Master The Dental School Interview
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On the day of your interview:
Have a good breakfast, you don’t want to be hungry mid interview!
Once you get to the interview you may be asked to wait for the process to begin. Take this time to have friendly conversations with fellow applicants. However, if anyone appears anxious around you, move seats. You don’t want them to influence your mood.
Be ready for the interviewer to ask about any aspect of your personal statement.
Show your enthusiasm at the interviews: People can find interviews very nerve-wracking – that’s natural, but don’t let the nerves suppress how much you want this! Relax, smile and produce well-thought out answers that show the interviewers that you have the qualities to make a terrific dentist.
If you are offered to go on a tour, take this up. Be keen and listen to what your tour guide says and ask any questions you have. There may be something useful you can mention during the interview.
If you are required to wear a candidate sticker or badge, place it somewhere visible so you don’t have to fidget with it at each station.
When you go into the interview, smile and thank each interviewer at each station. Be yourself!
If one MMI station doesn’t go to plan don’t dwell on it! Stay calm and focus on the next station. Remember the interviewers will not know what happened in the last station so treat every station like a new interview.
If you are struggling with a scenario, verbalize your thought process even if you cant reach a definitive answer.
After the interview
Reflect on the interview, if you have any more lined up then you may find it useful to write yourself some tips on what to do next time. Make sure you note what you did well, and if there’s anything you can improve or practice on.
Take time to relax! You will probably need a good rest after the whole process. Treat yourself for completing the interview!
Don’t give up even if you are not successful the first time.
If you are unsuccessful in gaining a place a dental school, don’t think you’re the only one. There will be many people in the same position. Also, re-applying will not mean that you’re a failure or that people will think any less of you when you get to University. People often fear that they will be the oldest, however this is really not the case.
On a course such as Dentistry everyone is united by their passion to be a dentist rather than by age! Many current dental students have all taken different paths to get there, some longer than others, and no one judges you on how you got there. The important thing is that you did it for yourself and can say that you are glad you stuck in there to do something you really enjoy.
If things do not work out, it is always worth ask the university for feedback to help if re-applying
How to master the dentistry interview
Interview Formats
Congratulations on securing your interview! Depending on which university you have gained an interview at, the format, questions, scenarios and timings will all differ. Therefore, this guide aims to give you generic advice related to different interview formats to help you gain an understanding of what to expect.
With the dentistry interview ever changing and formats also being modified, it is strongly advised to refer to official university guidance for the most factual and up-to-date information. The information given below is from our viewpoint and should not be regarded as information reflecting the views or advice of the admissions team or the universities. That said, we do believe that this generic advice will help shine more light on what to expect; helping you with interview preparation.
MMI
MMI meaning Multiple Mini Interviews, consists of varying numbers of ‘stations’ which collectively make up an entire interview process.
The MMI format is designed to assess your thinking skills, personal values and your ability to communicate.
Even though these are often framed in a clinical or dental context, no prior dental knowledge is required to address them.
The MMI stations will each have an assessor who will score your performance.
Each MMI station will be based on a different subject or topic and information is usually given before hand to help you prepare.
Panel
The panel format is a more traditional approach to university interviews. This usually consists of 2-3 members of staff from the university asking you questions. This may include a tutor, senior staff member and a current student. Sometimes there will be a lay observer.
The panel interview may evaluate candidates on domains such as:
Motivation for dentistry as a career
Ability to show initiative, resilience and maturity
Ability to work as part of a wider team
Organisational and problem-solving abilities
Communication and interpersonal skills
Multiple Mini Interviews
MMI
What to know
There maybe 7- 10 MMI interview stations depending on the university you are interviewed at.
Candidates may spend between 5-10 minutes per MMI station, with the most common duration being around 7 minutes.
At the end of the MMI's, your score for each station will be added together to give you a total score.
At each station, you undertake a task, scenario or answer a few short questions, for which you are scored.
The scores at each station are independent of the other scores. Afterwards your scores are computed to give us your overall score and ranking.
MMI scenarios may include questions related to:
Communication
University and course
Motivation
Work experience
Personal statement
Ethical or Legal issues
Problem solving
Data interpreting
Manual dexterity
Management & leadership
Current news & media
How to maximise your scores
MMI’s begin with information on the station, ensure you read the question twice and fully understand what the questions is asking of you.
Don’t be afraid to ask for clarification if you need it.
Each MMI station is scored independently of each other. As such, your performance at your current stations, should not influence your scoring at the subsequent station. That being said, it is crucial to not emotionally allow one ‘poor’ station to negatively impact your performance on the subsequent.
Remember to smile often and maintain good eye contact throughout. If you have trouble with this, try looking at your interviewers eyebrows – they won’t know any different!
Before you answer questions, take a second to think about what you want to say. Don’t feel the need to rush your answers!
Speak clearly, using correct terminology such as restorations rather than fillings or amalgam rather than silver.
If you have a communication station with an actor ask them if you have answered all their questions, summarise and use the ‘chunk and check’ way to deliver information.
Chunk - given a small ‘chunk’ of information and then ‘check’ the information has been understood by pausing and asking the patient.
What not to do
Sometimes the MMI stations can be feel busy with up to 20 stations happening at once. Try to focus on your next station and not to look around the room at other people or fidget.
Being dishonest. Aim to answer questions honestly. Do not think that by being dishonest you will make yourself sound better, this will not work. Often interviewers can catch you out and this will not stand you in a good position.
Waffling. Be clear, complete and avoid waffling. The MMI stations are timed and each question will have a set answer scheme with some including a variation of answers. Be sure to cover what the question wants you to answer.
Dressing unprofessionally. It is important you dress for the job you want. Males shouldn’t wear earrings and all candidates should be well groomed, and dressed formally.
Lack of enthusiasm. By not show any enthusiasm this can be a sign that you are not interested. Your passion should shine through and show interviewers how keen you are. Avoid over-egging this!
Not listening. It is important you listen to any instructions. By listening to information and questions given, you increase your chances of answering correctly.
Being complacent. It is ok to show confidence but being too confident can work against you.
Dentistry Panel Interviews
What to know
At a Dentistry panel interview you can expect between 2-3 members of staff to be on the panel.
This panel may include a tutor, senior staff member and a current student. Sometimes there may be a lay observer.
This interview can typical last 15-20 minutes.
It is likely that questions will be asked based on your personal statement, your rationale to study dentistry and your decision to study at that university.
As part of the interview your motivation to become a dentist will be assessed, in addition to evidence of working within a team, personal qualities/resilience, interpersonal and communication skills and professionalism.
It is not uncommon for questions related to your work experience to be asked , in addition to current knowledge about dentistry news.
Ethical dilemmas and scenarios. Some universities may wish to test your ability to answer a specific ethical issue.
How to perform well
Listen to the question carefully and answer what the question is asking, not what information you want to say.
When answering, discuss and explain your points, clearly linking in true examples and facts where feasible.
If you misheard the question or are unsure, ask the interviewer to kindly repeat the question.
When answering question try to avoid starting with ‘urm’
Use correct terminology when discussing your work experience for instance talk about tooth extractions rather than tooth removal, restorations not filling and if you can name equipment you recalled even better.
Acknowledge all panel members when answering whilst maintaining eye contact.
Show compassion with your answer conveying your emotions and feelings.
What not to do
Rush. Don’t rush your answers. As much as you’d want to ensure that the information you convey is done within the time. Rushing will often lead to your answers not being delivered smoothly and the interviewers may miss key points
Dishonesty. Don’t be dishonest or bend the truth when answering. This can lead to you ‘digging a hole’ and interviews are good at telling this.
Fiddling. Keep your hands rested at the level of the table and visible. Avoid fiddling as this can be distracting for the interviewing and seem unprofessional.
Defensive Body Language. Bad posture and positioning can infer a negative or defensive bad body language. Ensure your arms are not crossed and ensure you maintain eye contact. Gentle nodding of the head to interviewer questions or responses shows you’ve acknowledged them.
Tone. If something you’ve mentioned is challenged ensure your tone remains calm and not defensive
Being Ungrateful. Thank the interviewers for the opportunity and hope that you will see them soon.
