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Open the guide →Format breakdown, school-specific sample questions, FAQs and prep tips from tutors who interviewed here.
Read the guide →Temple University Kornberg School of Dentistry, founded in 1863, is one of the oldest dental schools in the United States and among the largest by clinical volume in the country. Located in North Philadelphia, Kornberg operates a high-volume dental clinic serving a predominantly low-income and underserved urban patient population, giving students extraordinary clinical breadth across a diverse caseload. The school is known for its strong clinical training, community health mission, and competitive specialty placement record.
Applications via ADEA AADSAS. Kornberg's extraordinary clinical volume in North Philadelphia — one of the highest-volume dental school clinics in the country — is a genuine training advantage. Students gain experience with complex, underserved urban patient cases that many smaller dental schools cannot replicate.
Traditional curriculum. 4-year DMD curriculum with early clinical exposure. Patient care begins in Year 2 at Kornberg's large North Philadelphia clinic. The extraordinary clinical volume — hundreds of thousands of patient visits annually — gives students unmatched breadth of patient care experience. Years 3–4 involve comprehensive patient management and elective specialty rotations.
Temple University Kornberg School of Dentistry (DMD) has notable research strength in Oral biology, Dental public health, Biomaterials, Craniofacial development, Community oral health.
Temple University Kornberg School of Dentistry (DMD) interviews via Traditional one-on-one faculty interview. Temple University Kornberg School of Dentistry conducts traditional one-on-one faculty interviews at its North Philadelphia campus, typically September through February. Interview days include a faculty session of 30–45 minutes assessing motivation for dentistry, oral-systemic understanding, ADA ethics, and community health values. As a Temple University institution serving Philadelphia's North Philadelphia community, interviewers probe candidates' awareness of and commitment to dental care in underserved urban populations. Candidates tour Kornberg's large clinical facilities and interact with current DMD students. Post-interview rolling decisions are typically issued within 4–6 weeks.
Approximately 140 students per year — one of the larger dental school classes in the US.
Founded in 1863, based in Philadelphia, PA. Programmes offered: Orthodontics, Periodontics, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Endodontics, Prosthodontics.
Kornberg is an excellent choice for candidates who prioritize clinical breadth and volume over research prestige. The patient population in North Philadelphia is extraordinarily diverse and complex — if you are mission-aligned with community dental care and want maximum clinical exposure, Kornberg delivers this. In your interview, show genuine awareness of urban oral health disparities and demonstrate that you understand what serving a predominantly low-income urban population means for a dental practice.
Two questions our tutors flagged as a strong fit for Temple University Kornberg School of Dentistry (DMD)’s interview style. Try answering them out loud, then open Prometheus for the model answers and follow-up tips.
The ADA Code rests on five principles: patient autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, justice, and veracity. Tell me about a single dental scenario in which at least two of these principles pull against each other, and explain how you would reason through the conflict.
Likely follow-up · Is any one of the five principles inherently more important than the others, or is it always case-by-case?
As a junior member of a dental team, you notice the practice is reusing certain single-use items and skipping documented sterilization steps when the schedule is busy. The lead dentist is highly respected, much more senior than you, and has dismissed a colleague's concern before with 'we've always done it this way.' How would you raise an infection-control concern in that situation, and what qualities does it require?
Likely follow-up · How do you raise a safety concern with someone far senior to you without being insubordinate or timid?
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Plan your DAT prep and AADSAS application strategy for Temple University Kornberg School of Dentistry (DMD).
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