Helping Your Child Get Into Dentistry
This is a comprehensive guide for parents if their child wants to apply to a UK dental school and eventually qualify as a dentist. The application process and journey to become a dentist is a long and arduous one with many hurdles on the way. Therefore helping your child to get into dentistry will be one of the most difficult processes you will have to face with your child. Some hurdles will be part and parcel of the application process.
For example, expecting not to get any rejections at all is totally unrealistic as the competition for places is so fierce and intense. It is therefore inevitable that out of the four universities that your child will write on the UCAS form, they will expect to see rejections. You as a parent will need to deal with these rejections and also help your child to deal with this as well.
However, on the other hand, some of the hurdles are avoidable and a good example is where your child goes into the interview at the university and it’s not fully prepared. It is important to recognise at an early stage which hurdles are part and parcel of the process and which of the hurdles are avoidable and especially how to avoid these. With this in mind, here are some important pieces of advice to you as a parent when your child applies for dentistry.
Stress
It is important that as a parent you learn to deal with your own stress. Time and time again we see one or both parents under severe stress due to the arduous nature of the application process for dentistry and this distress rubs off on the child to their detriment.
Therefore you will want to avoid transferring any of your own stress to your child and the best way is to recognise how to deal with your own stress in the first place. You, therefore, need to have some strategies in place that are proven to work when you are under duress.
Time
It is vital that you spend time with your child to discuss his or her needs in terms of the application process for dentistry. This time may simply be having a friendly and informal chat with your child to see how they are getting along and if they need any support from you or it could be something more specific such as buying resources for them.
If as a parent you are always at work and never seem to be at home, this will not be conducive for you or your child if they want to gain a place at dental school.
Money
Now we talk about the subject of money. Dentistry is one of those courses where as a parent you will need to spend significant amounts at different stages of the application journey. Most applicants will definitely require assistance at some stage of the journey.
For instance, this could be when they receive an invitation for the dentistry interview, he/she will obviously will now really need to make sure that they have their best attire and even lessons on interview skills.
Do not fall into the trap of following the advice of a dentist or dental student who says that they did not require any help whatsoever and they did it “all by themselves!” Sure enough, there will be one or two students like this but the vast majority will need extra support as mentioned above.
Early Start
As soon as you know your child wants to become a dentist, you need to start the process early and think about a timeline. We say that you should start from your child’s year 10 and even before. This is because some of the requirements that the dental school would like cannot be fulfilled within a short period of time.
Hobbies & Interests
It is imperative to make sure that your child has a broad range of extracurricular activities and hobbies. In addition, these will need to be demonstrated in a formalized fashion.
For instance, if your child likes to play cricket, it will not be good enough to say that your child plays cricket in the backyard with his uncles but instead, he or she will need to demonstrate that they are part of a Club/team, take part in competitions over an extended period of time and even have gone on to play at the representational level. This means that these hobbies and sports require time, energy, and money from you.
Grades
An essential element that the UK dental universities will be looking for is your child’s GCSE and A-level grades. These have to be among the best due to the sheer number of applicants that each University receives for dentistry. In order to achieve these grades, you will therefore as a parent require your child to be supported in terms of materials and tuition.
Work Experience
One area that we found parents do not support the child enough on is the subject of work experience. You just simply are not going to be good enough by asking your child to write to a few local dental surgeries for work support.
It is getting increasingly difficult to get work experience for students in dentistry and therefore if as a parent you know anybody who knows dentistry, then you should use these resources. You also need to keep on encouraging your child if they are having difficulty pertaining to work experience at a dental practice.
Knowledge
Even though it is your child that is applying for dentistry and not yourself, you should still maintain the basic knowledge of the application process.
In this regard, you should know the different dental schools to choose from, details of the UCAT exam, the different types of interviews, personal statement requirements, the implications and significance of becoming a dentist.
Balance
It goes without saying but your child is still young and will still need TLC during this exacting time. This could be in the form of maintaining their favourite food, making sure they exercise regularly, and still seeing their friends in order to maintain a sense of balance with their studies.
Reputable Sources
As a parent, if your child is applying for dentistry, always seek good quality professional advice from reputable sources. This will pay many times over in the long run.