Situational Dental School Mock Interview
Master 30 situational dental school interview questions covering clinical scenarios, ethical dilemmas, and patient care.
Question 13 of 30
If you had a busy day of clinic in your final year of dental school, and a key piece of equipment failed, how would you handle the workload, patients, and stress until a fix was found?
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Ryan Brunner has over ten years of experience recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates in the healthcare, public service, and private manufacturing/distribution industries.
Practicing dentists work with a wide variety of medical equipment, tools, and technology, and this equipment, though very expensive and modern, can break down from time to time. Your interviewers are looking to ensure that the students that come into their dental program can handle the stress of vital equipment failure in a healthy, professional, and safe manner for all involved.
Ryan Brunner has over ten years of experience recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates in the healthcare, public service, and private manufacturing/distribution industries.
There are some key things to highlight in your answer to prove your ability to think on your feet, make quick decisions, and do what needs to be done in the heat of the moment. First, talk about your ability to find an alternate solution and work as part of a team in doing so. Next, talk about your ability to prioritize any high-needs patients who are directly impacted by this equipment failure. Last, describe your calm demeanor and ability to think critically when the chips are down and you are the dentist in charge.
Ryan Brunner has over ten years of experience recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates in the healthcare, public service, and private manufacturing/distribution industries.
"Upon finding that a major piece of equipment went down, my first thought would be to gather the entire team to come up with a workaround for patients. We could put our heads together to find an alternate piece of equipment or other means of working around it. If we found out that the equipment would be out of order and there were no alternatives for the day, we'd have to loop in the schedulers to reschedule any patients for that day that would need the use of the equipment. In the end, doing what is right for the patients would be my top priority."
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