental professionals abroad. At the moment while waiting for her training post, she keeps herself busy revising for the MJDF (Member of the Joint Dental Fellowship) run by the Royal College of Surgeons in England.
She envisions that once she has successfully finish my vocational training, she plans to pursue a specialization in Cosmetic Dentistry and open her own Dental Surgery.
In her free time I do online revision courses to other ORE candidates so they too can pass the exam (these are candidates of different nationalities).
Marilou says, "It's about time that community of Filipino dentists should be acknowledged the Philippines is amongst one of the best producers of dentists in the world and most of those who find themselves abroad are just settled doing assistant/dental nurse jobs thinking that these qualifying exams are so impossible to pass. Actually, it is very doable!".
Dr. Denosta continues, "I wasn't a practicing dentist for 10 years but I took the exam with no formal course in manikin (phantom head) and I passed it!"
She says there are a lot of Indian, Pakistani, Nepali dentists who pass because they help one another. On the other hand, Filipinos hardly know any other Filipino dentists taking the exam until the exam day itself when they see each other at the testing site.
In the entire northwest of England Dr. Denosta seems to be the only Filipino dentist allowed to practice She adds, "Imagine how many Filipinos are here who have a dental degree but would rather work as in other medical disciplines just to get by. However, I am sure that they would rather work as a dentist if given the chance and encouragement. I hope my story inspires other dentists to take the exam too so that there would be more Filipino dentists practicing in the United Kingdom".
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