Here is advice for your interview at The Newcastle University School of Dental Sciences.
Newcastle University Interview
This is an essential guide if you have an upcoming interview at Newcastle University School of Dental Sciences. At Newcastle University School of Dental sciences, the admissions team are very keen to learn about the reasons why you have applied for dentistry. So, let us have a look at the kind of answers you may give at your interview if asked this question. One of the areas Newcastle look for is regarding your insight or reasons into why you want to become a dentist. You may be asked “what do you know about the advantages and disadvantages of dentistry?”
Advantages & Disadvantages
Here they want to know whether you have done any research whether through your work experience, reading or speaking to dentists. Certainly in your answer you should avoid the common clichés such as “I have always wanted to become a dentist” and actually draw in examples from your work experience and in the reading that you have undertaken. Furthermore, they want a concise answer, which has a real substancial balance to it. Let’s look at the advantages of becoming a dentist. Once again, you can quote phrases from your work experience as it is our general consensus that the dentists who offer students work experience opportunities are usually the ones who enjoy working as a dentist.
There are many job surveys being carried out in the UK which indicate that dentistry is one of the top professions. Therefore, it is important to know why it is one of the top professions in the UK. One of the best ways to gain a good idea of the advantages of becoming a dentist is during your work experiencing shadowing. No two dentists see their profession as the same and therefore, you should gain an overall view from just more than one dentist. Certainly there are dentists who dislike their job, but once again you need to know what the reason or reasons for this are.
Becoming a dentist
Being a dentist definitely does mean that you can control the hours that you work, your income is reliable and you change your patients health. You can have high patient satisfaction with those who you want to help and the job security is one of the best. In terms of job security, there is a shortage of dentists in this country and some practices even find it very difficult to fulfil any vacancies arising.
There is however a difference between NHS job vacancies and private dental job vacancies. There is also quite a difference depending on what area of the country you are. In terms of income dentists do potentially a significant amount more compared with other graduates however, this can tail off quite quickly. Being a dentist means that you do have the opportunity for autonomy by building or purchasing your own practice. This however, does come with caveats such as financial risk and support.
Dentists are also generally highly trusted and respected within society. But that is not the reason why you definitely want to become a dentist. As a dentist, the main hub of your profession is to work with others in order to improve the oral health of patients. In this regard, being a dentist is always challenging and interesting with no two days ever being the same. Furthermore, dental technology is always evolving so there are always new things to learn. Being a dentist also gives you the chance to specialize in a particular field of dentistry such as endodontics but even if you particularly do not want to specialize in say endodontics you can always still learn and improve your skills continually.
As a dentist you definitely will be challenged by difficult patients and procedures almost on a daily basis. Dentistry does have a lot of flexibility in terms of the hours you can work. In fact, more than 50% of dentists actually work part time so it is a great career for individuals who want to take a break or want to balance their lifestyle as appropriate.
Being a dentist also means that you use your creativity as well as your scientific borders. In fact dentistry is actually solving problems for patients. And when you solve patients for their problems, then those patients refer you to more patients which becomes highly gratifying.
How Long Does It Take To Become a Dentist?
Let’s look at how long it takes to become a dentist. You are looking for at least five years and after that you are still expected to do another year of foundation training, where you work supervised by a more senior dentist. One of the issues of being a dentist is that once you have chosen your profession and say you are unhappy it is very difficult then to steer the boat in a different direction. Having a practice does come with rewards but also buying a practice is certainly expensive and you have to learn a new set of skills.
Owning a practice means that you are essentially working 24/7 because if you are not working on patients you are working on the business side of dentistry. Being a dentist means that you are putting a lot of responsibility on yourself on your patients health. No wonder dentistry does come with high stress demands. So for example, taking out a wisdom tooth will have pitfalls such as surgical complications and managing nervous patients.
One of the biggest challenges in being a dentist is how to deal with anxious patients. It doesn’t really matter about the procedure because you can have a relatively simple procedure however, if the patient is demanding or very nervous, this can then become a significant challenge. Being a dentist every day you will see nervous and apprehensive patients as such.
What to Expect At Dental School Newcastle
At Newcastle Dental School Interviews, you are expected to be familiar around Lifelong Learning Questions. Being a dentist means that you are committing yourself to lifelong learning. The General Dental Council stipulates the number of courses and hours a dentist must carry out in an educational lifecycle. So to finish off, Newcastle University of Dental Sciences will definitely ask your motivation and incentive for becoming a dentist.
There is no correct or wrong answer however, your answer should be cohesive and above all not to learn your answer parrot fashion as this will become obvious to them. You also want to draw elements from your personal statement into your motivation for choosing dentistry as a profession.
We Can Help
Here at University Expert we have much experience with all Dental School interviews. If you have an interview at Newcastle dental school we can guide you through the process so you feel confident.
Over the years we have successfully coached and given interview practice to students who have subsequently gained offers at Newcastle School of Dental sciences.
We do know especially what tutors on the admission panel are looking for and that is why we do have a high success rate.
Many of our students come to us through recommendations after having being recommended by someone else who successfully gained a place through us.
Although the interview at Newcastle School of Dental sciences will be thorough and demanding there are ways in which we can help to calm your nerves so that you are confident on the big day. We go through every aspect of the Newcastle Dentistry interview including how to dress so that you can really impress the admissions panel in front of you.
Although we typically ask students to contact us as soon as they have been confirmed that they will receive an interview, we sometimes do get students who have left it a little bit later but even then we can still make significant inroads. So call us University Expert and we will provide one to one coaching for you for your Newcastle interview.