Dentistry Work Experience

What Types of Dentistry Work Experience Are There?

The best way to see what a Dentist’s job involves is by doing some Dentistry work experience. It will also give you lots to talk about at the interview and teach you about the different technical aspects of Dentistry.

Most forms of Dentistry work experience fit into the following categories. It is useful to try to complete work experience in several of the following categories:

• Hospital Placements
• General Dental Practice Placements
• Volunteering Placements
• Dental Technician Placements

How Do I Make The Most of My Dentistry Work Experience?

Whichever category of Dentistry work experience you do, it’s important to make the most of your it! Doing the placement is the first step of work experience.

To stand out ahead of the competition, it is vital to reflect on what you have seen during your work experience. This is best done when the work experience is fresh in your mind.

The Medic Portal’s free personal portfolio tool is a good way to do this and allows you to keep track of all your work experience, what you have learn and what you have discovered about Dentistry.

A good way to reflect is by using a three-step reflection plan that involves:

1. Input your experiences straight away
2. Reflect and read about your experiences
3. Revisit and update after a week.

What You Need to Do Next:

1. Get Dentistry work experience. Speak to your school to see if they have any connections, use personal contacts, send letters and make phone calls. You should get as much experience as possible in multiple areas of Dentistry such as at your local Dental practice, in hospitals or volunteering in care homes.
2. Create your personal portfolio. You will need to document all of your Dentistry work experience as you go to prevent you forgetting it. Use a journal-style to document every experience and use the three-step reflection plan.
3. Maximise your work experience. First, use it to decide if Dentistry is right for you. Then make it the backbone of your UCAS application. Your experiences can be used in the Personal Statement through to interview.