In my attempt to improve my career path, I took on the exam for RDA. A lot of dental offices are hiring registered dental assistants more than a non-registered one. I have never had schooling in dental assisting except I have a background and diploma in Dentistry. My first job in a dental clinic helped me learn a lot about dental assisting. When I left that job and finished my schooling, I returned to the job hunt having difficulty finding one because I was not licensed/registered DA. Though I am blessed with good jobs right now, I decided to get myself licensed just to get that out of the way and so that nobody will question my credibility. Because you see, foreign training/graduate don’t mean a thing here.

California has the most complicated and strictest laws/policies when it comes to professional jobs. A lot of jobs need certification and those certification doesn’t come easy. Further training and classes are needed first before you can apply for examination to certification. And of course money is needed to get that license. But the good thing is with certification, you get a higher income. For an RDA the salary range in the Peninsula Bay Area is at around 18-25/hr.

For RDA, the authority for California RDA and dentists is the Dental Board of California. To be eligible for the RDA examination, here are the criteria:

  1. Graduate from a Board-approved RDA educational program of a minimum of 720 hours (approximately 8 months); or
  2. Complete at least 15 months of satisfactory (1,560 Hours) paid work experience as a dental assistant with a dentist licensed in one of the states in the United States; or
  3. Complete a California Department of Education approved 4-month educational program, and 11 months of work experience with a dentist(s) licensed in one of the states of the United States.

To obtain a license, one must:

  1. Graduate from a Board-approved RDA educational program of a minimum of 720 hours (approximately 8 months); or
  2. Complete at least 15 months of satisfactory (1,560 Hours) paid work experience as a dental assistant with a dentist licensed in one of the states in the United States; or
  3. Complete a California Department of Education approved 4-month educational program, and 11 months of work experience with a dentist(s) licensed in one of the states of the United States. Foreign education and/or experience is not accepted.

I just praise the Lord that the work experience I’ve had in the past made me qualify to sit for the exam. I got the 15 months of work; I took my CPR class with my own initiative; I was licensed for xray and coronal polishing by the prompting of my boss. All of these work together perfectly (me being oblivious) and I’m really thankful to God that I don’t have any problems with taking extra steps before I can take the exam.

I submitted my RDA application form within the filing period of Nov 4-Dec 31 2009. The website RDA application instruction was down for a long time and I was worried that I’m doing my application process wrong. I printed and filled out the form, wrote a cheque for the exam fee, and did the livescan fingerprinting.  I sent them all before the final filing date. It was only the third week of February that I was able to see the RDA application instruction in their website. And I’ve got some missing data which I needed to mail but I still have to asked them about it. I didn’t mail copies of my Infection control and Dental Laws and Ethics certificate and a copy of my CPR card.

The practical exam I’m aiming for was scheduled on Feb 27. By the last week of January there was still no response from them. I tried calling but every time it went to their voicemail. They made a mistake with my payment and I needed to send them a cheque again. So another week passed and 2 weeks before the exam, I finally got their instructions for my practical exam.

Now I was rushing to place an order for the exam rental kit 5 days before the exam. The rental kits were so expensive. Most of them were around 125USD. I got mine from Dental Education Association for 100USD. I could have borrowed from the office but I’d rather not risk having missing instruments or things. Some rental agencies can rent you just the typodont which can save you a lot if you can scrounge the other things from your office. Well I just console myself that all the things I spent on this exam will be tax-deductible.

Yesterday was the RDA practical exam. It was held at UCSF Dental Clinics building. The exam was 1 1/2 hours and another 30-40minutes of checking by the proctor, then it’s time to go home. It’s best if you arrive 45 minutes from the test time to be able to familiarize yourself with the things inside the rental kit. The rental kit agency people were very friendly and helpful. They even watch my purse while I was taking the exam because cellphones are not allowed inside the test site. I’ll post my practical exam experience next time.

The practical exam results will be mailed 6 weeks after the last day of the exam. In the meantime, I scheduled my written exam on the last week of march thru psiexams.com

The RDA forms/instructions can be downloaded here. The fees for the exam are: Application = 20, practical exam = 60, fingerprinting = 51 (plus livescan center service fee),  written exam = 43, law and ethics exam = 23, rental kit = 100.

I hope this post helps because it was hard for me to find information online about the RDA exam process.

Related posts:

  1. California RDA practical exam
  2. RDA license update
  3. California RDA written exam
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  5. BAD DENTISTRY