An admissions interview to measure "good" dentist attributes.

Area of Science:

• Dental Education
• Admissions Assessment
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Traditional dental school admissions rely heavily on academic metrics.
• Assessing non-cognitive traits is crucial for identifying successful dental practitioners.
• A need exists for standardized, valid interview methods in dental admissions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the validity of a structured, standardized interview for dental school applicant selection.
• To evaluate the interview's ability to score non-grade attributes relevant to dental success.

Main Methods:

• A structured, standardized interview was developed based on characteristics of successful dentists.
• The interview assessed 14 non-grade dimensions.
• Eighty-six fourth-year dental students at the University of Iowa participated in the study.

Main Results:

• The structured interview demonstrated sufficient validity for its intended purpose.
• The interview effectively scored non-grade attributes in dental students.

Conclusions:

• The validated interview is suitable for dental school admissions.
• This interview method can aid in selecting candidates with desirable non-cognitive traits for dentistry.