# Michigan foreign-trained dentist residency pathway > Pathway unclear for internationally trained dentists evaluating GPR, AEGD, CODA residency, or advanced-education options in Michigan. URL: https://dentovio.com/foreign-trained-dentist-license/michigan/residency-pathway Last verified: 2026-07-08 Research confidence: medium Educational summary only, not legal, immigration, or admissions advice. Dental licensure rules change and program eligibility varies. Confirm current requirements directly with the Michigan dental board before choosing a program or filing an application. ## Direct answer In Michigan, the sourced state record is unclear or source-conflicted, so the applicant should verify the residency question directly with the dental board. CODA post-degree/advanced clinical pathway accepted — a foreign (non-CODA) dentist does NOT have to repeat a full DDS. Michigan (Admin. Rule 650 / R 338.11xxx, 'Graduates of foreign dental schools') requires a graduate of a non-CODA foreign dental school to complete EITHER (a) a minimum of 2 years / 2,850 clock hours of clinical training at a CODA-accredited U.S. Confirm the current rule directly with Michigan Board of Dentistry (Dept. of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs / LARA) before choosing a program or filing an application. ## Residency and advanced-education signal CODA post-degree/advanced clinical pathway accepted — a foreign (non-CODA) dentist does NOT have to repeat a full DDS. Michigan (Admin. Rule 650 / R 338.11xxx, 'Graduates of foreign dental schools') requires a graduate of a non-CODA foreign dental school to complete EITHER (a) a minimum of 2 years / 2,850 clock hours of clinical training at a CODA-accredited U.S. or Canadian dental program (an 'advanced standing' program, offered e.g. at Univ. of Detroit Mercy and Univ. of Michigan), OR (b) a minimum 2-year master's degree or certificate program in a CODA-accredited specialty branch of dentistry. This is a 2-year advanced-standing/postdoctoral requirement rather than a full 4-year DDS repeat. ## Required exams NBDE (or iNBDE, which replaced the NBDE) conducted/scored by the JCNDE + ADEX clinical (written and clinical) administered by CDCA-WREB-CITA or another Board-approved regional agency; converted score of 75+ required on each component. Plus current BLS/ACLS certification. (WREB retired Dec 31 2022.) ## Notes Michigan accepts 2 years / 2,850 clock hours of CODA clinical training OR a 2-year CODA specialty master's/certificate — this is the recognized foreign-grad route and is less than repeating a full DDS. Whether a standalone 1-year CODA GPR/AEGD alone (without meeting the 2-year/2,850-hour advanced-standing threshold) satisfies the education requirement is not clearly established; the 2-year specialty/advanced-standing option is the documented pathway, so residency-only is marked unclear. Could not fetch the ADA Michigan Laws & Rules PDF or the LARA foreign-grad PDF directly (403/redirect); details corroborated across the Michigan.gov LARA skilled-immigrant pathway document and ADA/LARA summaries. Verify exact current rule text with LARA. ## Official board source - Michigan Board of Dentistry (Dept. of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs / LARA): ## References - - - - - ## Related - [Foreign-trained dentist license in Michigan](https://dentovio.com/foreign-trained-dentist-license/michigan/index.html.md) - [Foreign-trained dentist residency pathway by state](https://dentovio.com/foreign-trained-dentist-residency-pathway/index.html.md) - [Foreign dentist license without repeating dental school](https://dentovio.com/foreign-trained-dentist-license-without-repeating-dental-school/index.html.md) - [Foreign-trained dentist advanced-standing pathway by state](https://dentovio.com/foreign-trained-dentist-advanced-standing/index.html.md) - [Foreign-trained dentist licensure by state](https://dentovio.com/foreign-trained-dentist-licensure/index.html.md) - [Foreign-trained dentist licensure matcher](https://dentovio.com/tools/foreign-dentist-license-eligibility)