Non-Trad Student Seeking Help in Gap Year/Years

[puppytiff]

Hi all,

First, congrats on everyone who got an offer from the dental schools!

I'm new to this forum since I just recently decided to pursue the career path of a dentist. But I'm excited to see that many of you are doing great and may kindly give me some advices on how to get me into the same boat ;D

My background info is the following:
-Graduating with a bachelor degree in chemical engineering from Georgia institute of Technology, got a 3.5 overall GPA, science GPA (BCPM) ~3.9-4.0. (I'm kinda a clumsy engineer,lol)
-Didn't take DAT yet, planning to take it this summer.
-Post graduation gap years will be working full time in top 10/fortune 500 pharmaceutical company as chemical engineer
-Didn't do lots of research, but have 1 year of undergrad research experience, internship experience, have TA in physics for two years.
-No volunteering experience. some clubs activities but not many.
--Also, I'm an asian female...

So my big concerns are:
-not enough volunteering experience, no job shadowing..
-I need to take biology II in post bac program, which I plan to take one session during the summer.

If anyone has suggestions on how to manage getting the volunteer experience and job shadowing while having a full time job.. I can do some shadowing in the summer before i start working, but I hope to continue after my job starts in august.

Also along with biology II, are there any other classes worth taking to help me better prepare for DAT or Dental school? I took bio I, all chem classes, all physics classes, and 4 math classes as my undergrad major requires. but i'm thinking of taking psychology, anatomy, or physiology if those are necessary.

Thank you all so much for reading such a long post, and have fun enjoy the summer before school starts~~!

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[Lane138]

Have you checked out this AMA that I hosted last week?

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/predents-ask-us-anything.1195665/

The app deletes posts after one week so I'm not sure if they're still up, but I answered a couple of people's questions on gap year activities/ selecting a post bac that sound similar to you.

 

[JLT223]

Why didn't you shadow or volunteer at all during undergrad?

 

[puppytiff]

Have you checked out this AMA that I hosted last week?

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/predents-ask-us-anything.1195665/

The app deletes posts after one week so I'm not sure if they're still up, but I answered a couple of people's questions on gap year activities/ selecting a post bac that sound similar to you.

Thank you a lot. The group is very helpful

 

[puppytiff]

Why didn't you shadow or volunteer at all during undergrad?

I didn't decide on the career path of dentist during my undergrad years. I was kinda struggling between engineer and physician, until I got my internship working as an engineer then I decided engineering isn't something I like to do for the rest of my life. Chemical engineer is a good career and has good salary from the start, but I enjoy more hands-on works than operating on big reactors in factory.

 

[JLT223]

I didn't decide on the career path of dentist during my undergrad years. I was kinda struggling between engineer and physician, until I got my internship working as an engineer then I decided engineering isn't something I like to do for the rest of my life. Chemical engineer is a good career and has good salary from the start, but I enjoy more hands-on works than operating on big reactors in factory.

Ah didn't read that part!

 

[fogorvostan]

You'll need the bio 2 of course. Some schools require microbiology and/or anatomy. @doc toothache has a great guide that will show you which schools those are.

As for shadowing while having a job, it's going to be harder if you work a typical full time 9-5 schedule because that is when a dentist typically works. I would try to knock out 50-100 hours as quickly as you can. Unlike volunteering that should extend over longer periods time, it's more okay to do all of your shadowing at once.

You also need to start volunteering. Find something that interests you that you can commit to until you have an acceptance. Maybe something that is open on the weekends if you will be working during the week. If you can commit to 4 hours a week over the next year, you can get over 200 hours of volunteer work.

Coming from a nontraditional student, this is how I would order things:

1. Start volunteering now. Try to get 4 hours a week
2. During the beginning of the summer, complete bio 2. Keep volunteering
3. During the middle/end of summer, study for and take the DAT. Keep volunteering.
4. When you finish the DAT but before you start working, begin shadowing. See if you can get it all done over a couple of weeks. Keep volunteering
5. After summer, finishing up your remaining shadowing hours. Keep volunteering weekly. Start working.

 

[kayzee25]

I recommend being a Big Sister through the organization Big Brothers Big Sisters. I did that while working a full time job. Typically, the child cant hang out during the hours you work. So you can get volunteer hours on the weekends or after work! Also, Saturday mornings I would shadow a dentist. I know its hard to find time to do all these things while working a full time job but its possible! good luck!

 

[1passbbsSHAVE]

As for biology classes, i believe all you need to take to do well on dat are bio 1/2, cell biology. If you take biochemistry, anatomy, physiology, it would help you out when you get oddball questions. But not necessary if you dont have time to tske all those outside of prerequisites.

I think there are just a lot of great prep Materials out there we dont need to tske additional classes to do well.

Shadowing can really get boring if you do a lot weekly, so do a couple of hours here and there. Some schools require 150 or so i believe so that shluld be your goal if you want to be able to apply broadly.

 

[Justdontblink]

As far as shadowing you can find time to shadow while working a full time job, but I would say start doing so as early as possible to start racking up hours. I work full time (7am-3pm) and I go over to the dental office one weekday each week and alternating Saturdays when the dentist that I shadow works. I do not know your schedule personally, but it can definitely be done. I stopped shadowing for about a month and a half before I took the DAT when I started to focus even more on the exam. I suggest reaching out to your personal dentist if you do not have another in mind. If you already have good relationship then may be a good source for a letter of recommendation

As far as classes that you've taken and their relation to the DAT, the science sections involve information covered in Bio I & II, Gen Chem I & II and Orgo I & II. If I am missing any others someone feel free to correct me, and the info should be somewhere on the ADA site. Truthfully the DAT does not as in depth as as college course. It just covers a lot of units and you do not know which will show up on your exam which makes it difficult, plus the whole not being granted an exorbitant amount of time on any section. There are supplement materials out there that students use to prepare for the exam. Just browse the DAT section of the forum, read a few DAT breakdowns and you'll see which materials are commonly used amongst SDNers. I hadn't taken those courses in years and the DAT didn't throw anything at me that I did not see in the practice materials that students typically refer to. Just my two cents.