personal statement for dentistry

i’ve been told the REFLECTION aspect of work experience is really important when talking about it in your ps, however i’m not quite sure how to actually go about this. any advice would be great :smile:

Reply 1

Llamas_and_Cake

This isn’t the only way to do critical reflection, but a simple way is to take an experience you want to reflect on and work through three questions: What? So what? Now what?

This means you state what happened. Then you talk about it’s significance or meaning, your reaction to it and other experiences it’s related to. Then you talk about what you have learned, how you will integrate it into your practice going forward and how your new knowledge fits into your broader understanding.

(This is a real thing, not just something I’m making up – google ‘Borton’s reflective practice’ and you’ll find better guides and examples. It’s widely used in healthcare so is a sensible choice for your dentistry application.)

Reply 2

Flower2007!

Original post

by aarushikaushal

hi! what i personally did was find two main moments to write about that were unique and struck me. this was last year so i may not 100% remember but one moment was the dentist talking to a very anxious and shy child and having to tailor her demeanour, voice and expressions. i talked about why it was important (making patient feel comfortable) then linked it to a skill it taught me (communication). i even tried to link it to the fact that i do public speaking and acting which helps me with this skill.

at the end of the day, your stats are defo what matter most because sadly most unis don’t give personal statements the time of day for med and dent as there are simply too many applicants so honestly just do your best and don’t overthink. if you are super worried about your personal statement and think it’s terrible, that’s fine because there is a med and dent 2026 strategic applications document by myucat and they go through EVERYTHING including which unis look at ps, which ones don’t, which ones use it in interview and how etcetc. it is super super helpful in general and saved me x

Reply 3

Kingston Trenyce

Official Rep

Original post

by aarushikaushal

Hey! you're absolutely right reflection is so important when talking about work experience. Admission tutors most likely want to see what you learned from it and how it's influenced your motivation or insight into your desired course.

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breifly describe what you observed

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Reflect on what you learned from it

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Explain how that experience inspired or prepared you
Trenyce (Kingston Rep)