How much does volunteering and part time jobs matter for the DDS program at Dalhousie?

[ellemccormick]

I really want to apply for the DDS program at Dalhousie but I'm not sure how much volunteering or a part time job would boost my chances. I spoke to an advisor a few times and she told me those do not give you any brownie points but I do not want to rely on that. For anyone that has applied to the DDS program at Dal or has some knowledge about admissions, does that boost your chances of getting in? I have a part time job right now but it's in retail and I have been having trouble finding some health related jobs. What were some part time jobs you had?

[Qainhtis]

None whatsoever. But without volunteering/working you wont have any experiences to fall back on when they ask you behavioral or situational type questions in the interview. Volunteering is about gaining life experiences, as an individual, don't go volunteer at a hospital or organization just for the sake of putting it on your resume, that makes no difference. It's important to do it, so you improve upon yourself as an individual, and it also allows you to expose yourself to an environment that isn't related to school, and gives you great opportunities to learn from others and build a good rapport with them (don't forget you need 3 references). In terms of working, try look for jobs that interest you, I applied for many university research assistant positions (30+ each year) and never got one until my 3rd year when I went to actually speak with the professor to express my interest. I also worked as a standardized patient since high school, and that was incredibly useful for me as it allowed me to learn and understand how a health care professional should interact with patients. But the only reason i did these jobs, is because I was really interested in them, and I knew the people I'd be working with were really friendly and like-minded.

But make sure that whatever you do is of some interest to you, don't try get a job at a hospital just because you believe the admissions committee will like that, they don't care what you do as long as you're able to show that your job helped you learn or develop some new skills (retail is a great way of developing people/communication skills). Lastly, trust your advisor, they will have much more knowledge than random folk on the internet like me.