Book Review

  • Zahid Siddique,
  • Shivana Anand &
  • Helena Lewis-Greene
Wiley-Blackwell, 2016, price £24.99 pp. 184 ISBN: 9781119109143 | ISBN: 978-1-1191-0914-3

This first edition of The dental foundation interview guide: with situational judgement tests is a comprehensive handbook for final year dental students and those wishing to participate in the dental foundation training interview process.

The authors Zahid Siddique, Shivana Anand and Helena Lewis-Greene, who have teaching experience in one of the UK's dental schools, seem to have a grasp on the process and knowledge required to becoming a successful candidate. As acknowledged in the preface, this book is the first in which the situational judgment test (SJT) is addressed from a dental perspective.

The book includes eight structured chapters and is comprised of 184 pages, 124 of which are dedicated to example scenarios and their answers.

The first three chapters offer the reader background information about the process. This covers vital information regarding the application, such as key dates and schemes the candidate can apply to. Details regarding the SJT are also outlined with useful tables to familiarise the reader with the exam format. Chapters 4 and 5 contain the bulk of the information which is needed by the interviewee, introducing the reader to definitions which are vital to understand but which they may have not encountered during dental school. Also included in these chapters is key legislation, with brief summaries, of which the candidate should be aware.

This book undoubtedly delivers to its description in the synopsis as a 'step-by-step guide to the dental foundation training application process.' It is well structured and covers briefly the topics and knowledge needed for the interview, even providing a checklist of sources which is useful to guide the reader to additional reading. Whilst other materials may be needed for background reading, I believe that this book offers enough example scenarios and SJT questions to be sufficient for the applicant in their preparation.