Hey there! Thanks for visiting my blog at Apurva Dabak’s Dental Pathways, it’s always a pleasure to have fellow dentists from all around the world check out my write-ups.
What have you been up to? Practicing or pausing?
This blog is for all dental school applicants who are done submitting their applications and now are waiting for invites to drop into your inboxes. Perhaps have refreshed your inbox just now.
Here is my take on using this waiting time to your maximum benefit.
☐ Interview Preparation
Gather information about interview styles schools you applied use in their interviews. You want to if it is behavioral, ethical, dental knowledge focused, or MMI format.
Talk to current students and alums about their interview experiences. When you speak with them, you want to be as specific as you can in order to get important information.
Make a list of questions that you have commonly come across either by yourself or from others.
The next step is to prepare answers for those commonly asked questions. I like to prepare my answers in bullets and understand what and why I am telling these points. Then elaborate on those points in the interview depending on the question.
After you are familiar with your answers, it's time to practice those! I am more comfortable seeing myself in a camera than in a mirror so I personally like to practice questions using my phone camera. But talking in front of a mirror is another equally good way to practice.
And that's it! You are ready to rock and roll on the interview day. Other ways to prepare for interviews would be to practice mock interviews with a professional advisor and practice interviews with a friend or family member.
☐ Bench Test Preparation
For the schools conducting bench exams, now is a perfect time to start gearing up. Most of the bench exam sections can be successfully tackled with continuous and dedicated perfect practice.
Practice as if every preparation is your way to acceptance. Get those preparations critiqued by professionals so you know where you are going.
As mentioned earlier, gather information about what exercises to expect at a particular school and practice accordingly. Some schools conduct a lengthy bench exam consisting of more than five exercises, for those exams, you want to practice time management.
This is it for today, I do conduct mock interviews and if you are interested in getting appointments for those feel free to reach out on my website’s contact information or @instagram apurvadabak or email me at apusdabak@gmail.com
Thanks for tuning in! Good luck!
Dr. Apurva Dabak's Dental Pathways