Dental Assisting Hours vs. Minimum Required Shadowing Hours?

[0Mik3cho]

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For those of you who have dental assisting experience, were any of your schools very strict about shadowing hours being from purely shadowing experience? I will have around 700 hours of dental assisting experience by the time of application. I do have 14 hours of strictly shadowing through.

I am trying to get some more shadowing hours with specialists but I fear it may be difficult due to coronavirus concerns. The hospital dentist shadowing program I was act has halted shadowing at the moment. Such concerns seem to be spreading to private practices as offices seem less eager to allowing shadowees.

 

[NobodyNose]

I have a couple thousand hours spent working in ortho and prosth and maybe 70 hours in general shadowing and nobody cared, so I think if your work hours are in a general office you should be just fine.

 

[doc toothache]

It's hard to imagine any Dean splitting hair on shadowing vs dental assisting hours.

 

[B4SS]

I think it depends. I've done both, but it never came up as an issue for me since I had a few hundred shadowing hours before I began working as an assistant. Admissions is pretty dang competitive, so you could have 700 hours assisting but be short 20 hours of their 'shadowing hour requirement' and it could a deciding factor since technically you did not meet their requirements. Do I think it makes sense, no, but I wouldn't be surprised if that happens. Also, I only worked 4 days a week assisting and actually went to another office on my day off to shadow one of my closest friends, so I still accumulated shadowing hours. Again, I would try to at least get the minimum required shadowing hours and then your assisting hours will only serve to help you. Personally, I think assisting X amount of hours should be a requirement haha. It's a completely different ball game when you're actually assisting and employed in an office than when you just show up randomly to shadow.

 

[MGA100]

I think it depends. I've done both, but it never came up as an issue for me since I had a few hundred shadowing hours before I began working as an assistant. Admissions is pretty dang competitive, so you could have 700 hours assisting but be short 20 hours of their 'shadowing hour requirement' and it could a deciding factor since technically you did not meet their requirements. Do I think it makes sense, no, but I wouldn't be surprised if that happens. Also, I only worked 4 days a week assisting and actually went to another office on my day off to shadow one of my closest friends, so I still accumulated shadowing hours. Again, I would try to at least get the minimum required shadowing hours and then your assisting hours will only serve to help you. Personally, I think assisting X amount of hours should be a requirement haha. It's a completely different ball game when you're actually assisting and employed in an office than when you just show up randomly to shadow.

Agree with all of this 100 percent. Could not have said it better. 👍👍