Why Online Bench Test Courses Are More Effective Than Live Courses

Preparing for a bench test with an online course? What?!

Online learning for preps was probably not a big part of your past dental school curriculum. It certainly wasn’t for me. It’s only natural that you wonder if an online course can be an effective way to improve your skills.

I’ve worked with applicants both through live courses and online courses in the beginning but worked exclusively online with hundreds of applicants for the last 7 years. Online learning is definitely a perspective shift in learning dentistry, but it works surprisingly well. Arguably, if I had to choose just one type of training to prepare for a bench test, I put my vote on online training. This is an unpopular opinion but stick around to find out why I believe in it, and why you should consider it too. Please watch the video below!

I don’t know about you, but when I was in dental school I remember faking being able to see things a lot during demos and while assisting.

The dentist would be doing something far away over there and would explain things and sometimes pause to make sure I was following along. Asking questions like ‘you see this area over here? ~~’ and look at me. And I’d say ‘yes’ as if I actually saw what was going on.

I couldn’t.

Do you relate?

Teeth are the size of your pinky fingernail

The mouth has a small limited opening – try opening your mouth right now to get a refresher on just how small it is.

There are a Handpiece, a mirror, the operator’s hand, a tongue, lips, and cheeks

And you can’t shove your face inside the patient’s mouth, excuse me for my vocabulary, but it’s true.

Not only would that be weird, but we have to make sure not to block the dentist’s view.

It’s really hard to observe and learn at the same time.

now, enter online learning.

Online, with good quality videos – a few teeth can fill up your entire computer screen.

You can see so much detail, things you can’t even see when you’re working on your own typodont, even if you were working tabletop, you can see it through pictures and videos because we can blow them up much larger in size. And when we do, it gives perspective. It’s easier to grasp the mechanics of the prep that can often feel elusive because of how small a tooth is and how much smaller your prep is. This is the first reason I prefer online training over live training.

Related Articles:

The second reason is that with online training, you can watch videos repeatedly, as many times as you need. The value of this is immense. When you’re studying for a test, don’t you go over the same material again? I certainly didn’t read the dental decks just once, even if I thought I understood it. Because often when I read it again, I’d learn something I hadn’t during my first read.

Through repetition, you start making sense of things in a new way and gain a deeper understanding of what you’re learning. When you learn something, anything, the information you’re able to take in largely depends on where you’re currently at. As your hand skills and ability to critique improves, as you repeat lessons, you will be able to pick up on points you weren’t able to before. It’s the beauty of repetition. Only possible because we have a pre-recorded course.

Finally, the fourth reason why an online bench test prep course like Bench Test Mastery is more effective than a live course is because of my ability to see details in your preps when you take photos of your work.

A prep is just a trail your bur left behind. There are recommended burs for each preparation you need to do, and if you use them, and you should, I know the shape of the bur you’re using. So when I see your prep, I can visualize how you used your handpiece and bur. I can see how it was angled and how it moved to create the prep you’ve created.

I can’t see as many details with my naked eye as I can with photographs. And the more I can see, the better advice I can give you.

And btw, looking at a prep and pointing out mistakes or where it deviated away from ideal is easy. You can do it yourself – just look at the requirements and see if your prep met it or not. What’s difficult is to understand why that happened and what to do to fix that mistake going forward.

It’s not like anyone creates an isthmus that’s too wide on purpose. Everyone’s trying to keep the width at 1mm. But it happens. And often applicants find themselves repeating the same mistakes over and over again. I feel for you, I’ve been there. I made a video talking all about how horrible my bench test skills used to be and how I improved them, you can watch it here. Quality guidance can help you improve faster.

Related Articles:

The third reason I think online bench test training is more effective than live training is that you work with me for a much longer duration. Not just for the duration of the bench test course, but for several months and up to a year.

About 30% of current Bench Test Mastery members have attended a live course before.

Most of them weren’t planning on joining an online course in addition to their live course in the beginning. After the live course is over, they find they need guidance and mentorship for a longer duration of time, so they’ve joined Bench Test Mastery to work with me. And when they send in their work it often seems as if they’ve forgotten some key aspects of preparations I’m sure they had learned at the live training they attended before.

We don’t remember everything immediately. This is normal. This is why working with someone, like me, if you’d like long-term is important. I would keep you on track, remind you of details that might have slipped, and when your focus is on unimportant details, I can help you get back on track. And yes, it’s a thing. I often find myself redirecting applicant’s focus so they can focus on certain aspects of preps that are more important for passing the bench test than other aspects.

I used to teach live courses, and I stopped. If you’re curious why watch it here.

Anyhow, I digress.

I’ve shared with you the reasons I think online bench test training is more effective than live training courses in the above.

If you’re interested in working with me to improve your bench test skills, click on the link below to learn more about how to get started. I cannot wait to help you confidently take the bench test so you can start the Advanced Standing Program or residency program of your choice soon.

Join Bench Test Mastery

Related Articles: