It is important to gain knowledge about the type of interview beforehand. Preparing for the correct interview will help you to be in an advantageous position. Make sure to ask your school about the format of the interviews.
Prepare why you want to enroll yourself into a dental school – Prepare this question multiple times because the interviewer wants to see the fire in your stomach.
What to Bring to Dental School Interview?
Apart from preparing yourself for the big day, do pay attention to bring the below items for your dental school interview.
- Books – Bring books to interview will improve your knowledge base. It will also help you to deal with tough questions easily, along with a great point to discuss with your interviewer.
- Pen & Paper – Carrying pen and paper will help you to note down various information about the school and important contact addresses. Don’t forget to carry these handy items.
What to Wear to Dental School Interview?
For Him
Try wearing a suit including a necktie, not a bow tie for your interview. This will give you a professional look along with looking elegant. While choosing a color pattern for your neck, avoid wearing a loud pattern. The importance is to look polished not to increase your sense of fashion in front of the interview panel. Also, keep in mind to wear a dark-colored necktie instead of a lighter one.
For Her
It is better to wear a skirt suit or pants during your dental school interview. The main objective is to wear something that fits you and your personality.
What is Dental School Like?
One of the common questions that many of you might ask is “what do you learn in dental school? A dental school is an educational institution that teaches dental treatments and medicine to its dental students. Let’s take a closer look at each year in a dental school.
First Year
The first year at a dental school involves reviewing the syllabi, orientation, and sometimes free lunch. You need to attend a minimum of 40 hours of class per week along with 15 hours of load. The first year also involves getting to know your classmates and you can expect some great bonding too.
However, the toughest part comes when you dig deep into the anatomy part. You also need to spend few nights in the cadaver lab along with arguments about pinning the facial nerve. Sometimes the first year is also referred to as “Valley of the Shadow of Death”.
Second Year
The D2 deals with continuation from D1 and the human anatomy. Many dental schools arrange this curriculum in organ systems while other sets it by pharmacology, pathology, immunology, and others. You will be encouraged to take up part one for the national board exam after the end of the D2 fall semester. Upon passing the board exam, you will get a license and become a licensed dentist. The dental school also encompasses information that includes subjects like physiology, tooth anatomy, and ethics. Moreover, you also need to work on the preclinical lab more as compared to the first year. Apart from this you also need to work on removing prosthodontics in the lab. You might need to work on seeing patients, although it varies from school to school.
Third Year
The third year entails you work as a dentist under the supervision of a licensed faculty dentist. Many dental schools also encourage their students to take up the lab work on their own. The third-year also encompasses students to endure lecture sessions as well along with clinical procedures undertaken by various departments in the dental school.
Clinical requirements are conducted so that you can become an efficient graduate and carry out the procedures smoothly. The third year in dental school helps you to deal with patient management along with improving your proficiency in clinic management.
Fourth Year
The fourth year consists of completing the state license exams and the national board exams. For practicing your dentistry, you need to obtain state and national certifications. The fourth year in a dental school also lets the students to offshore the lab work to other junior students. This leads you to spend less time in the lab and more in seeing your patients. You can even plan what to do after your graduation after the fourth year.
How many Years in Dental School?
Before attending dental school how long, you need to complete a bachelor’s degree from a recognized University. Typically, it would take somewhere between 6-8 years to complete the dentistry curriculum and become a licensed dentist.
Although other factors also come into play before you can actually become a dentist. When you have completed your undergraduate degree, you need to take up Dental Admissions Test. If you pass this test, you would be required to appear for an interview. Generally, it takes 8 years to complete your dental school studies. Especially, if you are planning to take up specialties such as surgery, oral maxillofacial, and others.
How many Shadowing Hours for Dental School?
It is important to practice shadowing before you can actually practice becoming a dentist. Although few of the students are lucky to have dentists in their family, the rest of the students needs to have some shadowing hours behind them.
All dental schools require the students to have some experience in shadowing. Although, if you have fifty hours of shadowing experience, it will help you do the job for you. However, if you want to improve the value of your application, it is better to increase it to 150 hours.
Shadowing is similar to that of volunteering and it displays how committed are you towards the profession. You must keep in mind that shadowing applies to the field of dentistry only. Apart from this, you should also keep in mind that the shadowing hours in the range of 100-150 mark are not up to the standards and you need to keep it within the optimal range, and not exceed the 150 marks.
How many Volunteer Hours for Dental School?
You must remember that dentistry is a professional along with being a service you are rendering to the people of your nation. This is the reason that many dental schools want to check your level of commitment in the field of dentistry, and it should largely extend beyond your wants and desires.
While applying for a dental school, it also demonstrates that you are thinking about the people around you and want to help them. After all, the best dentist should care about their patients, isn’t it?
If your academics are not up to the mark, then these volunteering hours can help you to get admission into one of the dental schools. Although there are no golden rules of volunteering hours, anything more than 500 hours is considered the best in a dental school.
What to do after Dental School?
Look out for an Associateship
After completing your degree from a dental school, it is best to work closely with reputed dentists in town. You can even attend the meetings of the local dentist association or the national association. You can also find various opportunities in your local or state societies in their websites or journals. Do look out for career opportunities in the ADA Career Center along with finding a new job in JADA.
Post-doctoral Education
You can also visit the Understanding Advanced Dental Education right after your dental school. This is a great option for dentists who are pursuing further studies and want to continue their studies. The post-doctoral education will help you to become a dental lecturer or an academician in reputable dental institutions.
General Dentist
You can practice dentistry by using your predictive, diagnostic procedures, rehabilitative skills, or surgical methods to treat patients. This is the beauty of general dentistry that lets you practice dentistry on one platform. You can even go to become a specialist in one of nine dental specialties.