I apologize if this has been asked already. Do you mind sharing some popular interview questions please? Also, if you know what the written tests and the hands-on exercises usually ask for?
Hands-on from my knowledge (now dated a couple of years) is usually some sort of prep like a crown prep/FPD prep and/or temporization. Some written tests contained RPD design. Most programs at the time didn't do written or hands-on tests, but that may or may not have changed since my application time.
As for questions, the generic ones are all asked very frequently. These include:
- Why Prosth?
- Why our program?
- Goals down the line (5 years etc)?
- What happens if you don't match?
- How many X procedures have you done (more for new grads I think)?
But other questions vary a lot because it depends on how the interview is formatted. Sometimes there are resident panels where residents ask questions. Sometimes its 1-on-1 with attendings. Sometimes its a group interview. These questions come pretty randomly so its hard to prepare for honestly.
Some questions I remember were:
- If you didn't do dentistry, what profession would you have chosen?
- If you personally had to get a crown done on #9, what material and what method of fabrication would you go with?
I do want to stress, that knowing interview questions will seldomly provide you that much benefit for an interview in my opinion. There is really only so much you can prepare for because ultimately if you got the interview, your stats have carried you up to this point. The interview is really focused on personality and not just how well you answer these types of questions (whether it be didactic or not). Be yourself, that is the key. Sounds very cliche, but you have to keep in mind that Prosth is definitely in the top 2 in terms of difficulty as far as dental residencies are concerned. If you are trying to fake a personality to get into a program, you'll grow tired easily once you are in. You have to spend majority of your hours with your peers and with the program and you do not want to burn out too fast. There was another thread on SDN last year with a 1st year Prosth resident that felt that they made the wrong decision in programs and wanted to drop out within the first 3 weeks.
Remember, programs are looking for the best FIT for their program, not the "smartest" individual they can find. They know that you are there to learn to become better.
And lastly, once you are on your interviews, be nice to your fellow interviewers. People get hyper competitive sometimes and its honestly not a good look for you or them. You will literally see these same people at conferences because you'll end up in different locations. Everyone at these interviews are potential colleagues that you may meet in the same year/program/different program or another year if they end up applying again. I have met most of the people that were in my interview cohorts (even if they end up in a program half a country away), so don't start off a relationship sour during the interview.