ATSU-MOSDOH Dental Interview: Two 30-Minute Interviews

ATSU-MOSDOH selects applicants for interviews and admission on a rolling basis, with traditional DMD interviews conducted between September and March. Submitting your secondary application and official DAT scores well before the final deadlines gives you a longer window to be reviewed. See our Texas A&M College of Dentistry interview timeline too.

On its DMD program page, ATSU-MOSDOH states that applicants are evaluated on academic coursework, performance on the DAT, the AADSAS essay, letters of evaluation, and interviews, with demonstrated community service through volunteerism or service-oriented employment preferred. MOSDOH strongly recommends 100 hours of clinical shadowing or experience and 100 hours of leadership and service to underserved populations. ATSU-MOSDOH's class size is approximately 64 students per cohort, as reflected in the July 2026 White Coat Ceremony welcoming 64 new dental students, and the 2024 Entering Class DMD Admissions Fact Sheet reports 220 applicants interviewed and 63 enrolled from 17 states, with an average GPA of 3.56, average science GPA of 3.46, and a 19.33 DAT academic average.

ATSU's university mission is committed to continuing its osteopathic heritage and focus on whole person healthcare, scholarship, community health, interprofessional education, diversity, and underserved populations. Established in 2013 to address disparities in oral healthcare in Missouri and across the nation, MOSDOH notes on its fact sheet that the relationship of oral health to total healthcare is a core part of its mission, teaching, and clinical experiences.

• For the faculty interview: Be ready to discuss how you learn in hands-on and team settings, how you think about whole person healthcare and evidence-based dentistry, and what you observed during your dental shadowing hours.
• For the Admissions staff interview: Be ready to talk through your community service with underserved populations, your leadership roles, how you adapt to new communities, and why MOSDOH's curriculum in Kirksville and St. Louis fits your goals.
• For Student Ambassadors (lunch or virtual Q&A0: Prepare 2 or 3 practical questions about daily life in Kirksville during D1 and D2 and transitioning to the St. Louis Dental Center in D3.

A strong "Why MOSDOH?" answer shows that you understand where and how you will train across all 4 years. Years 1 and 2 take place on the Kirksville, Missouri campus, where you study basic sciences and human systems, learn foundational clinical medicine and dentistry, and train in the 7,000-square-foot dental simulation clinic on the first floor of the IPE building. The clinic has 68 student workstations with KaVo Dental Patient Simulators, CAD-CAM (CEREC) units, 3D printing and scanning, and 6 operatories. If you are also curious about the osteopathic medical school on the same Missouri campus, see our A T Still University Kirksville College Of Osteopathic Medicine interview guide.

In Years 3 and 4, you transition to St. Louis to provide patient care at the St. Louis Dental Education and Oral Health Clinic (the St. Louis Dental Center). To run its core clinical curriculum, ATSU-MOSDOH partnered with Affinia Healthcare, formerly Grace Hill Health Centers, Inc., Missouri's largest community health center. Affinia Healthcare manages clinical operations while licensed ATSU-MOSDOH dental faculty supervise third-year students. Third-year students also collaborate with faculty mentors on research and present during MOSDOH Research Day, with an Elective Research Module available for earlier or advanced mentoring.

During the fourth year, you spend half of the year at the St. Louis Dental Center and the other half in community health centers and safety-net clinics in St. Louis and throughout the Midwest under ATSU-MOSDOH adjunct faculty. Through Integrated Community Service Partnerships (ICSP), fourth-year students complete 3 external clinical rotations (2 3-week rotations and 1 4-week rotation, totaling about 10 weeks and 25% of clinical education). These rotations take place across more than 50 sites, including over 30 partnered community health centers, Indian Health Service facilities, Tribal clinics, Veterans Affairs clinics, private nonprofits, and mobile dental clinics.

Every DMD student also earns a 5-course, 15-credit-hour Graduate Certificate in Dental Public Health through ATSU's College of Graduate Health Studies, included in tuition and starting in the second semester of D1. The 5 online courses are Introduction to Dental Public Health, Behavioral Sciences and Health Education Concepts, Epidemiology, Dental Healthcare Policy and Management, and Financing Dental Care. Beginning in D3, students can take 10 additional online courses (15 courses total) at their own financial responsibility to complete a dual DMD and Master of Public Health with Dental Emphasis (MPH-D) degree.

ATSU-MOSDOH publishes specific instructions for interview attire and etiquette on its DMD program page. Whether you are in Kirksville or on camera, treat the entire half-day session as part of your professional impression, and use the week before your interview to tie your stories to MOSDOH's mission.

For a broader look at common prompts across dental programs, read our guide to dental school interview questions.

• Suit, shoes, and grooming: Wear a solid, conservative suit that fits well (clip the pocket and back placket threads if new). Men should wear a long-sleeve shirt, conservative tie, dark dress socks matching the suit pants, and clean, comfortable loafers. Women should wear conservative tops without plunging necklines, non-revealing skirts, tan or light hosiery, and comfortable closed-toe shoes with a low heel. Keep jewelry minimal, makeup light, nails neat and neutral, and perfume or cologne minimal or none. Cultural dress or head coverings are fine.
• What to bring and leave behind: Bring a professional padfolio and a nice pen to store papers and take notes. Leave your cell phone and earbuds in your car.
• Audit your 100+ hours of service and shadowing: Pick 3 moments from your underserved community service and 2 from your dental shadowing, noting 1 barrier you saw and what you did in response.
• Map your "Why MOSDOH?" to both cities: Practice a concise answer naming Kirksville's simulation clinic in D1-D2, the Affinia Healthcare partnership at the St. Louis Dental Center in D3-D4, the 10-week ICSP rotations, and the Graduate Certificate in Dental Public Health.
• Run 2 30-minute timed conversations out loud: Have a partner or AI interviewer ask 15 minutes of personal and service questions, then 15 minutes of scenario and follow-up questions, and prepare your fun fact for the interview-day survey.

Applicants apply to the 4-year DMD program through the ADEA AADSAS portal. After ADEA AADSAS verifies your application, ATSU emails its secondary application to qualified applicants, who return it with the application fee to the Admissions Processing Center. All prerequisite courses must be completed at a regionally accredited U.S. institution with a grade of C or higher prior to matriculation (C- is not acceptable). If you are comparing schools, see our guides to dental school requirements and how many dental schools should I apply to, plus our University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry interview guide.

ATSU-MOSDOH also lists specialized admission pathways on its DMD program page. The Still Scholars Early Assurance Program admits eligible college sophomores (U.S. citizens or permanent residents with at least 4 semesters / 45 credit hours completed and 2 full-time years remaining toward a BA or BS) without traditional DAT requirements. Applicants need a minimum 3.4 cumulative and 3.4 science GPA, a B or higher in prerequisites, at least 50 hours of dental clinical experience, at least 50 hands-on underserved community service hours (excluding fundraising), and 3 letters of recommendation (science faculty or advisor, shadowed dentist, and service organization advisor). For the 2026 cycle, applications opened May 18 through August 1, 2026, with early fall interviews and a final senior-year pre-matriculation interview in early fall.

The Advanced Standing International Dentist Track (ASID) offers up to 10 seats per cohort for U.S. citizens or permanent residents who graduated from a foreign dental school. Applicants need at least 2 years of unsupervised home-country dental practice experience, an ECE course-by-course GPA of at least 3.0, passing NBDE or INBDE scores, and required TOEFL scores. Applicants apply through ADEA CAAPID by June 1 and submit the ASID secondary application with a $150 application fee by July 1. Selected candidates attend an in-person interview and skills bench test ($1,500 non-refundable fee) at the St. Louis Dental Center in August or September, before starting a spring semester course in January and joining the D3 cohort in June.

To practice answering interview questions out loud with realistic follow-up questions and rubric-based feedback, use Confetto's AI mock interviewer. Start your free week.

ATSU-MOSDOH DMD admissions requirements and deadlines (official sources0

What is the ATSU-MOSDOH dental school interview format?

Each candidate completes 2 30-minute 1:1 interviews, 1 with a faculty member and 1 with an Admissions staff member. Interview days are offered in morning and afternoon sessions, with both in-person schedules in Kirksville, Missouri, and virtual schedules published by the school.

When does ATSU-MOSDOH interview dental applicants?

ATSU-MOSDOH selects applicants for interviews and admission on a rolling basis and conducts traditional DMD interviews between September and March.

What are the application deadlines for ATSU-MOSDOH?

The ADEA AADSAS primary application deadline is December 1. Both official DAT scores (DAT code 03) and the ATSU secondary application must be submitted by January 31.

What GPA, DAT, and shadowing hours do I need for ATSU-MOSDOH?

MOSDOH requires a minimum 2.50 cumulative and science GPA on a 4.0 scale (3.0 recommended) and official U.S. DAT scores no older than 3 years. The school strongly recommends 100 hours of clinical shadowing and 100 hours of leadership and service to underserved populations.

What should I wear and bring to the ATSU-MOSDOH interview?

MOSDOH advises wearing a solid, conservative suit, comfortable dress shoes (low heels for women or loafers for men), minimal jewelry, and little to no perfume or cologne. You may bring a professional padfolio and pen to take notes, and you should leave your cell phone and earbuds in your car.

Sources, checked November 3, 2026:

• ATSU-MOSDOH: Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) Program, Admissions & Interview Schedules
• ATSU-MOSDOH: Preparing for Your Interview
• ATSU-MOSDOH: Why MOSDOH
• ATSU-MOSDOH: Admissions Overview
• ATSU-MOSDOH: 2024 Entering Class DMD Admissions Fact Sheet (PDF0
• ADEA GoDental: Where to Apply (AADSAS Participating Schools0

Confetto isn't affiliated with A.T. Still University Missouri. Everything here about the school comes from its public pages, checked in November 2026.

Formats and dates can change between cycles, so go by your invitation email.