Shift for dentistry to engineering

Useful advice relating to undergraduate and postgraduate studying. Find information on admission, study permits, universities, polytechnics, courses and student life in Finland
Omajenn1234
Posts: 35
Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2020 5:48 pm

Shift for dentistry to engineering

Post by Omajenn1234 » Sun Oct 04, 2020 4:04 am

Hello everyone

Im overseas dentist and ill move with my finnish wife to finland

After knowing the equivalency process to be dentist in finland i decided not to go for it

Now im thinking about studying

I have two paths in my mind

1- Master in field like anatomy , physiology histology etc , but i dont know i im allowed to study this in finland ( in Uk for exampl yes i can ) but in finland im afraid that i should have medicine degree for that , so im not sure , also i couldnt find any program in english so i think its impossible for me

2- my second option is to start uni all over again , id love to study software engineering but i dont know if ill be able , i graduated from arabic high school on 2013 , can i still apply with this gap?

How hard is to get accepted ? Do i need any special exams or papers usually ?

Thank you



Shift for dentistry to engineering

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Maaria
Posts: 184
Joined: Fri Jul 12, 2019 3:49 am

Re: Shift for dentistry to engineering

Post by Maaria » Sun Oct 04, 2020 6:05 am

Omajenn1234 wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 4:04 am
Hello everyone

Im overseas dentist and ill move with my finnish wife to finland

After knowing the equivalency process to be dentist in finland i decided not to go for it

Now im thinking about studying

I have two paths in my mind

1- Master in field like anatomy , physiology histology etc , but i dont know i im allowed to study this in finland ( in Uk for exampl yes i can ) but in finland im afraid that i should have medicine degree for that , so im not sure , also i couldnt find any program in english so i think its impossible for me

2- my second option is to start uni all over again , id love to study software engineering but i dont know if ill be able , i graduated from arabic high school on 2013 , can i still apply with this gap?

How hard is to get accepted ? Do i need any special exams or papers usually ?

Thank you
It should be possible to do something in closely related field of your prior education. Check studyinfo.fi.

As for IT, no need to go for undergraduate all over again. Yes, you will need to get some studies done at the undergraduate level so to meet the prerequisites for a Master's degree. There are short courses you can do. You can do self learning for example freecodecamp. You can also check out mooc.fi for courses offered by Finnish universities. If and when you get a Finnish personal ID number, you can get university level credit for courses you complete on mooc.fi.

If I were you, I would look for something closely related to my field though. You have prior education and it won't be so difficult to move on to Doctoral/PhD level.

FinlandGirl
Posts: 1322
Joined: Sat Nov 09, 2019 10:43 am

Re: Shift for dentistry to engineering

Post by FinlandGirl » Sun Oct 04, 2020 9:09 am

Maaria wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 6:05 am
As for IT, no need to go for undergraduate all over again.
There is close to zero overlap between (dental) medicine and IT, in practice this means starting from scratch.
Maaria wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 6:05 am
you can get university level credit for courses you complete on mooc.fi.
Do you have actual experience with that?

Usually Bachelor degrees have mostly fixed what courses have to be taken, and credits for different courses taken elsewhere are not beneficial.

FinlandGirl
Posts: 1322
Joined: Sat Nov 09, 2019 10:43 am

Re: Shift for dentistry to engineering

Post by FinlandGirl » Sun Oct 04, 2020 9:16 am

Omajenn1234 wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 4:04 am
Im overseas dentist and ill move with my finnish wife to finland

After knowing the equivalency process to be dentist in finland i decided not to go for it

Now im thinking about studying

I have two paths in my mind

1- Master in field like anatomy , physiology histology etc , but i dont know i im allowed to study this in finland ( in Uk for exampl yes i can ) but in finland im afraid that i should have medicine degree for that , so im not sure , also i couldnt find any program in english so i think its impossible for me
There are plenty of Bachelor programs in nursing offered in English.
Other medicine related studies are usually not be offered in foreign languages, only in Finnish and Swedish.
Omajenn1234 wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 4:04 am
2- my second option is to start uni all over again , id love to study software engineering but i dont know if ill be able , i graduated from arabic high school on 2013 , can i still apply with this gap?

How hard is to get accepted ? Do i need any special exams or papers usually ?
Entrance exams are in spring, the time passed since your graduation should not be a problem.

Maaria
Posts: 184
Joined: Fri Jul 12, 2019 3:49 am

Re: Shift for dentistry to engineering

Post by Maaria » Sun Oct 04, 2020 12:08 pm

FinlandGirl wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 9:09 am
Maaria wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 6:05 am
As for IT, no need to go for undergraduate all over again.
There is close to zero overlap between (dental) medicine and IT, in practice this means starting from scratch.
Maaria wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 6:05 am
you can get university level credit for courses you complete on mooc.fi.
Do you have actual experience with that?

Usually Bachelor degrees have mostly fixed what courses have to be taken, and credits for different courses taken elsewhere are not beneficial.

https://java-programming.mooc.fi/

If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you will find this:

Credits and certificate
If you have a Finnish social security number you can get official study credits from the Open University of University of Helsinki if you take an exam after the course.

So no, I didn't do it myself I got this link from business college website and when I checked out the page I found the above info.

Also, I was interested in applying for the Data Science Masters programme in the University of Helsinki. I contacted them and they directed me to the following information as my previous study is not related to IT:

Please note that each Master’s Programme has its own requirements about previous studies. Your degree does not always have to be exactly in the same field as the Master’s Programme that you apply to. However, you must have completed at least some post-secondary level studies that are relevant to the programme in question.

https://www.helsinki.fi/en/admissions/a ... on-process

FinlandGirl
Posts: 1322
Joined: Sat Nov 09, 2019 10:43 am

Re: Shift for dentistry to engineering

Post by FinlandGirl » Sun Oct 04, 2020 2:30 pm

Maaria wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 12:08 pm
FinlandGirl wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 9:09 am
Maaria wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 6:05 am
As for IT, no need to go for undergraduate all over again.
There is close to zero overlap between (dental) medicine and IT, in practice this means starting from scratch.
Maaria wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 6:05 am
you can get university level credit for courses you complete on mooc.fi.
Do you have actual experience with that?

Usually Bachelor degrees have mostly fixed what courses have to be taken, and credits for different courses taken elsewhere are not beneficial.

https://java-programming.mooc.fi/

If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you will find this:

Credits and certificate
If you have a Finnish social security number you can get official study credits from the Open University of University of Helsinki if you take an exam after the course.

So no, I didn't do it myself I got this link from business college website and when I checked out the page I found the above info.
Which tells nothing regarding whether such credits would be accepted as replacement for a course at the university where you would be studying.
And if some are, it is unlikely to be enough that it makes a difference in semesters.
Maaria wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 12:08 pm
Also, I was interested in applying for the Data Science Masters programme in the University of Helsinki. I contacted them and they directed me to the following information as my previous study is not related to IT:

Please note that each Master’s Programme has its own requirements about previous studies. Your degree does not always have to be exactly in the same field as the Master’s Programme that you apply to. However, you must have completed at least some post-secondary level studies that are relevant to the programme in question.
A Bachelor in mathematics or physics can be a good basis for a Master in data science.
A degree in medicine or social sciences doesn't give many skills useful for data science.
When switching to a completely unrelated field you start at zero.

Maaria
Posts: 184
Joined: Fri Jul 12, 2019 3:49 am

Re: Shift for dentistry to engineering

Post by Maaria » Sun Oct 04, 2020 4:39 pm

FinlandGirl wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 2:30 pm
A Bachelor in mathematics or physics can be a good basis for a Master in data science.
A degree in medicine or social sciences doesn't give many skills useful for data science.
When switching to a completely unrelated field you start at zero.
When I called the University, they told me they will accept student's from others nonrelated background if prerequisites courses are met. It could be met as a part of a Bachelor's degree or other ways. I haven't progressed on my plan yet due to taking care of children. I will post here when I do.

FinlandGirl
Posts: 1322
Joined: Sat Nov 09, 2019 10:43 am

Re: Shift for dentistry to engineering

Post by FinlandGirl » Sun Oct 04, 2020 7:45 pm

Maaria wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 6:05 am
Omajenn1234 wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 4:04 am
After knowing the equivalency process to be dentist in finland i decided not to go for it
If I were you, I would look for something closely related to my field though. You have prior education and it won't be so difficult to move on to Doctoral/PhD level.
If he gets accepted into a PhD program, then 4 years of unpaid research would be more effort and give worse job prospects than the equivalency process.

Maaria
Posts: 184
Joined: Fri Jul 12, 2019 3:49 am

Re: Shift for dentistry to engineering

Post by Maaria » Sun Oct 04, 2020 8:54 pm

FinlandGirl wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 7:45 pm
Maaria wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 6:05 am
Omajenn1234 wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 4:04 am
After knowing the equivalency process to be dentist in finland i decided not to go for it
If I were you, I would look for something closely related to my field though. You have prior education and it won't be so difficult to move on to Doctoral/PhD level.
If he gets accepted into a PhD program, then 4 years of unpaid research would be more effort and give worse job prospects than the equivalency process.
Obviously it's almost impossible for most people to do PhD without funding. So he has to try to get funding. Of course, the first choice would be doing the equivalency and practice Dentistry. I agree with you. But he said he doesn't want to do equivalency for dentistry.

FinlandGirl
Posts: 1322
Joined: Sat Nov 09, 2019 10:43 am

Re: Shift for dentistry to engineering

Post by FinlandGirl » Sun Oct 04, 2020 9:23 pm

Maaria wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 8:54 pm
FinlandGirl wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 7:45 pm
Maaria wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 6:05 am


If I were you, I would look for something closely related to my field though. You have prior education and it won't be so difficult to move on to Doctoral/PhD level.
If he gets accepted into a PhD program, then 4 years of unpaid research would be more effort and give worse job prospects than the equivalency process.
Obviously it's almost impossible for most people to do PhD without funding. So he has to try to get funding.
You are concealing plenty of such problems when you are making suggestions with bold claims like "no need to go for" or "it won't be so difficult".

In reality it is unclear whether he would get accepted into any PhD program at all, and getting funding is close to impossible.

Maaria
Posts: 184
Joined: Fri Jul 12, 2019 3:49 am

Re: Shift for dentistry to engineering

Post by Maaria » Sun Oct 04, 2020 10:44 pm

FinlandGirl wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 9:23 pm
Maaria wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 8:54 pm
FinlandGirl wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 7:45 pm


If he gets accepted into a PhD program, then 4 years of unpaid research would be more effort and give worse job prospects than the equivalency process.
Obviously it's almost impossible for most people to do PhD without funding. So he has to try to get funding.
You are concealing plenty of such problems when you are making suggestions with bold claims like "no need to go for" or "it won't be so difficult".

In reality it is unclear whether he would get accepted into any PhD program at all, and getting funding is close to impossible.
No need to do personal attack. All of us here trying to help .I benefitted from your advice too. He can read everyone's point and do his own research to come to his own conclusion. I didn't conceal anything.

All the options he wants to do is outside of his field and will have similar problems. I feel it's better to move for an advance degree than going for another Bachelor's degree. Funding is different to getting accepted. So I didn't bring up. He is trying to figure out if he is even eligible to apply.

In any scenario, getting accepted is not guaranteed even with a degree in the same field. Meeting prerequisites is just a starter, acceptance depends on many scenario. If he is able to apply that's a good start. Then if he wants to pursue that field, he can see if there is a way for him to be competitive.

Omajenn1234
Posts: 35
Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2020 5:48 pm

Re: Shift for dentistry to engineering

Post by Omajenn1234 » Mon Oct 05, 2020 1:08 am

FinlandGirl wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 9:23 pm
Maaria wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 8:54 pm
FinlandGirl wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 7:45 pm


If he gets accepted into a PhD program, then 4 years of unpaid research would be more effort and give worse job prospects than the equivalency process.
Obviously it's almost impossible for most people to do PhD without funding. So he has to try to get funding.
You are concealing plenty of such problems when you are making suggestions with bold claims like "no need to go for" or "it won't be so difficult".

In reality it is unclear whether he would get accepted into any PhD program at all, and getting funding is close to impossible.
Thank you for your reply

May i know why its impossible to get funded to do PhD , i know friend from my country who got funded easily


Yes i couldnt find any health related master or bachelor in english except for masters of public health and nursing , for me nursing is a big no , im willing to learn finnish but i dont think i want to study in finnish , masters in public health i dont feel career option would be great especially in finland , thats why im focusing on software engineering and IT related degrees since its universal

How hard is it to get in Any university to study software engineering , Because ive heard that getting in university in finland is super hard
Last edited by Omajenn1234 on Mon Oct 05, 2020 1:14 am, edited 2 times in total.

Omajenn1234
Posts: 35
Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2020 5:48 pm

Re: Shift for dentistry to engineering

Post by Omajenn1234 » Mon Oct 05, 2020 1:11 am

Maaria wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 6:05 am
Omajenn1234 wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 4:04 am
Hello everyone

Im overseas dentist and ill move with my finnish wife to finland

After knowing the equivalency process to be dentist in finland i decided not to go for it

Now im thinking about studying

I have two paths in my mind

1- Master in field like anatomy , physiology histology etc , but i dont know i im allowed to study this in finland ( in Uk for exampl yes i can ) but in finland im afraid that i should have medicine degree for that , so im not sure , also i couldnt find any program in english so i think its impossible for me

2- my second option is to start uni all over again , id love to study software engineering but i dont know if ill be able , i graduated from arabic high school on 2013 , can i still apply with this gap?

How hard is to get accepted ? Do i need any special exams or papers usually ?

Thank you
It should be possible to do something in closely related field of your prior education. Check studyinfo.fi.

As for IT, no need to go for undergraduate all over again. Yes, you will need to get some studies done at the undergraduate level so to meet the prerequisites for a Master's degree. There are short courses you can do. You can do self learning for example freecodecamp. You can also check out mooc.fi for courses offered by Finnish universities. If and when you get a Finnish personal ID number, you can get university level credit for courses you complete on mooc.fi.

If I were you, I would look for something closely related to my field though. You have prior education and it won't be so difficult to move on to Doctoral/PhD level.
Thank you for your reply

About working in IT without degree yes thats possible but maybe not in USA not finland , ive heard that you should be in senior level or around to get job in finland

About doing PhD i prefer to study some IT related degree in 4 years instead of doing PhD tbh
I dont know about my oppurtunities , ive heard that getting in university in finland is super hard
So i really dont know

User avatar
rinso
Posts: 3949
Joined: Fri Aug 25, 2006 7:22 pm

Re: Shift for dentistry to engineering

Post by rinso » Mon Oct 05, 2020 7:18 am

It seems to me that you already decided to switch to IT and now looking for confirmation.

Yes, it is possible and no it won't be easy and there is no guarantee for success.
When you start you have two handicaps: no Finnish and no experience. That makes you less attractive to employers. So it becomes a matter of the right time and the right place.
If you go for it, make sure you have a plan B.

FinlandGirl
Posts: 1322
Joined: Sat Nov 09, 2019 10:43 am

Re: Shift for dentistry to engineering

Post by FinlandGirl » Tue Oct 06, 2020 5:59 am

Omajenn1234 wrote:
Mon Oct 05, 2020 1:08 am
In reality it is unclear whether he would get accepted into any PhD program at all, and getting funding is close to impossible.
Thank you for your reply

May i know why its impossible to get funded to do PhD , i know friend from my country who got funded easily
[/quote]

Universities have little money, so paid positions are few.

If your friend did a thesis for a professor and gave a good impression, and the professor was looking to fill an already funded position around the time your friend graduated, your friend might have been offered a position without even asking.

Or one professor recommends a student to another professor elsewhere.

In any case this requires a degree with good marks from a university that is well-respected by the university where you are applying.


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