does over-sea dental outreach experience help?

[Guest smooth operater]

Hey guys,

 

I am planning to do a dental outreach with a dentist this summer in Peru for couple weeks since this is something I wanna to do often as a dentist in the future.

 

When applying to dental schools in Canada, do adcom like to hear such experience?

 

Do I even have a chance to talk about my experience during the interview? I heard the interview is standarzied so I wonder how much I can talk about my experience.

 

Thanks guys!

[Guest tamkhan1]

i dont suppose there is any 'direct' question as such, in the list that cda hands out, but you can always squeeze in such information; why dentistry? extracurriculars? are typical questions that could involve answers that mention your dental shadowing/outreach and stuff.

 

as far as overseas stuff is concerned, it really doesnt help, man. a more practical approach would be to do something locally. remember, for canadian unis, academics is what really matters. you can sit at home and do nothing at all, except for working your ass off to hit a 3.7-4.0, and you'd still get into a dental school in canada.

[Guest Labby Labberson]

tamkhan1 is right when he says that marks are the most important, for sure put the most energy into killing your courses. But this outreach experience sounds really cool, and is an awesome life experience that can DEFINATELY come up in an interview. You wont be able to tell any dental schools about this in your application, and there won't be any direct questions about your volunteer work, but when you get a question in the interview like "Tell me about a time when you helped someone through great hardship, and what was the outcome" then you can hit them with your outreach trip to Peru and it will be impressive. You want to have impressive answers that will show the interviewers that you are mature and ready for dental school

 

Something to keep in mind

[Guest TheChosenOneDDS]

no it won't. unless you are doing it for yourslef, don't bother it won't matter if ur marks suck. Everyone volunteers overseas thinking it will help. Don't be a slave to some poor country. Be a king and exploit.

[Guest Adversary]

You interview score is not based on how beautiful your story is, but on whether you hit the necessary components for that question. I know a number of people who have done this many times over. It's not impressive. They just do it because they believe it's part of being Christian.

 

For my interviews, a trip like this would not have helped answer any of the questions thrown my way. Plus, why you want to do this and your experience won't change the CDA standardized interview scores. It's just to let you relax and to complete the interview in a better setting.

 

I could be wrong about all of this.

[Guest TheChosenOneDDS]

adversary is right. honestly, even for med, i don't know why people have this misconception that volunteering overseas will give u a better chance. Unless you are the one who organizes it and do something unheard of..the only "volunteering" overseas you should do is get corporate sponsership to pay for your trip and build a factory to create "jobs" for the poor lol to stimulate the country's economical growth hahahahaha...ie. create a sweat shop. Then even if you don't get in, you could run the plant and be richer than any doctor you know haha

[Guest Tonick]

I know a couple of young guys that own factories in India. They're damn profitable but I can't say that I agree with the way they are making their money.

[Guest UBC DMD for me]

smooth- you can work your Peru expereinces into your personal statement, assuming you're applying to schools that require one.

 

At least at UBC, ECs/LOR and personal attributes together only are weighted 10%- I echo what other have said that DAT and GPA really deciding factors

[Guest Adversary]

You claim it's something you want to do as part of your career, yet you seem overly concerned about whether it would help you get into dentistry.

 

As people here have stated, it's effect is minimal. If you still wish to go, make sure you have your priorities straightened out. Otherwise, you wasted your time.

[Guest smooth operater]

well, thanks for all the reply. Yes, I am going there for personal conviction. It would be nice if it helps with dental admission.

 

I guess these extra-curriculum experience only helps applicants to American schools.

[Guest smooth operater]

So, I guess research experience is not that important either?

[Guest Dent08]

The interview is not the time to tell them about all your volunteer work or research.

 

This is a mistake that lots of people make. If they ask you how you deal with a specific situation and you go off topic telling them how wonderful you think you are because you fed starving kids in Africa, you're not answering the question.

 

Keep on topic with every question. The people marking your interview submit a score based on how well you answered the questions you were asked, not how much of a philanthropist you are. If your past volunteer experience is relevant to their question, bring it up. Otherwise don't try and cram it in.

 

Some schools have a spot on their application for this kind of thing. It's weight during admissions is most likely very low.

 

If you have some time off and want to increase your chances of becoming a dentist, improve your GPA and DAT scores.