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[AlbinoPolarBear]

I just recently was able to get into a dental clinic near my university. Technically, I am a "volunteer" there, and do all the typical volunteer work. But the majority of my hours there are actually spent shadowing the dentists. I am kind of a dentist's assistant's assistant. And after talking with staff about the roles of volunteers, they said most students can eventually do the majority of the work a normal dental assistant would do.

So my question is, should I be looking for separate "shadowing" opportunities to get hours? Or can this one clinic be my outlet for both? I am not sure how it works on a dental school app, but can one thing be listed more than once?

Thanks

Some schools have cutoffs for shadowing hours, so put all of your dental clinic volunteer hours in the Shadowing section of the app and you'll be fine.

 

[molar3]

I just recently was able to get into a dental clinic near my university. Technically, I am a "volunteer" there, and do all the typical volunteer work. But the majority of my hours there are actually spent shadowing the dentists. I am kind of a dentist's assistant's assistant. And after talking with staff about the roles of volunteers, they said most students can eventually do the majority of the work a normal dental assistant would do.

So my question is, should I be looking for separate "shadowing" opportunities to get hours? Or can this one clinic be my outlet for both? I am not sure how it works on a dental school app, but can one thing be listed more than once?

Thanks

u can use the clinic as both i guess. but shadowing does not qualify as "volunteering" youre not helping anybody by shadowing or being an assistants assistant ....thats not volunteering. thats shadowing.

so just divide up your hours on your application. the time u spend actually volunteering ie paper work or w/e they have u doing. and the time u shadow. theyre seperate things.

 

[jeffity]

Yes but if I am right next to the dentist assisting him with things while watching whatever he is doing, am I not doing both at the same time?

Just split the time up. It sounds like you'll have plenty of hours for both. No need to double dip. You may want another shadow gig too if you haven't. Even just a few hours. It's not only beneficial to you, but you'll probably want more than one name since you have to put a supervisor for volunteering & assisting.

 

[recently109]

I am in a similar situation. I suppose it make sense to split them among the two categories. My question is whether this kind of volunteering on its own is satisfactory. I'm a post bac and just started an intensive 1-year program to cover all the pre-requisites, so assisting in a dental clinic is the only volunteer work I'll be putting on my app. I hope to have >100 hours by the time I apply, and I've also spent a few hours shadowing other general dentists. Will my chances be hurt if I don't have other non-dental clinic volunteer hours completed by the time I apply?

 

[reidjones]

Like others have mentioned, I would also just split up the time.

 

[NonTradHopeful]

I'm listing mine in both sections. I have a similar situation, where I'm a volunteer in a free dental clinic, assisting dentists and dental students with procedures. So I'm entering the experience in both the "Extra-curricular/Volunteer/Community Service" section of the AADSAS as well as in the "Dentistry Experience" section.

I'm not splitting up the hours, since they both count as volunteer experience AND dentistry experience...so you should be allowed to put it in both sections. Under "Dentistry Experience", you have the option to choose "volunteer" from the drop-down box.

If they have any questions, they can easily ask about it during the interview. But I think it's accurate to list it in both sections without splitting up the hours, since I was BOTH a volunteer and getting shadowing/observation of dentists all at once.

EDIT: Just spoke to an admissions adviser at one of the dental schools I'm thinking about and she told me to DEFINITELY put it at least in the dentistry experience section, but she doesn't mind if I also include it in the volunteer/community service section. This is just one school, but I'm guessing others feel the same.

 

[NonTradHopeful]

I'm listing mine in both sections. I have a similar situation, where I'm a volunteer in a free dental clinic, assisting dentists and dental students with procedures. So I'm entering the experience in both the "Extra-curricular/Volunteer/Community Service" section of the AADSAS as well as in the "Dentistry Experience" section.

I'm not splitting up the hours, since they both count as volunteer experience AND dentistry experience...so you should be allowed to put it in both sections. Under "Dentistry Experience", you have the option to choose "volunteer" from the drop-down box.

If they have any questions, they can easily ask about it during the interview. But I think it's accurate to list it in both sections without splitting up the hours, since I was BOTH a volunteer and getting shadowing/observation of dentists all at once.

EDIT: Just spoke to an admissions adviser at one of the dental schools I'm thinking about and she told me to DEFINITELY put it at least in the dentistry experience section, but she doesn't mind if I also include it in the volunteer/community service section. This is just one school, but I'm guessing others feel the same.

I just re-read the OP's original post. I should point out that ALL of my time is volunteering, so I'm listing it in both sections as volunteer work (both dentistry and community service). For you, perhaps it might be better to split it up. Each person is different. Best is to contact schools and ask them.