Would it be a problem if I have not shadow?

[nanali]

Hi guys, sorry again.. I know I've been asking a lot of questions recently.. but this place is just great =) Anyway, my question for today is.. I am thinking of applying this may and take the dat in august.. but I have not shadow any dentist.. my plan was to be shadowing this summer.. and so.. would this look bad? Thanks

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[colt]

Yes.

 

[golfmontpoker]

When u fill out your app just put down how many hours you are planning on shadowing this summer... By the time the app gets to the school u will have completed the amount of shadowing u put down on the app in may! THis is what im doing...

 

[crazy_sherm]

Some schools care more about shadowing than others, but if you put down the hours you plan to do, you should be fine. On a separate note, how are you sure you want to be a dentist if you haven't spent much time in an office? How do you know you'll actually like that environment? To me, making sure it's a career suitable for me is more important than the little bit of dental experience you can gain shadowing.

 

[tinman831]

This will DEFINITELY come up during any interviews you may have. How do you know you want to be a dentist if you haven't seen one in action? They wont count your experience in the dental chair as shadowing At least try to get in a few hours of shadowing in sometime soon.

 

[nanali]

Thank you everyone.. anyway.. I am going to start shadowing after finals next week.. yepeee ^_^

 

[howui3]

it will not look good if you do not shadow.

plus schools like tufts require 30 hours of shadowing.

bottom line: it looks good if you have shadowed as it shows that you understand (somewhat) what you are getting yourself into.

 

[El Sol]

Don't worry about whether the schools will care or not if you shadow, rather worry about you getting sufficient exposure to the field. Make sure dentistry is what you want by shadowing and getting the most exposure to the field. Once you do that you'll shine in interviews and everything will fall into place.