Important interview questions

[pinhi]

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Ok..so im sure there is a thread around here somewhere about interview questions....but.....i want to start another:

My first question is this: What do you feel that your limitations as a dentist are?

How should I interpret this?.....does this mean....what is the role of a dentist? or how far should the responsibility of a dentist go?......I would think that a dentist is a community leader, an oral health care provider and an educator of the public.......that is as far as it should go on a professional level.......

Anyone else have some input on this?

 

[Dent001]

damn that is a hard question to answer.

well one obvious limitation is that you cant treat diseases of other parts of the body like an MD.

another limitation i can sorta see is that you cant treat everyone. a lot of families cannot afford dental care. I personally beleive that if someone from a very low income who absolutley has no money to afford treatment comes in with a recent dental issue (shattered tooth or aching pain), i would not turn them down. but there are other scenarios like when someone, (whose not in urgent need but just has neglected to take care of there teeth) comes in with a treatment request, you cant help them out because it would damage how you run your office. you cant help everyone unfortunatly...


i'd appreciate any input on what i've said, maybe i am missing another important point.

 

[pinhi]

damn that is a hard question to answer.

well one obvious limitation is that you cant treat diseases of other parts of the body like an MD.

another limitation i can sorta see is that you cant treat everyone. a lot of families cannot afford dental care. I personally beleive that if someone from a very low income who absolutley has no money to afford treatment comes in with a recent dental issue (shattered tooth or aching pain), i would not turn them down. but there are other scenarios like when someone, (whose not in urgent need but just has neglected to take care of there teeth) comes in with a treatment request, you cant help them out because it would damage how you run your office. you cant help everyone unfortunatly...


i'd appreciate any input on what i've said, maybe i am missing another important point.

I like your points here....good info for interview approach.....im wondering if they are asking something along the lines of: A patient has some personal issues or is chronically depressed, etc, etc, etc.....do you feel like it is appropriate to console them or speak with them regarding their issues if they initiate the need for help.......or....do you calmly accept the fact that you are only trained as a dentist and they should seek psychiatric help.......(the answer here is obvious...however...is this what the original question is addressing?...ie...."what do you see as your limitations as a dentist".....see my point?)

 

[Dent001]

I like your points here....good info for interview approach.....im wondering if they are asking something along the lines of: A patient has some personal issues or is chronically depressed, etc, etc, etc.....do you feel like it is appropriate to console them or speak with them regarding their issues if they initiate the need for help.......or....do you calmly accept the fact that you are only trained as a dentist and they should seek psychiatric help.......(the answer here is obvious...however...is this what the original question is addressing?...ie...."what do you see as your limitations as a dentist".....see my point?)

Example: patient comes in who is underage and pregnant, what do you do?

there is definitly a limitation of what you can do here. Firstly, i would treat the patient and make sure the pregnancy has no effect on the type of treatment given. after that i would ask the patient about there pregnancy from here it go 2 routes..
1. patient understands and has her family's support and is doing what she needs to for the pregnancy. in this case you wouldnt need to do anything.
2. patient hasnt told her family and has no idea what the **** shes doing. if this is the case though, i would reccomend her to a social worker that specializes in these types of things and at most help her set up the appointment. thats as far as we can go as dentists to help someone in this situation out, we cant get overly involved.

 

[redchesus]

Maybe something along the lines of realizing the limitations of the scope of your knowledge and the importance of networking with other health professionals in your area (ex: physicians, psychiatrists, public health, etc.)

applicable to the situations you guys described above

 

[lanky limbs]

I just wanted to add that the question is vague. It could be addressing your limitations as a person - are you less than a happy, chatty person? are you as smart as your competitors? do you suck at drawing and other manual dext. things? - and how your limitations affect your ability to provide the highest quality care for your patients. Even if this isn't the case, it brings up an interesting point.

How do you answer a question when the answer diminishes your strength as a canditate? They might be trying to probe for some honesty and integrity, so anything less than the truth is probably the wrong move. You just have to show that you're humble and impart to them your motivation to improve on the things you're weak at.

You should also show that you've taken your weaknesses into account when making your career plans. If you're shy and reserved, maybe a family practice just isn't right for you, and that's why you want to go into research or become a specialist who sees patients for ten minutes and then never again. Find something positive and remember that your weaknesses generally lead to your strengths. If you're not as book smart as others, it's probably because instead of studying you were making friends and developing a personailty.

 

[flyingforever]

I like this thread. 👍

 

[pinhi]

I just wanted to add that the question is vague. It could be addressing your limitations as a person - are you less than a happy, chatty person? are you as smart as your competitors? do you suck at drawing and other manual dext. things? - and how your limitations affect your ability to provide the highest quality care for your patients. Even if this isn't the case, it brings up an interesting point.

How do you answer a question when the answer diminishes your strength as a canditate? They might be trying to probe for some honesty and integrity, so anything less than the truth is probably the wrong move. You just have to show that you're humble and impart to them your motivation to improve on the things you're weak at.

You should also show that you've taken your weaknesses into account when making your career plans. If you're shy and reserved, maybe a family practice just isn't right for you, and that's why you want to go into research or become a specialist who sees patients for ten minutes and then never again. Find something positive and remember that your weaknesses generally lead to your strengths. If you're not as book smart as others, it's probably because instead of studying you were making friends and developing a personailty.

So in this case.....it would be best to ask the interviewer for clarification due to the vague nature of the question.....correct?

 

[lanky limbs]

So in this case.....it would be best to ask the interviewer for clarification due to the vague nature of the question.....correct?

Yeah, I think so. It's probably best to avoid that kind of thing in general right? You don't want to nitpick and irritate 'em, but I think this is an exception.

 

[Dent001]

you can also say that one limitation that no one can escape is being prone to human error.

we're not perfected robots (im sure some of you have seen space odyssey😀)