Cardiff Dentistry Interview Questions & Tips

Cardiff breaks down what they are looking for in potential students as follows: evidence of potential for high academic achievement; an understanding of the demands of dental training and practice; a caring and committed attitude towards people; the ability to communicate effectively; a willingness to accept responsibility; non-academic interests and personal achievements. They will then further be assessed on their work experience – all applicants must have an appreciation of the duration and structure of both the training program and the career. Lastly, the admissions team looks for those that it believes will show ‘exemplary behaviour and courtesy’ towards others, be they patients, staff or colleagues.

Understanding of the course and practice, including work experience

• What attracts you to the course at Cardiff?
• What can you tell us about how the course is structured here?
• Dentistry is a professional degree. What does that mean, and how does it affect student life compared to a standard, non-vocational degree?
• What area of dentistry would you like to practise in?
• Are you worried about the transition from university to practice?
• Tell us about your work experience.
• Did your work experience change your attitude toward the profession?
• Did you think that the dentists you shadowed showed the qualities that you would expect of a dentist?
• Did you encounter any challenging situations during your work experience?
• What is the role of prevention in dentistry?
• How do you keep up to date with healthcare news?
• What are the greatest challenges facing healthcare as a whole, and dentistry in particular?
• What skills did you learn during your work experience that you can immediately apply to your dentistry training?
• What learning styles suit you best? Does this fit with how our course at Cardiff is organised?

 
Non-academic interests and achievements

• Tell us about your proudest non-academic achievement.
• Tell us about a time you overcame adversity or a tough situation outside of school.
• Why do you think that non-academic achievements are so important for us choosing prospective dentistry students?
• What interests do you have that have allowed you to develop your manual dexterity?
• Do you play a musical instrument?
• Tell us about a time that you showed resilience when playing a sport or competing. 

 
Caring attitude and professional behaviour

• Tell us about your volunteering or your work in a caring environment.
• Tell us about the role of empathy in healthcare.
• Why do we look for potential students’ ability to show empathy, rather than their ability to show sympathy?
• Do you think that dentists can be seen as more aloof or uncaring than other healthcare professionals? If so, how might you try to change this image?
• How have you demonstrated your caring attitude at school?
• How can you show us that you are likely to demonstrate exemplary professional behaviour in the future?

 
Communication and team-working

• Give us an example of a team situation in which your communication skills were essential to the success of your team.
• Tell us about an example of effective communication that you saw during your work experience.
• Do you work better in a team or independently?
• How can you illustrate to us that you are a good leader?
• Do you learn well in a team? Why might this be important to your success at university
• What models of effective communication, or of patient care, are you aware of?