Tips for Final Year Dental Students

Anyone who has completed a degree will know that the final year of study can be pretty hectic, not to mention the most influential on the final grade and job prospects. There’s so much crucial stuff for dental students to take care of during their last year of study, so they are likely to welcome reliable advice wherever they are given it. We at BF Mulholland have decided to do our bit by providing the following informative tips. Make sure that your years of study end with a bang!

Plan your organisation with some extensive note-taking

There are few things better for ensuring that you get all of those necessary study tasks done than the tried-and-tested ‘to do’ list. Dr Hossein Amini BChD of The London Deanery advises “investing in a good diary and wall planner”. Alternatively, you could stick to using diary and note-taking apps on your smartphone, since you should regularly have that with you in a range of situations – in the lecture hall, your student accommodation, on public transport… we could go on.

For note-taking, we would especially recommend Microsoft’s OneNote app. That’s because there are versions of the app for a wide range of devices. This allows you to, through the cloud, synchronise your notes – meaning that, whether you are working on your desktop in accommodation, laptop in the library, tablet during a lecture or smartphone when travelling, you can always have ready access to those notes.

Think carefully about where you should apply for dental foundation training

The final decision concerning this needs to be made early. If you’re indecisive, listing both merits and drawbacks of each of the deaneries – and their locations – under consideration can greatly help. Recent graduates now working at your dental school could prove great sources of advice, since they have already gone through this whole process of trying to decide where to apply. However, you should still feel free to either take or leave their advice – they can’t make the final decision for you. Consider, for example, which parts of the country you would be most content living in during your training.

Be similarly careful with each application and interview for training

There are plenty of sources of advice on how to put together a good CV – including the Prospects website and your dental school’s careers service. Wherever you get your advice, however, remember to keep the document’s focus primarily on your medical/dental experience, qualifications and strengths. Before finalising the CV, consider asking your tutor to look over it for a second opinion.

If including that CV in an application succeeds in landing you an interview – congratulations! However, you still need to set aside time for preparing for that interview. Spend particular time researching the dental practice that will interview you; this could assist you in discerning what questions they might put to you. Arrive for the interview in good time – that’s great for a positive first impression – and, while maintaining strong confidence without arrogance, make clear what you know. Good luck!