35Pediatric Dentistry Residency Interview Questions & Answers
1.What steps would you take if you suspected a patient was being subjected to abuse?
2.What do you feel is the most concerning topic facing the pediatric dental industry today?
3.We will be talking with several great applicants about joining our pediatric residency program. Why should we choose you over another prospective resident with the same qualifications?
4.What do you feel is the single most important quality a pediatric dentist should possess?
5.What do you know about our pediatric dentistry residency program?
6.What do you feel is an area of weakness that you would like to improve on during your time in pediatric dentistry residency?
7.Tell us something that we would not know about you from reading your application materials and references.
8.How will you respond to feedback and constructive criticism on your work as a pediatric dentistry resident in our program?
9.When you experience a setback in your work, how does it emotionally affect you?
10.What are your ultimate career goals in dentistry?
11.What was your DAT score prior to entering dental school? Were you happy with it?
12.What drives your passion for a career in pediatric dentistry?
13.If you matched in our pediatric dentistry residency, what would you wish to accomplish in your two years training with us?
14.We would like to get to know you on a more personal level. Outside of dentistry, what are your interests?
15.If you could name just one person, who would you say has been your biggest inspiration in your life?
16.If a career in pediatric dentistry was not an option for you, what career path would you have chosen?
17.Our pediatric dentistry residency can be incredibly stressful and demanding on our residents. How do you manage high amounts of stress?
18.What was your favorite course during dental school?
19.What clinical or knowledge-based strengths would you bring to our pediatric dentistry residency program?
20.Have you applied to any other pediatric dentistry residency programs?
21.How will you successfully interact with some of the demanding faculty and ancillary staff in our program as a pediatric dentistry resident?
22.How do you best learn something new within a short time and retain it for future use?
23.How will you adapt to the major changes you will experience when transitioning from dental school to our Pediatric Dentistry Residency program?
24.Have you put any thought to how you will work effective with angry, upset or sad pediatric patients? How will you successfully manage these situations?
25.Let's say you are caring for a teenage patient who is in desperate need of flossing on a regular basis, and they tell you that they already know how. How would you proceed?
26.How would you rate your communication skills on a scale from 1-10, and why would you give yourself that rating?
27.How would you handle communicating bad news to a pediatric patient and/or their family?
28.Talk about some of the ways that you would build rapport and trust with your pediatric patients. Why is this important?
29.How will you motivate yourself to keep going on the most difficult days during your pediatric dentistry resident?
30.What role do you feel most comfortable taking on in a team-based environment?
31.What sources would you look to when you need to solve a complicated problem as a pediatric dentistry resident with our program?
32.Tell us about a time when you went above and beyond to provide great service.
33.Have you ever received a negative review from a patient or customer? How would you handle negative feedback from a pediatric patient's family?
34.When a problem comes up in your pediatric dentistry residency training that requires a quick solution, how will you respond?
35.As a new pediatric dentistry resident, would you be able to handle direct patient care with little supervision?