University of Pennsylvania Dentistry Interview Questions

​Motivation and Insight into Dentistry

• I see you have a lot of experience in another field. Why not stay there?
• You applied to medical school as well. Why dentistry?
• Tell me about your research.
• Why not medical school or phd?
• What do you want to do as a dentist with an honors in ____?
• Why dentistry?
• What was your most academically challenging course?
• Why do you volunteer?
• Tell us about your community service.
• Where do you see yourself in five years?
• You don’t have many bio courses listed in your transcript, do you intend to take additional courses in biology?
• How will you manage your debt?
• Where do you see yourself in ten years?
• Why dentistry rather than medicine?
• Why dentistry rather than law?
• How do you think your work experience will prepare you for dentistry?
• What would you do if you didn’t get into dental school?
• What was your favourite subject in high school?
• What class do you like the most?
• What do you see in the future of dentistry?
• Explain your research to me.
• Why study here?
• What is your take on oral bisphosphonate drugs and the development of osteonecrosis of the jaws?
• Why do you want to be a dentist?
• What motivated you to pursue a career in dentistry?
• Tell us about your favourite class.
• What other schools have you applied to?
• How will you deal with a tough schedule and coursework in dental school, and how will you manage the stress that is sure to be a part of studying dentistry?
• What do you want to do with your career in dentistry?
• Why the health field?
• Tell us about your research?
• How does art relate to dentistry?
• Dentistry is stressful. How will you deal with that stress?
• Would you do dentistry if it were not profitable?
• What does dentistry offer you?
• What is sleep dentistry?
• What other careers have you considered besides dentistry?
• How and why did you choose your undergrad course and college?
• Why is research important & necessary?
• What do you like about dentistry?
• What was your epiphany that led to you wanting to study dentistry?
• What did you learn shadowing Dr ____?
• Tell me about your experience in dentistry.
• Why did you research the topic that you did?
• Do you have any family members in dentistry?
• Would you like to specialize?
• What is the least appealing part of dentistry?
• What role will music play in your dental career?
• Rank your readiness to join this program on a scale of 1-10 and tell us why.
• What is the difference between medicine and dentistry?
• If you had a class II amalgam patient how well are you prepared for that?
• How will you continue the research that you have been conducting?
• Why do you think that suicide rates for dentists are so high?
• What are your favourite and least favourite specialties in dentistry?
• What do you look for in a dental school? And what do you not like about some dental schools?

Manual Dexterity

• Tell us about the musical instrument that you play.
• So, you play guitar?
• What do you do with your hands?
• What hobbies have you got that show your manual dexterity?

Ethical Scenarios

• If there was someone in your practice that was causing problems with patients and other staff members, how would you react?
• Describe an ethical situation that you have encountered.
• Say you own a private practice and you have an employee who has a bad attitude and isn’t working hard – what would you do with this employee?