Dentistry Interview Prep UK

[cavachonqueen0504]

Hi all

Dd has been invited for interview at a dental school in the UK. Shes year 13 and was an early applicant through UCAS. Does anyone have an advice for interview prep and are there any tutors or courses available that may be of use to her?

Thanks

https://studyinghealthcare.ac.uk/interviews/dentistry-interview-preparation/

https://www.dentalschoolscouncil.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Values-and-attributes-dentistry.pdf

https://www.dentalschoolscouncil.ac.uk/news/2454/

Thanks for the reply

Bump

@cavachonqueen0504

my youngest dd is also applying for Dentistry this year.

I would caution against "tutors" as a mum friend signed her oldest dc up for one a couple of years ago and the "experienced" contact her dc was put in touch with via the tutoring business turned out to be a dentistry student just 2 months into their first year (so very little experience other than having applied and succeeded at 1 interview, no info as to whether they were WP or other factors that might have contributed to their success).

She said that the interview prep was also geared to medics not dentists but they were charged the same fee as medic hopefuls parents.

Can I ask where your dd has an interview invite from ?

Thanks @HEMole , if dd hasn't already discovered those info sources, I'll be flagging them up to her.

https://standards.gdc-uk.org/

This is really important, on the bottom and top right there is a case study and FAQs with answers, I would be learning the answers and the reasoning behind the answers thoroughly.

@Solargem

Oh gosh really? We definitely will have to be careful with tutors then - thank you for letting me know!

There seems to be online courses for interview help but many cost thousands which I think is far too expensive.

@cavachonqueen0504 DD now has an interview too. She's very apprehensive about the whole thing.

I used to work in dental research at an RG dental school and interviewed potential undergraduates. There was a group session where potential students were given a scenario or problem (e.g. discuss the arguments for and against water fluoridation) and one to one interviews.

interviews didn’t focus on technical dental knowledge and anatomy (which is taught as part of the course and ALevel students were not necessarily expected to have this knowledge ) but more about a wider evidence base concerning things like, evidence based practice, dental public health and prevention and the wider determinants of health, the NHS and private practice, motivations for choosing dentistry and the specific course/ uni. So if the course has e.g. a problem based learning element, or a community placement, what is appealing about this to your DC.

I was told to look for potential students who I would want chair side as a patient and who I thought had the motivation and staying power to complete the course and attend lectures and tutorials. Good stress management techniques and a balanced lifestyle were also valued as they don’t want people dropping out.

The scoring matrix for the group session was related to team work and contribution and the ability to debate and discuss wider issues pertinent to dentistry.

I suggest useful preparation would be around an awareness of the lack of availability of NHS dentistry in the community, childhood caries and the social issues that contribute to poor dental health, possible prevention strategies that are out there and the wider socio-political context in which dentistry operates, including post- Covid and the affect the pandemic had on services.

Caveat is that I left in 2021 so thing may have changed since.

@MostlyGhostly

Thank you for this reply! It’s greatly appreciated and definitely seems extremely useful. Will definitely pass this info onto Dd.

@Solargem

Congrats to your Dd on the interview! Dd is feeling the same. Was going to ask on this post what would be most appropriate to wear to the interview. Does it have to be a suit and trousers or would a blouse and skirt be acceptable? Is it business casual?

@cavachonqueen0504 is your dd's interview online or in person ?

Which uni? Interviews vary, my dd found interview at Newcastle was very different to Cardiff for eg.

@RedHelenB Qub

@Solargem in person, is your dds in person aswell or is hers online?

She didn't apply to that one unfortunately. I'd say wear a suit if she has one, one uni gave feedback dd didn't ( she's never owned one ) she got 2 offers though and is now a dentist.

Can I ask also, did school help in applying for these interviews/uni's? DN is looking to head that way but only year 11 so looking ahead. Might be a really silly question but you mean interview FOR uni right? Not a different course

@tryingsomethingnew Hi yes the interview is to get into university. The school should definitely be able to give some advice but also your Dn should probably research the different unis aswell. It’s hard to know where to apply at the beginning but depending on gcse results and UCAT score which is an exam your Dn would have to take in the summer of year 12 this will help to determine where she should apply. For example certain unis have really high ucat cut off scores so through research you can see what ones those are. Then if Dn has a high ucat score she could apply but certain unis will have lower ucat cut offs with more emphasis on high gcse grades, personal statement, volunteering etc. So it really just depends on ucat score as well as predicted grades as to where is the most sensible place to apply. Hopefully this helps!

It's online, which is a mixed blessing. I think dd would be better F2F but it saves on the ££ and time (particularly helpful as it falls in mocks).

I suspect dd got the interview based on academic track record but I gather with many Uni's that's just a qualifying stage, it then all hinges on the interview as to whether an offer is forthcoming and she is rather shy.