During my internship, just like any other dental student, I had to decide what to do next with my life. I had two clear paths, go to the US or start my MDS in Orthodontics. I started studying for NBDE Part 1, but the thought of leaving my home country, my parents, my friends kept haunting me. I continued studying for part 1, but I couldn’t gather the courage to get my ECE done and finally start the process
Luckily, I found two seniors from my college in the same process in the US, and I spoke to them to get an idea as to what made them take this step. After that, the most significant push and support came from my father’s side, who has always been an over-ambitious soul himself. He told me one simple thing,” you are a girl; you anyway have to leave your home one day, might as well do it for your career and go where you see yourself in the future.” As much as it would have broken his heart to push me away from him, he understood my ambitions and need to grow professionally and personally in life.
I am writing this article to tell my fellow applicants/aspirant for DDS more about my mistakes or the steps I didn’t take at the right time. After appearing for four bench and interviews and cracking two, I have gotten enough experience to share my two cents with everyone. This is the least I can do to prevent other people from wasting their time, money, and energy and get the right help at the right time. For the same reason, I have been spending my time helping out people with their application material, guiding them on how to write SOP / CV / CAAPID, edit their material, take online lessons for bench exercises and polish their interview skills. As it breaks my heart to see my fellow dentists make the same mistakes that I once made.
Related Courses on International Dentist Central:
My Profile As An International Dentist
To begin with, my profile:
This might not be of great significance, but still just for people to see, I didn’t do anything extraordinary but all the basic things you must already have.
- BDS- 2016, GPA- 3.11
- NBDE Part 1- 2016
- NBDE Part 2- 2017. Second attempt
- Toefl- 102
- Advanced Aesthetic And Restorative 3 months certificate course from Delhi, India. Aesthetic dentistry is not something we are taught in BDS, and restorative is the bread and butter of dentistry, so I needed to make my clinical game strong.
- A total of 2 years of work experience in my home country. Very important to have clinical experience because they are always looking for candidates with a running hand over people with a gap.
- Almost 30-40 conferences, workshops, in-person CE courses because I was a fresh graduate, and I had all the freedom and time to explore all the branches of our field. In-person CE courses are always more useful and vital as compared to attending 100 lectures online. Also, a platform to connect to people.
- Tons of dental and non-dental volunteer work both in the US and home country and two different shadowing experiences for a total of 10 months in the US. Volunteer work is the easiest to find. Almost every city in the US runs a homeless shelter/food bank; you can help them out in any way possible. There are community dental clinics all over the US, more comfortable to find volunteer opportunities than reaching out to a private clinic. Schools/colleges always have some of the other events coming up where they can use volunteers. And best to look out for dental camps happening in your city or nearby. It’s worth traveling a few extra miles.
Again, do not compare yourself to anyone and do not try to do what another person did because you are a different individual, and you are doing this for yourself. Chase your dream and interests.
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5 Steps To Success
I made the basic and first mistake, and trust me when I say this, and many people are still making it. Research well about the whole process, competition, how much money and energy you need to invest not after getting into a school but even before you get into one. Make charts and notes about each school you wish to apply to and have stats on your fingertips. The US itself is a very competitive country in every field and securing a seat in the International Dental Program is a hurdle at the sky’s level. Depending on which school, the ratio of seat: applicants is almost 1:80/100. There are at least 80 other people with you who are fighting for the same seat. Do your research and speak to nearly ten people even before getting your ECE done. And this is mostly for people on a visa because that is one never-ending struggle. So make sure you have the whole picture before you take your first step into this process.
Second, I under-estimated the difficulty level of the NBDE exam. I cleared part 1 in my first attempt and thought I’d appear for part 2 immediately. Part 2 has ten times more subjects than part 1, so you need to give sufficient time and study properly. Though I think by the time you read this, INBDE would have replaced NBDEs. And the same goes for Toefl; practice 5/6 full papers with proper timings, try to sit for the mock exam matching the timings of your actual exam before appearing for the real exam. Your body and mind need the training to get through the exam. It’s not merely an exam in English; it’s also about test-taking skills.
Third, I thought getting into a school is simply about giving part 1 and part 2 and applying. Do not underestimate the CAAPID portal. You have to sell yourself on the CAAPID. So take the correct guidance right from the beginning, and by that, I mean to prepare your SOP, CV by early or mid-January and get it edited by February end. No matter how good your writing skills are, you have no idea how many applications an evaluator goes through in a day, so you cannot risk making even a tiny mistake or sound foolish on your application. Please get professional help with your material because they present you in a refined way. And yes, this goes without saying finish applying in March/April itself. Do not wait for the deadlines. Someone might be able to get your invitation by .1 GPA point or by one mark on the TOEFL. Also, it gives the admission office enough time to process your application and keep you in the loop if you are missing something. Towards the deadline, even they have no idea of day and night.
Fourth, do not underestimate the bench/technical exam. You might be good, really good, successful at your practice but, there’s a reason you are trying to get into an American school, right? They are not competitive just for the sake of it. They need the best, and they have it, so you cannot think it’s okay for you to perform just OK and be in a position to beat the best of the best. They want each and everything by the books. Also, cutting a plastic tooth is not similar to cutting a human tooth. Take professional help, and even after that, keep practicing at home until your bench arrives.
Fifth, luckily, it wasn’t for me, but the interview can be a task for some people. There can be multiple reasons why you might not be able to present yourself well during the interview. You get nervous, which is obvious. You might choke up as the interviewers try to intentionally confuse you sometimes or put you in a tough spot to see how you will get out of the situation, or you might naturally not have the best communication skills. So get professional help if needed. You know yourself the best. You must have interacted with people at volunteer or shadowing sites, so compare your personality, communication skills to your competitors well ahead of time and work on it. From my experience, it didn’t look like a lot of people cared about how they carried themselves, but you need to dress up well, have a positive attitude in life, and be humble. Be yourself! The person taking your interview has been doing this for years and is ten times smarter than you are, so don’t even think of fooling them. The more you open up and be yourself, the more they will be able to see through you because they have judged you professionally on the paper. Now is the time to show them who you are as a person.
As for me, I interviewed at UW, CU, UCSF, and Temple in 3 cycles. Got acceptance from UCSF and Temple, chose to take up UCSF for personal reasons. Why it took me three cycles? I applied only with part 1 the first time and failed at receiving even a single call. The second cycle appeared at UW and CU but hadn’t taken any bench courses by then, failed at both benches even though they loved me at the interview. In the third cycle, I took professional help for my SOP, and luckily before the invites went out, I took a bench course. Taking a bench was an eye-opener for me because not only did I get the right guidance, but I all got to know my true worth and how good I was at it. I aced both UCSF and Temple after that.
What worked for me? Persistence, hard work, and being myself, being myself most of it. I never allowed myself to feel any less or compared myself to others because I knew I have my struggles, and there must be something wrong that I am doing. What could I have done differently? Continue to enjoy my life to the fullest during those the three years I appeared for exams, applying to schools, and not burn my blood and energy over failures 😛 It’s just a tiny part of your life and not your whole life, so don’t let it affect you and continue enjoying life and achieving personal goals.
Interested in getting help with your SOP, bench test, and interview? IDC has been helping candidates for several years now. Click below to learn more:
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