Do you foresee any specific challenges in the future of dentistry in the coming 10 to 20 years?

Your research before the interview will pay dividends come the day of your interview when you seem the most prepared and ready to tackle each challenging station. Make sure you spend some of that research time on the current and future challenges in the dentistry field.

Come to your interview prepared to discuss two or three challenges that the dentistry field will face in the coming decade or two. To show that you have done your homework and have a passion for problem-solving in your work, take the time to highlight why these issues may present themselves and then give your insight into how professionals in the field will best tackle these challenges. Doing the latter will give your interviewer at this MMI station the sense that you will work to overcome challenges as a student with their program.

"This is a great question. I've done some research on what the experts are saying about this topic. A couple of issues facing the dental workforce are burnout and staff shortages, two closely related problems. Looking at workforce projections, there is expected to be a continued shortage of hygienists and support staff. Many hygienists are leaving the job for higher pay, part-time work, and the budding work-from-home opportunities that have been showing up over the last few years. While there's no one size fits all solution, I think the traditional dental practice staffing will have to allow much more flexible opportunities for staff.

I think this same flexibility is also needed for dentists. Giving adequate downtime and thinking outside the box to care for an entire team will be important in the future. I hope to open my own practice someday, so I've generated several ideas already, including a fully stocked break room for staff, surprise lunches for my team, and opportunities for staff to earn extra vacation time through excellent performance."