Issues Attempting to Shadow Dentists

[ICantEven]

I've been having issues attempting to shadow dentists, or rather, even getting a response to my inquiry to shadow dentists.

I don't know if it's regarding to how I do it, or if the dentists in my area are simply to closed in, or what? Its not like their is a shortage of dentists to shadow in my area, on the contrary, their is a alot of dentists offices around.

What I usually do is go on scouting day where I just hit up a lot of dentist offices in-person, dressed up, with a business card that has all my relevant information, introduce myself and ask if that particular dentist allows pre-dentals to shadow at their office, and that I'm a pre-dental student currently attending this college who is interested should they allow students to shadow them.

And most time I get a very positive reaction right away at the reception, but they tell me they are unsure about it and will have to ask the dentist. So I'm put in the waiting game.

Usually though, I either get no call back, and if I do, its just to tell me that they don't do that.

Am I doing anything wrong? I did that this Monday, and have already received two call backs saying no, and I'm waiting on two more - which I'll call back tomorrow just to touch base and follow up.

I really need some advice on this, because I really need to get some shadowing hours since the last two years have been hectic in my personal life and was just simply unable to shadow. At this point I'm worried if I'm doing anything wrong.

I've shadowed at my personal dentist twice, and she has been really open until as of lately when her office simply won't get back to me (but that is a whole other issue, which I'm ready to explain if anyone finds it relevant), but its completely unrelated, just very peculiar.

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[AlbinoPolarBear]

You just need that one dentist will accept you and is willing to let you shadow.

It's a matter of chance. After shadowing my personal dentist for 25 hours, I submitted personalized letters, along with my CV to 30 other dentists in my area. I had 1 reply, and got another 25 hours from him.

Just explain that you need this, and it's a required part of the application. Most people won't waste their time, but if you send enough letters, someone will be sympathetic.

 

[tarheel616]

I've shadowed a few different dental office so far while in college. My strategy in finding where to shadow was looking up dentists in my area and going on their websites. From there I would see their office hours and call them. Explain that you are a student at XYZ university, pre-dental and would love the opportunity to shadow Dr. So & So...they say they will probably get back to you (and they sometimes do not), but I would leave them with a few dates and times that work for you, so they can schedule around you if need be. Then when I did start shadowing I would start out conservative in my actions until I got to know the practice environment. Then when the Dr. has some free time you can tell you found them by looking on their website and were impressed with it and so on. It just sets up good conversation and doesn't come off as forceful. Thats my 2 cents

 

[Faux]

Keep trying, I'd go as far as going in person and asking.

 

[ICantEven]

You just need that one dentist will accept you and is willing to let you shadow.

It's a matter of chance. After shadowing my personal dentist for 25 hours, I submitted personalized letters, along with my CV to 30 other dentists in my area. I had 1 reply, and got another 25 hours from him.

Just explain that you need this, and it's a required part of the application. Most people won't waste their time, but if you send enough letters, someone will be sympathetic.

Do you think that a resume is required/necessary? I feel that's overkill.

 

[PharmDCandidate2014]

Your personal dentist is the best bet. If you pay cash for your bi-annual visits to the dentist, I bet they become really receptive and even more cooperative with giving you extra hours and signing off an LOR. Ethical? No. You do what you gotta do? Yes.

 

[AlbinoPolarBear]

Do you think that a resume is required/necessary? I feel that's overkill.

They are going to let you into their offices, so they would more likely be receptive to the idea of letting you shadow if they had an idea of who you are.

Just look at it the other way around. If you were a dentist, and some random dude asked if they can shadow you, are you more likely to let them if they had a CV attached to their request?

 

[s2mySerendipity]

I did the same thing as you.

Strangely, I don't like/trust my dentist so I didn't want to ask to shadow him. So I decided to call about 20 places in the area and half rejected, half took my info and said they'll call me back. Of course, none did. So I got in my car, and literally drop to about 15 dental offices, some of those that said they'll call me back. End results - I never got to meet any of the dentists in person since they weren't there/busy with patients, and the same thing that happened on the phone happened in person. I felt devastated and defeated.

I finally got to shadow a dentist couple because my uncle goes there for his dentures/implants. It honestly just takes that one person to accept you, since they ended up being the only people I shadowed, and I've been accepted. It also made me realize how important connections are - so if you can, start with people you know, trying to get in contact with their dentists or something. Good luck! I feel you.

 

[Hannah Banana]

I've been having issues attempting to shadow dentists, or rather, even getting a response to my inquiry to shadow dentists.

I don't know if it's regarding to how I do it, or if the dentists in my area are simply to closed in, or what? Its not like their is a shortage of dentists to shadow in my area, on the contrary, their is a alot of dentists offices around.

What I usually do is go on scouting day where I just hit up a lot of dentist offices in-person, dressed up, with a business card that has all my relevant information, introduce myself and ask if that particular dentist allows pre-dentals to shadow at their office, and that I'm a pre-dental student currently attending this college who is interested should they allow students to shadow them.

And most time I get a very positive reaction right away at the reception, but they tell me they are unsure about it and will have to ask the dentist. So I'm put in the waiting game.

Usually though, I either get no call back, and if I do, its just to tell me that they don't do that.

Am I doing anything wrong? I did that this Monday, and have already received two call backs saying no, and I'm waiting on two more - which I'll call back tomorrow just to touch base and follow up.

I really need some advice on this, because I really need to get some shadowing hours since the last two years have been hectic in my personal life and was just simply unable to shadow. At this point I'm worried if I'm doing anything wrong.

I've shadowed at my personal dentist twice, and she has been really open until as of lately when her office simply won't get back to me (but that is a whole other issue, which I'm ready to explain if anyone finds it relevant), but its completely unrelated, just very peculiar.

Try contacting the public health clinics rather than the private one because I have been in your exact shoes and dental schools don't care if it's private or public as long as it's from a dentist. The people who work at low income clinics are much more friendly, patient and even let you assist if possible. I only had 80 shadowing hours and got 3 interviews so you'll be fine even if it's not 100 hours (but make sure your E.C. and stats are good too). Good luck!

 

[Racquetball3r]

In my experience the name of the game has been networking. I have not yet had any dentist or dental specialist deny my request to shadow them (8 in total), because I always have a name of someone they know who told me I should contact them to shadow. I also would make it a point to talk directly to the dentist, instead of an assistant if it is at all possible. Ask your dentist about other dentists that you could shadow, that way you can use their name when contacting the other dentists.

 

[dds2b219]

Try your hospital clinic. Many have volunteer programs where you go through a few days of training (hospital policies, HIPPA stuff etc) and then you get to volunteer aka "shadow" in the clinic with residents. This was the best thing I did! Got to shadow and assist 8+ residents who always had cases and clean and reset the rooms afterwards. Definitely worth a shot.. I got a lot of hours from that! And a lot of experience

 

[Digitalangel]

being a cute girl always helps

 

[mordred]

I've been having issues attempting to shadow dentists, or rather, even getting a response to my inquiry to shadow dentists.

I don't know if it's regarding to how I do it, or if the dentists in my area are simply to closed in, or what? Its not like their is a shortage of dentists to shadow in my area, on the contrary, their is a alot of dentists offices around.

What I usually do is go on scouting day where I just hit up a lot of dentist offices in-person, dressed up, with a business card that has all my relevant information, introduce myself and ask if that particular dentist allows pre-dentals to shadow at their office, and that I'm a pre-dental student currently attending this college who is interested should they allow students to shadow them.

And most time I get a very positive reaction right away at the reception, but they tell me they are unsure about it and will have to ask the dentist. So I'm put in the waiting game.

Usually though, I either get no call back, and if I do, its just to tell me that they don't do that.

Am I doing anything wrong? I did that this Monday, and have already received two call backs saying no, and I'm waiting on two more - which I'll call back tomorrow just to touch base and follow up.

I really need some advice on this, because I really need to get some shadowing hours since the last two years have been hectic in my personal life and was just simply unable to shadow. At this point I'm worried if I'm doing anything wrong.

I've shadowed at my personal dentist twice, and she has been really open until as of lately when her office simply won't get back to me (but that is a whole other issue, which I'm ready to explain if anyone finds it relevant), but its completely unrelated, just very peculiar.

 

[mordred]

After shadowing my personal dentist for several days, I wanted to shadow a couple of specialists as well. He offered that the local dental association had a volunteer coordinator that helped match pre-dents and even high school kids with willing docs in the area. It opened several doors for me. I don't know if your local or state ADA affiliate has such a program, but if so, it could save you some time and shoe leather. Start on this page from deep in the bowels of the ADA web site, and search based on your state:

http://ebusiness.ada.org/mystate.aspx

 

[DentalDoge]

being a cute girl always helps

Can confirm. Am grill. Got all the shadows.

 

[rev_rend]

Try contacting the public health clinics rather than the private one because I have been in your exact shoes and dental schools don't care if it's private or public as long as it's from a dentist. The people who work at low income clinics are much more friendly, patient and even let you assist if possible. I only had 80 shadowing hours and got 3 interviews so you'll be fine even if it's not 100 hours (but make sure your E.C. and stats are good too). Good luck!

I agree with this 110%. I shadowed in a multi-dentist public health clinic last summer and it was a great experience. Everything was arranged with the clinic director rather than any of the dentists, and all but one of the dentists were really happy to have me around. I think I actually got way more out of that than I've ever gotten out of hanging around in my dad's office.

 

[foxtrot83]

I hate how many dentists do this to pre-dents...it's like they forgot that they were in our shoes just a few years/decades ago. What happened to opening the door to the next generation?!? We are only shadowing, not holding the highspeed, and they should love to talk about what they are doing, sounds like the wrong personality types are practicing nowadays. LOL

 

[doc toothache]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/shadowing-the-seven-stages.792000/

 

[krinkpeter]

.

 

[DentalDoge]

Never understood why people had such hard time with finding shadows. In the tiny ass town that I live in, there are at least 5 OMS's, 5 orthodontists, god knows how many GP's. Asked 10 or so, had 2 that didnt allowed me to shadow because of some contract they had with nearby CC.

Sometimes it's not them, sometimes it's you.

 

[Lucky One]

Wait you have to shadow someone in order to get accepted into Dental School?

 

[DentalDoge]

Wait you have to shadow someone in order to get accepted into Dental School?

Do you not have to do that for pharmacy?

 

[Hannah Banana]

Never understood why people had such hard time with finding shadows. In the tiny ass town that I live in, there are at least 5 OMS's, 5 orthodontists, god knows how many GP's. Asked 10 or so, had 2 that didnt allowed me to shadow because of some contract they had with nearby CC.

Sometimes it's not them, sometimes it's you.

nuh uh. Most of the time it's them....like 98.8% of the time.

 

[mordred]

Never understood why people had such hard time with finding shadows. In the tiny ass town that I live in, there are at least 5 OMS's, 5 orthodontists, god knows how many GP's. Asked 10 or so, had 2 that didnt allowed me to shadow because of some contract they had with nearby CC.

Sometimes it's not them, sometimes it's you.

And we are back to middle school now it appears. Let's keep the the comments constructive and helpful please.

 

[mkhan27]

Never understood why people had such hard time with finding shadows. In the tiny ass town that I live in, there are at least 5 OMS's, 5 orthodontists, god knows how many GP's. Asked 10 or so, had 2 that didnt allowed me to shadow because of some contract they had with nearby CC.

Sometimes it's not them, sometimes it's you.

I'm sorry, but thats where I (and many of us on this forum) will disagree. I actually had this same problem 4-5 years ago where I was having trouble finding a dentist that would let me shadow them. The problem was NOT me because I had other colleagues who tried before me to shadow those same dentists have the same problem I had. The problem is with the dentists. Quite frankly, these dentists don't remember that they were in our shoes before entering dental school.

To the OP, I would suggest to keep searching and not to give up. You'll be let down at first, but don't let these negative comments get to you. I had a similar situation as you 4-5 years ago too, but I didn't give up and ended up getting a lot of exposure from multiple dentists. Good luck buddy!

 

[AlbinoPolarBear]

Never understood why people had such hard time with finding shadows. In the tiny ass town that I live in, there are at least 5 OMS's, 5 orthodontists, god knows how many GP's. Asked 10 or so, had 2 that didnt allowed me to shadow because of some contract they had with nearby CC.

Sometimes it's not them, sometimes it's you.

Wow you're so cool. How many cookies do you want?

 

[Hannah Banana]

Wow you're so cool. How many cookies do you want?

guys, don't be mean to da meanie.

 

[AlbinoPolarBear]

guys, don't be mean to da meanie.

Actually, I wasn't trying to be mean. I have a cookie shop, and lots of them are gonna be bad soon, so I'm giving away free cookies to everyone I think is cool. Below is a pic of my cookie shop. As you can see, I have a lot of cookies to give away.

 

[Hannah Banana]

Actually, I wasn't trying to be mean. I have a cookie shop, and lots of them are gonna be bad soon, so I'm giving away free cookies to everyone I think is cool. Below is a pic of my cookie shop. As you can see, I have a lot of cookies to give away.

If cool people get cookies, what do freaking-amazing people get?

 

[Greyangel6]

I was in your shoes several times. During my school breaks, I went out to dental offices and asked if they'd let me shadow. I dressed up and handed them my CV with contact info and the works. I remember one day I went to 14 dental offices, spent half a gas tank going around the city to ask for shadowing and I either got no calls or calls that said they didn't want trouble with HIPAA or cause discomfort to their patients with all the crowding and new faces,etc. I live in Orlando for goodness's sake, there's one dental office every block. I never even got to speak to the dentists, all was done through the receptionists.... Later on, I found shadowing at one place that I asked.

Lesson I learned: Don't give up. If you're thick-skinned and put yourself out there, you'd find one eventually.

 

[Lucky One]

Do you not have to do that for pharmacy?

For Pharmacy it really depends on the school. It would make you competitive to have some healthcare experience and even better if it was pharmacy related but it technically is not required/mandatory.

I was just surprised because my school's dental college only requires DAT/pre-regs/LORs. Just thought it was somewhat of a nuisance if it was required for any school. Good luck.

 

[DentalDoge]

guys, don't be mean to da meanie.

Wow you're so cool. How many cookies do you want?

Actually, I love cookies. And I'm pretty cool.

For Pharmacy it really depends on the school. It would make you competitive to have some healthcare experience and even better if it was pharmacy related but it technically is not required/mandatory.

I was just surprised because my school's dental college only requires DAT/pre-regs/LORs. Just thought it was somewhat of a nuisance if it was required for any school. Good luck.

For most dental school, it's required if not strongly recommended. Some schools even have specific type of dentists they would like you to shadow for a certain number of hours. Even if it's not required, you are automatically put at a massive disadvantage by not shadowing.