With COVID-19 affecting our entire world, is it really worth it to take the risk to attend an in-person course in order to be well prepared for either a bench test or interview?\u00a0<\/span>We don’t think taking that kind of risk is necessary right now – effectively putting your parents, children, or spouse at risk – especially when you can do it all at home.\u00a0<\/span>Both of our courses, Bench Test Mastery and Interview Mastery are 100% virtual<\/strong> and they’ve been helping candidates ace their bench test and have an effective interview preparation for several years, starting pre-pandemic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Just to be clear, we <\/span><\/i>did not<\/i><\/b> just recently convert our Bench Test Mastery and Interview Mastery into online courses, they’ve been virtual since the very beginning!<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Preparing for interviewing <\/b>virtually is easier to wrap your head around, so let\u2019s start there. Our course goes over the foundations of interviewing. It includes over 20 hours of instructional video on the secrets of interviewing, combined with personalized practice interviews, tailored to the school you\u2019re going to along with feedback for improvement. Plus we\u2019ve recently included a bonus module to cover how to master a zoom video interview<\/em>. If interested, you can learn more about Interview Mastery here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Bench Test Preparation<\/b> can also be done online. I\u2019ve (Dr. Alyssa here typing this up) been helping candidates with their bench test preparation for several years now, 100% online. This includes candidates that have never done a crown prep in their life, candidates that haven\u2019t touched a handpiece in over a decade, and everyone in-between.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The course itself is pre-recorded so you can take only the parts you need, when you need it, and repeat as you need to. A core part of the course and what I get asked most about is how I evaluate your work,<\/span> feedbacks<\/span><\/i> as we call it. This is a fair question, so let me explain.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In a nutshell, you take photos of your work (preps, restorations, wax-ups, whatever it might be), and upload them onto a page on our member area. Yes, I can see the details of your prep through photos, but more on that in a moment. On the Feedback Submission form, you\u2019ll answer some questions, like which tooth did you work on? What kind of prep is this? And if you\u2019d like, you can rate your work and give it a pass or fail. I pull the up on my computer, talk into a mic while using my mouse as a pointer, and recording my screen. This becomes a video for you to review. In the video, I don\u2019t just talk about what deviated away from ideal. I focus more on why that happened and how to correct it going forward. This is important – it\u2019s easy to point out why a preparation isn\u2019t ideal, you can just pull up a list of criteria it needs to meet, go down that list and see if it meets it or not, one by one. But knowing <\/span>why<\/span><\/i> that happened so you can prevent it from happening going forward is the basis of improvement. If you\u2019ve practiced for the bench test, you know; it\u2019s easy to go through lots of teeth but be unsure of how to improve. That\u2019s where I come in.<\/span><\/p>\n You might be wondering <\/span>how well I can identify details of prep through photos<\/b>, and I understand where you\u2019re coming from. Prep is a trail that a bur has left behind on a tooth. I assume you\u2019re using the burs I suggest you use in your preparation, which are the standard burs given at a bench test. I know the shape and dimensions of the bur and I\u2019m very familiar with typodonts, so when I see photos of your prep I can tell how the bur moved around. I can see how you moved your hands to get the results you\u2019ve achieved. Accurate photos are important for me to be able to provide a full evaluation, so there is a guide about that inside the member area as well. No fancy camera needed, your phone is sufficient, and photo-taking isn\u2019t difficult.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Because we work together for a long time – much much longer than the length of time you\u2019d be spending at an in-person course – you\u2019ll get advice for a longer duration of time, which is important.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n See, <\/span>often candidates who\u2019ve been to in-person bench test preparation courses join Bench Test Mastery<\/span><\/i>. While most of our members rely on our course as their sole means for bench test preparation<\/a>, some people initially decide to go to a live course. They often come to me afterward because as they continue to practice after the completion of the live course, they lose touch with ideal preps again and find they need someone to guide them back on track. They need someone to point out mistakes and shed a light on why it\u2019s happening and how to prevent it. I\u2019m sharing this with you to illustrate the importance of long-term mentorship. If you want to be prepared well, bench test preparation is a long game.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n One last thing, if a program decides not to hold an in-person bench test and test you online instead, there’s a big chance you’ll be shown some photos of preparations and\/or restorations and be asked to point out mistakes. I’ve been asked how to prepare for a test like this many times. To train your eye to evaluate preparations (or restorations), the best way is to watch somebody else evaluate them, and lots of it. I’ve been providing online evaluations for several years now and we have over 2,000 at this point. All of this is available for you to view inside Bench Test Mastery the moment you join, and I’m unaware of a resource better than this to prepare you for a test like that.<\/p>\n![\"Bench](\"https:\/\/internationaldentistcentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/AdobeStock_347562015-scaled-e1595756741671.jpeg\")
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