Transcription
Hello everybody, welcome back to my channel. So, I went to the interview at UT Health San Antonio in Texas, and I'm going to tell you everything about it. So, if you want to see that, keep on watching.
UT Health has interviews going on for about two months, and each week they have about 12 students showing up for interviews. And at the end, they're only picking 20 out of 100 students, so it's quite competitive. It's a two-day interview process, which the first day is a personal interview, and the second day is a bench exam.
So, usually, they will notify you one or two weeks before the interview, and you definitely got to expect a call, which I was not expecting. And I thought schools usually just communicate through email, but I was wrong. I, um, you know, got a call from San Antonio. Once I missed it, I'm like, who's calling me from San Antonio? Anyway, the second time I picked up, and turns out I got invited to an interview, and I'm, "Oh yes, I would love to come." So, um, yeah, if someone from San Antonio is calling you, it's probably them.
So, after they call you, they will send you an email with all the instructions. They basically want you to be prepared for that interview as much as possible. So, they send you instructions, they send you, um, directions, obviously. They also provide you with with, um, you know, some discounts for hotels which are near the, um, near the dental school. Also, they will give you instructions and guidelines for the bench exam, which is super helpful. They even send you pictures and all of that, so you definitely know what to prepare for.
The first day was basically the orientation and the personal interview. We met at a conference room, and the admissions committee gave us like a little presentation about the school, about, uh, what we can expect in those two and a half years. You know, they just gave a really good presentation, which was very, very informative. Um, starting with this, with this presentation, really set like a good mood and a good tone because, you know, they were all so nice, and they were so funny. We, we shared a lot of laughs together, and, you know, we kind of got to know them before we even went into interviews with them, which I really liked. And we kind of got to know them as people, an admissions committee. So, I definitely, definitely, um, love that.
After the presentation, they actually gave us a tour of the building. The good thing about UT Health San Antonio is that they have a huge facility. Um, all the specialists are located in one building. So, once you start working on your own patients and you have to refer them to specialists, you can do that by just walking them, you know, two floors up, you know. So, um, it's really nice to have all those specialties in one building. You know, referrals will be very easy. The building in general is very nice, it's modern, everything is clean and good-looking, and, you know, just top-notch technology, all of that good stuff. I loved it. That's how our morning went.
Then we had a lunch break, and the lunch break was awesome because we had students, um, which are currently enrolled in the international dentist program. Um, they had lunch with us. That was really good because we could interact with them, we could ask them all the tricky questions, and it was really, really, really helpful to hear it from a student and not from some admissions committee, right? So, um, they gave us very honest opinions, and that was really good.
After lunch, we all got together again, and that's when we all started to become a little bit more nervous because that's when the interview started. Getting to know everyone before the interview started was amazing. We, um, knew who we will be talking to, and we knew the people that were interviewing us. We were definitely more relaxed than, uh, what I've experienced previously with other interviews where you just don't know who's going to talk to you, right? You, like, you, you have no idea what to expect. Yeah.
And the type of interview that we were having is called MMI, which is multiple mini interviews. If you haven't heard that before, don't worry, I have never heard that before either. So, there were, um, a bunch of tables set up, uh, in a circle, and you had about five minutes to talk to one person, and then you, after five minutes, you, um, moved on to the next table, and then you talked to a different person. All in all, um, I talked to about four or five people. Then there were two tables where you had to do a task, and everything was timed. You had someone who was calling out the time, and, um, you know, it was, it was very fast. It was super fast. Each interviewer asked you about two questions. All of the questions that you got asked, um, are easy. You know, there, those are like the typical interview questions that I have discussed in my previous video. If you haven't seen that, go check it out. But, um, you know, very common questions. Some questions were also related, um, to dentistry and, you know, your strength and weaknesses in dentistry, stuff like that. Some ethical stuff too.
They do change their questions every single time, so do not, uh, hope for the same question. So that, like, there's really no point for me telling you what questions asked me because next week, the other group already had other questions, you know. So, um, but everyone had very simple, basic interview questions, um, that you have definitely heard before. And if you practiced or if you prepared for interviews prior at home, you will definitely be able to answer them immediately once they ask you, like, "Oh yeah, I've done that before. I will be able to ask this question immediately and perfectly." Yeah. You know, you just got to, you just got to prepare, just like for every, every other interview. Just prepare the most common questions, and those will, that's basically what they will ask you too.
So, you know, you really have to be honest. Show them who you are as a person. Like, what is the most interesting part about you? And tell them about that. You know, don't, don't just go with a generic answer because you think it sounds good. Doesn't matter if it sounds good or not, but they probably have heard that answer a hundred times before because it just sounds good, you know. I know every one of you has something special about them, so you definitely got to find that very special thing about you and you got to mention that. If you tell them something that's very specific, they will link that one thing to you, to your name. Um, they have about a week to discuss who they will pick, and they usually call the week after. If they find one student specifically like very good, even though they have like a rolling admission, they could even call you like weeks later, you know, if they like you. But yeah, if, if you told them something really interesting about you, they will memorize you, um, or they will remember you. Just tell them who you are. Show them who you are. Uh, be yourself. Be funny. Um, don't be afraid to make jokes because I was there, you know, just cracking jokes like, you know, like it's nothing. So do the same. If you're funny, if not, then don't worry, but just be yourself.
So, after we were done with this MMI, we kind of gathered, and, um, we went to a different room and took a multiple-choice test. It was very easy. You basically got a patient, a patient case with, you know, everything was listed: their medical history, their dental history, X-rays, parodontal charting, all the good stuff, you know. And then their main concern, like, "Hey, I want this gap to be filled," or "I want, you know, this tooth extracted," whatever it is. And then you got about 20 questions to answer, um, regarding your patient. Everyone had a different patient, and they gave us 40 minutes for this test. We were done in like, like 10 minutes. So easy. Okay, don't worry about that. It was doable. Don't stress yourself about that.
After we have completed that multiple-choice test, we got back together with the admissions committee, and they actually, um, gave us some more time with, uh, some students that are enrolled in the international program, and we had some more things that we could ask them. Afterwards, we got presented all the materials, all the instruments, all the burs that we would need for the bench test, which was the next morning, which was so helpful. We could, you know, play around with the instruments, we could touch the burs, we could, you know, just check everything out, and we were really, really well prepared for the bench test, which was, you know, the day after.
What I also thought super helpful is when we got invited to the bench test, or when we got invited to the interview, they sent us an email with all the instructions and also guidelines for the bench test with information about all the, uh, preparations that we had to do. And they also inserted some pictures with, um, what they wanted the preparations to look like, so you knew exactly what you should prepare for, you know. I definitely practiced quite a bit. I had about a week and a half to prepare for those bench exam tasks, so I felt like I was very, very well prepared. Yeah, it definitely helps, guys. You never stop practicing for the bench test, like never. That's my best advice. Just keep on practicing, even though you just, yeah, you know, just had some interviews and you didn't get accepted, but like, don't stop. Just keep on practicing for those freaking bench ex tests. No, um, really, that's what I did.
The second day was the bench exam. We met at the dental campus at about 9:00 a.m. in the morning. Then we went to the room, and, um, you know, everything was already prepared for us. We had a mannequin which, you know, had our name on it and everything. So we just sat down, got ready. There was absolutely no surprise because we already saw all the instruments, the exact same instruments, burs, everything, material that we saw the day before. So everything was, um, set up for us. We were just working until, um, 12, I think, noon time. We had to finish. We also could listen to some music if you wanted to, which I think I was the only one in the room who was listening to music, but, you know, I had one ear, um, ear pod in, the other one I had to remove, just so that I could listen to what they announced. But yeah, they were very, very strict on the time. So that's one thing that you should be aware of. They mentioned that multiple times the day before and also during the bench exam, they mention how important the time is. You definitely have to like put everything down once it's 12:00. Like, don't touch anything, don't do anything, basically. They do announce five minutes prior that, you know, you have five more minutes, and then you definitely have to just put your stuff down and clean your preparations, clean the mannequin, um, make sure that it's looks good because, you know, that counts as well. And if they just see a dirty or like, you know, messy model and mannequin, they probably, you know, we'll be like, "What the heck is happening here?" So, uh, make sure you clean everything. After 12:00, past, you're definitely not supposed to touch the mannequin at all, not even for cleaning it.
The preparations that we had to do was, um, a crown preparation on an upper molar, and it was a gold crown that we had to prepare. So, very easy. Then we had to do a composite filling on a second molar, um, on a lower jaw, and we had to do a class 2 cavity preparation, also on the molar in the lower jaw. It was three preparations, and I felt like we had enough time. I finished in time, and I even had time to clean the mannequin and the preparations. I left with a good feeling. I think I was kind of, you know, worried about the competition that I had because there were really good students there, and, you know, with a lot of experience, which, which, um, you know, was a little bit intimidating. But I tried my best. I did my best. And, um, a week later, they will notify you, um, if you are the chosen one, basically. But, yeah, I got a call a week later. Um, I got accepted, which, uh, I was super happy about, and it's amazing. I'm, uh, I'm stoked. I love San Antonio. I love the school, and I actually decided to attend the school. I was previously contemplating about going to Boston, but I decided against it. I would like to stay in Texas, and, um, the school is just amazing. So that's why. And yeah, it will be a good time. Um, school starts in January, and then it goes for about two and a half years. But yeah, I'm very excited. It will be a good time, and I will, uh, keep you guys updated on how everything goes, uh, throughout those two and a half years, uh, for sure. I will keep making videos and I will keep you guys informed. So yeah, that's that.
If you guys have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me. Um, you can message me or, um, you know, just comment down below, and I will respond as soon as I can. Thank you for watching. Don't forget to subscribe because I will be posting a lot more videos in the future. I'll see you guys very soon, and take care. Bye.