Dentistry Entry Discussion and Questions

[dotwingz]

hmm i would be careful walking this line, omfs is a very competitive and coveted job. Saying something like this in an interview without much experience in the industry it could make you come across as someones who is only picking the career for the clout. If you have genuine reasons to want to do this and can explain this in an interview, then i dont really see the issues.

Think about why you want to do OMFS, and apply these principles more generally.

 

[Cal]

The reason I'm interested in it is because a close family member was in motorcycle accident (fractured jaw, chipped mandibular teeth etc) which was treated by an OMFS surgeon. I was thinking of mentioning it in my response to "why dent" if they asked, although I'm not sure now...

I think you can easily, and successfully weave that in to the dental discussion, without mentioning OMFS, dentists contribute to the treatment of patients like that, obviously not as intently, but you can just mention it more broadly, and still get the wanted impact. But obviously you will need to include a linked in reason with that to portray why you truly would like a career in dentistry/involving dentistry

 

[saba5678]

I think you can easily, and successfully weave that in to the dental discussion, without mentioning OMFS, dentists contribute to the treatment of patients like that, obviously not as intently, but you can just mention it more broadly, and still get the wanted impact.

Sorry, this happened several years back. Which parts of that treatment do you think would have been specific to dentistry? thanks so much for this brilliant advice everyone!

 

[Cal]

Sorry, this happened several years back. Which parts of that treatment do you think would have been specific to dentistry? thanks so much for this brilliant advice everyone!

I don't think it is important the specifics in this instance, more the overarching dental team working together to help your family member. But for interest, the chipped mandibular teeth would likely have been restored by a dentist, and there might have been some other long term work with jaw rehab, making sure the teeth are maintained correctly after healing etc.

 

[dotwingz]

Sorry, this happened several years back. Which parts of that treatment do you think would have been specific to dentistry? thanks so much for this brilliant advice everyone!

You need to look at the bigger picture of this event. What about the OMFS specifically made you want to be one? Why dont you want to be the paramedics? nurses? other theatre staff? anesthetist? speech therapist? etc

Whilst they are not likely to ask you this specifically, thinking about this allows you to really nut down an idea about what particularly draws you to dentistry over other allied health careers.

 

[JL538]

Just 2 quick question for dentistry interviews,
- Are the interviewers going to look down on you if you say you are applying for both med and dent (vice versa for med as well)
- Is it a good idea to bring up the business side of things with dentistry (more opportunity to own your own practice) as a contributing factor for motivation.

 

[Cal]

Just 2 quick question for dentistry interviews,
- Are the interviewers going to look down on you if you say you are applying for both med and dent (vice versa for med as well)
- Is it a good idea to bring up the business side of things with dentistry (more opportunity to own your own practice) as a contributing factor for motivation.

I'ma answer them in reverse order:

2. I think if you are genuinely interested in the business side of dentistry, it shows you have a depth of understanding about the functioning of the profession and all of the components which run together, so you could mention it, if it is truly what you believe.

1. I don't see why you would need to bring this up? I don't think there will ever be a question about what else you are applying to on your TAC preferences list. But regardless. You should be thinking of why you want to do dent alone, irrespective of it being a backup for med. If it didn't need a ucat of 90th + or a good start or come with the Dr. Title, would you do it? Are you interested in it? What makes you more interested in dentistry then oral health therapy, you need to portray passion, dedication, understanding and interest. Unless they ask, which they won't, I don't see why you would need to mention that dent is your backup to med. Just like if it was your backup to engineering. Because everyone has backups, and you can be interest in two things. But what mentioning that will show, is that you aren't completely set on a career as a dentist and are distracted by your main goal of becoming a medical practitioner.

 

[dotwingz]

There’s nothing inherently wrong about applying to medicine aswell so i don’t think they would. Although, I find it hard to believe they would ask you such a question.

Regarding private practice I brought up similar themes in my interviews, but it was more of a lifestyle perspective rather than a financial perspective. That as a dentist you’re more independent than a lot of other both health and non-health careers and the prospects for working for yourself are very high, especially in rural areas. This sorta was kind of an overarching theme over my whole interview.

 

[JL538]

Thanks guys! I'm still actually choosing between med and dent as I really value certain pros of both careers (including owning your own practice) so one's not the backup for the other!

For the med and dent part, I've applied for both med and dent courses at some unis, so was wondering if they would know and ask!

Out of curiousity are you doing a dentistry course dotwingz? If you don't mind me asking of course.

 

[dotwingz]

I am not, but I did get an offer at Adelaide (and would of met the requirements for an offer at UQ). I, like you, was torn between the careers due to the various pro's and con's of each. But ultimately chose UQ Provisional Med and the Med Proffession for the flexibility.

Realistically im even less sure on which one I should of picked than I was a year ago when I got the offers.

 

[A1]

Or could that be viewed as you doing dent because you didn't get med?

Saying this^ is akin to thinking interviewers would mark a candidate higher if Dent is their first pref. Interviewers don't have the rights to do that, their role is to assess how good a candidate you are for Dent itself, regardless of your other prefs.

I was thinking of mentioning it in my response to "why dent" if they asked, although I'm not sure now...

Otoh this^ is a strong indication that you have chosen to apply for Dent without knowing yet why you want to do it (since you are still exploring for reasons). That will be a stronger fail in interviewers' eyes than your Med first pref. Sit down think it through honestly, you should be able to find more reasons than your uncle's OMFS treatment.

For reference my reasons for Med were : I like Science subjects (demonstrated by my Y12 science marks), I can work with people, I don't like my mum/dad's researcher/engineer too unstable careers, I like med for its well respected stable job + good pay, it's a life-long learning journey that allows me to continue learning developing myself, etc.

 

[ejndvkjedv]

Is there any info on MSO about postgrad entry to dentistry (GPA and GAMSAT score combos/guides)? Thank you

 

[Cal]

Is there any info on MSO about postgrad entry to dentistry (GPA and GAMSAT score combos/guides)? Thank you

Unfortunately MSO only really has data on Undergrad and provisional entry course entry, PagingDr (another med forum, geared towards postgrad) probably has some info on the postgrad dent entry

 

[Unluckydude]

Is it a good idea to talk about OMFS in your dent interview if that's what you're interested in? Or could that be viewed as you doing dent because you didn't get med? :]

You can talk about it. But make sure you have some knowledge of the speciality and you can explain why you're interested in OMFS.

The reason I'm interested in it is because a close family member was in motorcycle accident (fractured jaw, chipped mandibular teeth etc) which was treated by an OMFS surgeon. I was thinking of mentioning it in my response to "why dent" if they asked, although I'm not sure now...

85+% of med and dent applicants I know say they want to study med/dent because one of their family members or they themselves were treated by a doctor. I think it would be better if you could explain to the interviewers why this experience sparked your interest in medicine/dentistry. For example, a good reason might be that you were very worried about your family member so you did a lot of research on maxillofacial trauma. You thought the topic was very interesting and continued to read about maxillofacial surgery even after your relative has recovered. You then found a job as a part-time receptionist in a dental clinic/hospital to learn more about the speciality. From your work experience, you realised that ...........

I'm saying this because OMFS is a prestigious and relatively lucrative profession. It would be hard for someone who has very little exposure to the speciality to convince people that they have a genuine interest in the OMFS.

Sorry, this happened several years back. Which parts of that treatment do you think would have been specific to dentistry? thanks so much for this brilliant advice everyone!

It sounds like you don't know much about dental specialities and dentistry in general. That's fine. A lot of pre-clinical dental students also don't fully understand the scope of practice in dentistry. But this is precisely the reason why I would advise most applicants to not talk about specialities.
Chipped mandibular teeth can be managed by a general dentist, endodontist or periodontist depending on the severity and complexity of the injury. Furthermore, your relative may have suffered from periodontal issues which required a periodontist.

 

[yeezyboy]

Were LaTrobe Dent place offers released only yesterday?

 

[saba5678]

Does la trobe have additional offer rounds? Is it too late to apply now?

 

[hhwwee]

i am pretty sure this was just an early round offer, main round offers are jan. I didnt even know it was happening, Nov round only a few courses participate in. So i think its safe to say you can still apply and there are other offer rounds

 

[yeezyboy]

hhwwee congrats on your offer! Do you know if LaTrobe will be participating in further offer rounds before the main Jan round?

 

[saba5678]

I can't seem to change my vtac preferences . anyone know what's up?

 

[A1]

I can't seem to change my vtac preferences . anyone know what's up?

Apparently VTAC had an offer round released yesterday 20-Nov and they usually lock up the change option around such dates to prevent last-minute changes. It should be re-opened in a few days.