ottawaliquid Posted March 18, 2015 Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 Sure, I'd hate to make it this far and then blow the interview by not doing a prep course I was going to do crush interview but when I listened to their sample answers they sounded like pandering and somewhat insincere in my opinion. I'm sure they have great success though and probably help a lot of people. And if those courses help, it's definitely worth it. I just don't think they are for me. I also question how useful a CDA interview even is for the whole application process if everyone is coached on how to respond. I think a more traditional interview is more useful, although perhaps it could have more of a chance of bias. But you're right that mock interviews and practice are definitely not a waste of time! I'm 100% for practicing. I've already done some practice with friends and family with some questions I found online. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDS_hopeful Posted March 18, 2015 Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 I agree 100%. A CDA interview is definitely not the best option, since you can study for it. I truly believe that Western does a pretty good job at seeing through the rehearsed answers and choosing the most sincere/successful candidates. Of course, this system is not perfect though. The interview experience was great, and if you hit it off with the interviewers, you definitely have a higher chance of getting in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewintersoldier Posted March 18, 2015 Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 I felt that interview prep courses were the only reason why i got into the schools i interviewed at in the first place, a lot of the students in my class utilized an interview tutor/prep course. I do consider my self social and have no problem talking to ppl, but for me the interview is something of a professional tone and it is certainly not a 'natural' environment. being over pre-paired to the point where you have practiced the question 10 times maybe was fundamental to me, it gave me confidence and i was able to be myself b/c i was calm... what i did not do was try and memorize the answers, moreover i just understood the different type of questions better so that when i was given questions i had never seen b4 i was able to address them no problem! i helped a few med students prep for their interviews and from what i gathered they aren't really similar to the CDA style answering of questions. what i found was that the med interviews were not as thorough as the CDA style and so i would recommend using some prep for that. regardless i believe that any interview process can be rehearsed or practiced but that's just part of what every1 must do... there is no perfect style for interviewing and there are biases twd. everything, most importantly you just have to deal with whats coming. every1 has it the same way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joejoe34 Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 I got in and never used any prep courses, just dental interview plus and topstar. I did however practice a lot with three friends (all in med school) who had practiced with similar types of questions. I don't think you want to have overly rehearsed answers, but you want to do enough practice that you are able to come up with experiences that relate to every problem within 5-10 seconds. So more than memorizing a specific answer to a specific question, think about important life experiences that can be used to answer a variety of questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Varsity Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 Definitely come a bit early so you can chat with us. We'll help calm you down Hi! have a few questions that maybe you or someone else from Western could answer: How is the 1st year curriculum and how many hours of lectures do you guys usually have per day? How is the course load compared to undergrad? Oh and do you guys share any classes with medical students? Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDS_hopeful Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 Hi! have a few questions that maybe you or someone else from Western could answer: How is the 1st year curriculum and how many hours of lectures do you guys usually have per day? How is the course load compared to undergrad? Oh and do you guys share any classes with medical students? Thank you! The first term is heavily didactic, and we're usually in class/labs from 8:30-5:30 (although this can vary). Some days we'll have shorter hours, which is always nice. However, we still get the chance to go to the wax lab and do wax-ups of teeth as part of our dental anatomy course. This gives us a chance to learn the anatomy of teeth and also to work with our hands, which is super fun! During our second term, we are in the simulation clinic a lot. This is where we get to drill and fill on fake teeth in a mannequin. We also get to assist the upper years in the main clinic on actual patients, which is a great experience! According to the upper years, March-May of first year are very chill months. We mostly do practical stuff, which means that we study much less Compared to undergrad, I personally find the courseload much heavier. Dental school is all about volume. None of the work is necessarily hard, but there's just lots of it. However, I'm enjoying it much more than undergrad because we're learning information that is mostly relevant to our future careers, and a lot of the pressure is off now that I'm in. If you are pretty sure you want to specialize, I guess it would be a different story. It all depends on the person. And no, we do not share any classes with the med students. We're usually in the classroom beside them, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ottawaliquid Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 Thanks Ddshopeful... quick follow up. How many papers do you have to write? I'm a terribly slow writer. I'm hoping for my exams/test style questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Varsity Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 The first term is heavily didactic, and we're usually in class/labs from 8:30-5:30 (although this can vary). Some days we'll have shorter hours, which is always nice. However, we still get the chance to go to the wax lab and do wax-ups of teeth as part of our dental anatomy course. This gives us a chance to learn the anatomy of teeth and also to work with our hands, which is super fun! During our second term, we are in the simulation clinic a lot. This is where we get to drill and fill on fake teeth in a mannequin. We also get to assist the upper years in the main clinic on actual patients, which is a great experience! According to the upper years, March-May of first year are very chill months. We mostly do practical stuff, which means that we study much less Compared to undergrad, I personally find the courseload much heavier. Dental school is all about volume. None of the work is necessarily hard, but there's just lots of it. However, I'm enjoying it much more than undergrad because we're learning information that is mostly relevant to our future careers, and a lot of the pressure is off now that I'm in. If you are pretty sure you want to specialize, I guess it would be a different story. It all depends on the person. And no, we do not share any classes with the med students. We're usually in the classroom beside them, though. Thankyou! That was very insightful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helga_Hufflepuff Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 Has anyone received the e-mail confirming time and date of interview today? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewintersoldier Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 Thanks Ddshopeful... quick follow up. How many papers do you have to write? I'm a terribly slow writer. I'm hoping for my exams/test style questions. not many at all. I'm terrible at essays, so far only 3 (just in ethics and quite simple, otherwise i would have done terrible haha) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brafadmd16 Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 Has anyone received the e-mail confirming time and date of interview today? I haven't yet. Going to e-mail Trish shortly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brafadmd16 Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 Just got the confirmation. April 18th in the morning....first choice ???? excited to meet the current students and applicants! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dds19 Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 Got my first choice as well. Where is the confirmation thing that we need to print out to bring with us? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harkonnen Posted March 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 April 18th at 2:45 PM, 3rd choice but still happy with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewintersoldier Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 Got my first choice as well. Where is the confirmation thing that we need to print out to bring with us? i believe that its just the page that shows your time slot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDS_hopeful Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 Thanks Ddshopeful... quick follow up. How many papers do you have to write? I'm a terribly slow writer. I'm hoping for my exams/test style questions. I'm also a terrible writer lol don't worry about it. Barely any essays, and they are very easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Varsity Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 I'm also a terrible writer lol don't worry about it. Barely any essays, and they are very easy. I forgot to ask are the classes ranked at UWO dent? Or is it pass or fail, if so what % do you need to pass? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDS_hopeful Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 I forgot to ask are the classes ranked at UWO dent? Or is it pass or fail, if so what % do you need to pass? Thanks Classes are ranked based on quartiles. We get % grades for most of our courses, and you need a 60% to pass (6-O and go! ). Overall, it is pretty easy to pass, and most of the time our class averages for exams are in the 70's and 80's. 2/17 courses for us are pass/fail this year, though, which is really nice lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Varsity Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 Classes are ranked based on quartiles. We get % grades for most of our courses, and you need a 60% to pass (6-O and go! ). Overall, it is pretty easy to pass, and most of the time our class averages for exams are in the 70's and 80's. 2/17 courses for us are pass/fail this year, though, which is really nice lol Cool thanks! Last question, do you guys get the summers off like in undergrad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikenewman333 Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 How is the atmosphere? Is everyone gung-ho about specializing? Or are the majority of students just happy to pass and are okay being general dentists? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDS_hopeful Posted March 21, 2015 Report Share Posted March 21, 2015 Cool thanks! Last question, do you guys get the summers off like in undergrad? Us first years are done at the end of May, so we have June-August off. Some people choose to do research over the summer, but most of us are taking it off. As for the upper years, I'm not sure exactly how much time off they get, but I think it's similar for the 2nd and 3rd years (don't quote me on this). The 4th years are variable because it depends how long it takes them to get a job, or if they were accepted into a GPR/specialty program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDS_hopeful Posted March 21, 2015 Report Share Posted March 21, 2015 How is the atmosphere? Is everyone gung-ho about specializing? Or are the majority of students just happy to pass and are okay being general dentists? The atmosphere changes as the year goes by. At the beginning, I felt like it was a little competitive and stressful because no one knew how hard our classes would be. After our December exams, the atmosphere is a lot more relaxed. Everyone tries to help each other out. There are definitely still people who are gunning for specialties, but there are also a decent amount who are more than happy with being a GP. It's still very early, so some people are unsure and want to keep their options open in case they change their mind in the future. I'm also under the impression that some people just can't seem to shut off their competitive drive from undergrad, which is completely understandable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewintersoldier Posted March 21, 2015 Report Share Posted March 21, 2015 ^ agreed. most ppl are pretty set on general dent., regardless its actually kind of tough to identify who is trying to specialize b/c every1 is so keen on helping each other. i'd say its pretty non-competative in terms of environment, but every1 still cares a lot about doing well for their own satisfaction Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueberry101 Posted April 1, 2015 Report Share Posted April 1, 2015 I was hoping if someone from UWO Dentistry could elaborate on any global health opportunities provided by the program for its students. Are there any websites where I can get more information about such global health initiatives for dental students (assuming there are any)? Also are there any opportunities where we can gain experience in rural communities in northern Ontario (or elsewhere in Canada)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drivst Posted April 2, 2015 Report Share Posted April 2, 2015 If anyone is interested in doing interview prep together in Toronto area for UWO. PM me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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