Hello, I was curious if it was possible to work as a dental Assistant as an undergrad to increase your chances of being accepted into dental school. I'm a freshman and college and was also interested if dentistry is still a good field to enter. I will possibly enter dentistry 10+ years from now.
Dental Assistant in undergrad?
- Thread starter Kingse
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It’s not a bad idea. I had a two year gap between college and starting dental and during that time a became an assistant. I worked all through undergrad to pay for tuition out of pocket so working is definitely doable, but I will say it’s less time to focus strictly on classes. When I was in undergrad I only worked Friday and Saturday and got about 24 hours a week.
When I first became an assistant I was only working at the office two days a week and it was a struggle because it’s sooo much information (I had no experience at all) that by the time I went back the following week it felt like I had to relearn a lot of stuff again. When I became full-time it was a lot easier since I was there everyday. I explain this because you likely will only be able to work two days a week I’m guessing? So just prepare for the learning curve, it could be hard finding a dentist that will hire you without experience but definitely possible. I applied to 15 offices before I got an interview.
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Does it increase your chance to get into dental school? Absolutely. Assuming having 2 candidates exactly same numbers, but one with DA experience and the other with none, it's a pretty easy choice.
With that said, some of my DAs are in undergrad and they have been doing this since their high school, and they have 2-3 years of experience already. They are now FTDA. They are truly the best DAs I have in the office. They don't show attitudes, great work ethics, follow docs really well, and are always curious about everything dentistry. It's an absolute joy to work with them, especially as a former teacher, I love to teach. The other day I taught them about cervical burnouts because they thought they were cavities. Fun!
With that said, one is kinda switching her direction into hygiene because she doesn't like some of the things that a GP does (surgical ext...endo...) and not really interested in specialties. Without this experience, she might have jumped into dentistry and regretted her choice far too late. Another girl got more interested in dentistry while working as a DA.
Why an earth are you thinking 10+ years if you're in undergrad now? If I could change anything, I wish I would have gotten into dentistry a lot sooner. I spent some of my earlier life doing some things that I wanted to do, including teaching in college where I spent the most years, but those years would have given me a lot more opportunities in dentistry had I started earlier.
With that said, some of my DAs are in undergrad and they have been doing this since their high school, and they have 2-3 years of experience already. They are now FTDA. They are truly the best DAs I have in the office. They don't show attitudes, great work ethics, follow docs really well, and are always curious about everything dentistry. It's an absolute joy to work with them, especially as a former teacher, I love to teach. The other day I taught them about cervical burnouts because they thought they were cavities. Fun!
With that said, one is kinda switching her direction into hygiene because she doesn't like some of the things that a GP does (surgical ext...endo...) and not really interested in specialties. Without this experience, she might have jumped into dentistry and regretted her choice far too late. Another girl got more interested in dentistry while working as a DA.
Why an earth are you thinking 10+ years if you're in undergrad now? If I could change anything, I wish I would have gotten into dentistry a lot sooner. I spent some of my earlier life doing some things that I wanted to do, including teaching in college where I spent the most years, but those years would have given me a lot more opportunities in dentistry had I started earlier.
Did you have to get a license to work as a DA? Could you maybe tell me how much you were paid? Thanks for the response!
Sorry for the confusion! I'm a freshman in high school, big typo!! Did your DA work with you when they were in HS and did they require a license to work? Thanks for the response!
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Ah... hah yes, that's a big 4 year difference typo.
These girls are from voc hs. They select their training early in high school and start their OJT license (trained on the job) in their senior year. After graduation, some stick around, some dont. Then they get their FTDA license.
The girls I mentioned are in college and PT DA. There are OJT DAs in the clinic from high school and they are fantastic as well. They have been trained for good 2-3 years prior to clinic.
If you're in high school (non voc), it changes the tone a little because very likely, clinics won't hire a high school student as an assistant. Perhaps a clinician who's passionate about teaching and mentoring could have you shadowing for a little. You could move forward from there.
These girls are from voc hs. They select their training early in high school and start their OJT license (trained on the job) in their senior year. After graduation, some stick around, some dont. Then they get their FTDA license.
The girls I mentioned are in college and PT DA. There are OJT DAs in the clinic from high school and they are fantastic as well. They have been trained for good 2-3 years prior to clinic.
If you're in high school (non voc), it changes the tone a little because very likely, clinics won't hire a high school student as an assistant. Perhaps a clinician who's passionate about teaching and mentoring could have you shadowing for a little. You could move forward from there.
I'm assuming VOC means vocational; unfortunately, my high school is not one. They have health-assisting and prehealth classes, but I must transfer to a different HS. I am currently in a program called CGS which is a school within a school program. Essentially, I will be taking classes with the same classmates and teachers for the entirety of HS. I am currently taking 2 AP and my current HS also is the top in the county and where most of my friends attend. In your opinion, should I transfer to the other high school for the pre-health classes?
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No.
My voc girls are very goal oriented towards that one goal since high school: dentistry. Although you can go to a college and choose a different career, I don't think it's worth the trouble to transfer a high school.
Have fun in hs and enjoy. Make friends. Do what (normal) teenagers do. One thing that makes me sad and disappointing when I talk to my girls is that because they've been into the workforce at such an early age, they rarely had the time to find and hang with friends.
If you're aiming for medical or dental, you do not need to go to a good and expensive college. Go to a 4 yr college (sometimes 2+2 although I personally wouldn't recommend) and do a really good job there. These tuitions will stack. Study well, spend your time wisely doing the things that matter (volunteering, da, etc), get good grades, and do well on the DAT. Enjoy while at it.
My voc girls are very goal oriented towards that one goal since high school: dentistry. Although you can go to a college and choose a different career, I don't think it's worth the trouble to transfer a high school.
Have fun in hs and enjoy. Make friends. Do what (normal) teenagers do. One thing that makes me sad and disappointing when I talk to my girls is that because they've been into the workforce at such an early age, they rarely had the time to find and hang with friends.
If you're aiming for medical or dental, you do not need to go to a good and expensive college. Go to a 4 yr college (sometimes 2+2 although I personally wouldn't recommend) and do a really good job there. These tuitions will stack. Study well, spend your time wisely doing the things that matter (volunteering, da, etc), get good grades, and do well on the DAT. Enjoy while at it.
Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
Did you have to get a license to work as a DA? Could you maybe tell me how much you were paid? Thanks for the response!
I noticed you said you were a freshman in high school. Which does change things a bit. It’s not likely that you’ll be able to find an office to hire you while in high school. I’m not certified and I didn’t take any course to become a dental assistant, I was trained on the job. You might be able to find an office who will hire you as a “sterilization tech” but it doesn’t seem worth doing while in high school because I assume you can’t work Monday-Friday? My pay was a unique situation, but I started at $17/hour.
You have some time before you really need to start focusing on the stuff you need to get done for the dentistry path. For now just enjoy your time in high school honestly (these years don’t matter that much), when you get to be a junior/senior in high school start doing some volunteer work, as much as you can get up until you are close to applying to dental school. Many people don’t start volunteering until college, when they are a year or so out from applying to dental school. When you go to apply you can use your hours from high school still, and in my opinion it looks better because it shows that you’ve always had an interest to help the community and not just interested because you have to do it to apply for dental school.
When you get to college, that’s when you need to focus on your schooling and make sure the grades are good. 2-3 undesirable grades won’t kill you. Make sure throughout college you start shadowing some dentists and keep doing volunteer work.
note: high school shadowing/volunteer/work hours do not count towards your application...
Never said it did, but it can’t stop them from putting it on there as long as he/she continues to do it throughout out college like I mentioned, they’ll be fine.
you also never said that it didn't
"when you go to apply you can use" implies they count...
Well you inferred that, but I don’t really care. As long as it’s cleared up that they can still be put in the application, but make sure to continue to volunteer through undergrad. My school accepted my hours form my senior year of high school.
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Calculators are standard tools found in many admissions offices, even if many of us were told there wouldn't be any math with this job.
